Banks click on online ads

Yahoo! Messenger. Twitter. Facebook. Hi5. Dot ro. Dot com. The list goes on… But this is not an IT article. It is about the online environment, as a promotional channel likely to play a greater significance in the years to come. The evidence that supports this is that companies are paying more attention to it when they are budgeting marketing spend to promote their products and services. But some remain cautious. According to the Media Factbook 2009, a survey conducted by Initiative Media Romania, “It seems that online is still a ‘hot potato' that few dare to play seriously with, especially when money is scarce and TV is becoming more accessible.” However, as many companies in Romania have focused on budget adjustment, media performance and cost deflation both in the second half of 2008 and in 2009, online has became a viable choice as a promotional channel. The Romanian media market grew in net value by only 12 percent in 2008, posting the smallest increase since 2003, according to the Media Factbook. The fastest growth belonged to the internet (70 percent), giving it a market share of 3 percent of all net media volume. The total internet and cinema net ad-spend by medium was about EUR 16 million last year, says the same study.The researchers also found that 51 percent of the online budgets were invested in banners last year, giving them the smallest growth of all online formats. This was a clear sign of an emerging mature market. The major categories that used online advertising in 2008 were finance, telecommunications and automotive, with finance remaining in the leading position from 2007. These top three categories maintained last year almost the same share of spend as in 2007, with finance the only one investing less in the second semester of 2008. In such a context, lenders have also started to pay more attention to the online environment. For example, Citibank recently chose to launch new online platforms and campaigns as part of its future online strategy developed with Kubis Interactive. Plus, all the national campaigns of ING Bank Romania had an online element, with the internet being a constant communication channel. This year ING used social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Hi5 as communication channels for the first time. It also opened up an online dialogue with Hotnews readers, helping them to better understand its banking products and services. Moreover, the campaign for ING Card Cont'ROL that took place this year used different online media, with Yahoo! being one of them. “We noticed that the users of these websites have been opened to ING's messages. Increased sales of online-promoted products were a result of the response,” said Mona Tufeanu, senior PR officer at ING Bank Romania. GarantiBank is another lender that has included online in its marketing mix. The campaign called We are Financing Every Opportunity (Finantam orice oportunitate), GarantiBank 24 debit card, and the campaign that promoted the interest rates for Garanti's banking deposits, at the beginning of this year, also have an online component in their structure. The lender launched its “three-month grace period” (“3 luni perioada de gratie”) at the end of September, a campaign that is still in progress. Last but not least, BCR is supporting the Money School (“Scoala de bani”), a financial educational program, launched in an integrated communication campaign that included both traditional and online PR activities, innovative media formats and interactive communication. The project started with the launch of an online manifesto called How to Become Bankrupt in Ten Steps, that outlined both real and exaggerated attitudes that result in poor cash management.
Why lenders are going online
This is a question that has arisen for many of us lately. One possible answer could be that lenders have seen the massive potential of the online sphere. “It is a natural approach to use new communication channels with the customers. Social networks are featuring more and more in our online existence. Social networking is more important than reading or sending emails for many of us,” said Cristian Manafu, senior consultant at Prodigy. He added that young people no longer pay attention to traditional media, which means that traditional advertising won't have the expected results in many cases. Indeed, ING targeted through its online campaigns for Card Cont'ROL highly educated urbanites aged 20-35. “In such a context, many companies are starting to take a serious approach to the potential of social media, and that is happening in Romania, too,” said Manafu. In his opinion, lenders' approach to online relates to the acceptance of new media in their marketing mix rather than being a consequence of the current crisis. “As the banking system grows, its presence in social media and the importance of online and mobile solutions in products and services portfolios will become more than necessary,” he added. However, Shuja Shaikh, managing partner at Kubis Interactive, thinks that the current shift of lenders towards online is a result of both the current crisis and their increased interest in using a promotional channel with high potential in the future. “The internet as a new medium for marketing is relatively inexpensive compared to mainstream media. It reaches a much wider market and it's also easier to target specific markets. Besides, advertisers are able to analyze marketing strategies and quantify ROI (return on investment) for any given campaign,” said Shaikh. In his opinion, the crisis has forced advertisers to look for alternative marketing channels that are more effective and cheaper to implement at the same time.As for the banks, Tufeanu said that for ING, the internet has become a constant communication and sales channel. “The budgets dedicated to online doubled in 2009 on last year but we are still at the beginning, still doing tests. We have many things to learn about communication, PR, selling and promoting over the internet,” said Tufeanu. She added that the main benefits of ING's Cont'ROL online campaign were the interaction with an important target and amassing new customers. For GarantiBank too, the online environment is a key element in its marketing strategy. “We believe that it is necessary for our marketing campaigns because any kind of audience is on the internet. We just need to identify the way we can reach it,” said Andreea Catuneanu, PR and advertising manager at GarantiBank International NV.Are online campaigns effective for banks? Do they match lenders' specific profile? According to specialists, the answer is yes. “Banks have been trying for a long time to change their inflexible image and to become more customer-friendly. Even traditional advertising suggests the same,” said Manafu. “At the end, the content, combined with the form and the relevance of the message to the online audience are the important factors. The internet is simply a transmission channel,” he added. “More than this, while creativity is important in attracting consumers online, you have to consider that they get online in the first place to find information. So, an efficient online marketing campaign is one that focuses on targeting and providing information to those seeking that type of information,” said Shaikh.
The future is promising
According to Initiative's estimation, net ad spend on cinema and the internet will drop by 19 percent this year, to EUR 13 million on average. But compared to the evolution of other media, the internet is likely to come out well, with an increased share of spend from 3 to 4 percent in 2009. New media is the new fashion in many developed economies, but it is still a very young and experimental part of digital media in Romania. Nevertheless, there is a segment of advertisers that use mobile marketing as an established tactic in their plans, such as automotive, FMCG and finance firms. As for the direction of lenders' online budgets, there will be a moderate increase, say specialists. Banks have had a good presence in the traditional online environment through banners posted on websites. “This increase could come both from a natural evolution of the advertising market and from the intention to promote products and services related to the internet on the internet,” said Manafu. “Next year our online presence will increase for sure. We intend to benefit from newly occurring opportunities, according to our business objectives,” added Catuneanu of GarantiBank. She said that the bank had earmarked bigger online budgets from one campaign to another. “The current online budget is about 20 percent of the total marketing one and this percentage could certainly increase,” added Catuneanu.