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David VillasecaGlobal Director, Head of Customer Management

Grupo BBVA

As a global bank that is present in more than 30 countries worldwide, BBVA has marketing eEorts

that both enhance the global view of the brand and meet the needs of consumers in their own

countries. According to Global Director of Customer Management David Villaseca, their success is

contingent upon the bank’s ability to build trust in the countries where the bank is present.

Villaseca emphasizes that as long as the bank is present in multiple countries, marketers will need

to understand the financial situations of those countries and the individual communities where

BBVA is located. This will be key to understanding the consumer and promoting products and

services that will best meet their needs.

“While we must adapt our approach on a local level, we also must provide a global perspective so

that we can build trust in the brand,” he says. “One way we are doing this is through sponsorships

like the one we have with the NBA as the organization’s oPcial bank. This is a way for us to create a

strong brand presence in the U.S. and worldwide.”

BBVA has also been working hard to build brand presence in Europe and countries where soccer is a

primary sport in order to establish relevance in those areas.

“Gaining association with soccer in these countries, as well as with the NBA in America, provides us

with a lot of success,” he says. “For example, the ESPN telecast for the BBVA NBA All-Star Celebrity

Game was the most-watched game in the event’s history, with 2.3 million viewers, and we’re

leveraging these successes with social media.”

While combining the power of a global presence for the bank with relevant, localized messaging to

consumers is crucial, it is also among the greater challenges BBVA faces.

“With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, we have to help our employees maintain a

mindset that includes both globalization and localization, and we are doing this by combining local

and global teams through diEerent networks and centers of excellence to maximize synergies

and eEectiveness at both levels,” Villaseca says. “This helps us to combine our understanding of

consumers in each country and get the best of both worlds, both on the employee side and the

consumer side.”