5. BRANDING PROCESS FOR BIDV TO DEVELOP INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER SEGMENT
5.1 Identifying and establishing brand positioning and values
5.1.1 Building customer equities:
BIDV should build up customer equities via 3 major factors: value equities, brand equities and retention equities.
Figure 4: The relation between factors of customer equities Value
Equities
Brand equities Retention
equities
Customer equities
a. Value equity:
Quality: BIDV was certificated ISO 9000:2001 – Total Quality Management Certificate and applied the modern core banking system, BIDV has improved transaction quality and quantity. However, in order to make better, BIDV should improve the quality by performing orientations as follows:
- Standardize its procedure, create better conditions for individuals to approach banking services.
- Consistently implement all the commitments with ISO.
- Perfect backup data and securities centers to maximize safety and assure the continual business.
Price: BIDV should apply penetration strategy with competitive price (such as high deposit interest, low loan interest, low service fees) in order to gain the market share and attract individual customers.
Convenience: To provide customers with the highest convenience, BIDV should focus on 2 factors:
About the products: BIDV should create a cutting-edge retail package base on core-banking aiming to specific demand. For example with savings, BIDV should diversify all kind of savings account with variable terms to adapt different needs of customers.
Another example, with payments, BIDV should offer multi-utilities account which they can use for common transactions: bill of electricity, water, phone; payments at supermarket; shopping, salary payment; insurance payments, etc. In the other hand, with service products, BIDV can divide in financial consultancy; securities consultancy, asset management, safety deposit, etc
About distribution: BIDV should establish retail banking service department at every branches and transaction offices. Whole sales banking departments should still be kept paralleled but restricted to head office of branches. BIDV also re-decorate all branches and transaction offices, expressing consistency of the logo, the banners.
To widen distribution, BIDV should increase number of ATM and POS; place them at convenient areas such as supermarkets, offices, restaurants, hospitals, entertainment
areas, universities and set up auto banks at shopping malls with easy-to-use function and safe the electronic distribution.
b. Brand equity:
Brand image: BIDV currently is a leading bank in Vietnam in terms of scale, total asset, distributions network and has lots of contributions to the national constructions.
Therefore, BIDV will continue to develop this good image as an important factor in building a new image for individual segments, which is always friendly, willing to sympathize with customers, understand their aspirations as well as ready to serve them.
Logo: BIDV should maintain the current logo but with new interpretation. Letter
“I” stands for “individual”, who is covered by BIDV ship over all the storms.
Simultaneously, the ship has also equipped these individual a growing sail, create good conditions to fly up with dreams when opportunity comes. The overall view of the lozenge represents the Vietnamese enthusiastic heart, reflecting nationalism in sharing and helping each other to move forward.
The brand equities management will be based on 3 key drivers as below:
First, brand awareness: As a result of the survey, BIDV has the low level of brand awareness and recognition. BIDV should use the integrated marketing communication approach to launch the new BIDV brand image into individual customers perception with communication mix of mass advertising, PR, sponsoring, group events, sale force support.
Second, customer attitude towards the brand: BIDV should use the communication tools to drive the young people’s attitude to its brand, and change the non- customer behaviors. The message should be based on the customer insight “BIDV is available anywhere at any time to welcome and serve customers as loyalty”
Third, perception of brand ethics: BIDV needs to build up an image of a bank operates for the development of Vietnamese community by promoting charitable activities or sponsoring events.
c. Retention equity:
Innovation: BIDV should continue to have considerable investment on research and development of new products and services to meet the specific demand and maintain customer loyalty.
CRM: BIDV should put in customers’ mind a perception as a bank which always listen to and understand their customers. Then, we launch customer satisfaction surveys on
a frequent basis to promptly get feedback from customers. If they are satisfied, the bank will do more of what they have been doing and also ask what they want more from the bank and try to do that. If they are not satisfied, BIDV tries to find out the reason why and adjusts to meet their needs.
5.1.2 Brand positioning and value:
a. The potential of individual segment to banking industry:
The increasing in economy growth rate via GDP performance as well as the increasing flow of foreign investment in different sectors leads to the increasing in the living standard. Thus, they are more interested in using banking services. And hence, it will increase the market share of retail banking.
Vietnam’s banks are in front of tremendous opportunity to exploit the potential individual segment. BIDV should focus on this segment for the strategic development.
b. Key findings from customer study on individual segment (based on the survey in appendix 3 and result in appendix 4):
* Key findings from individual customers who are using banking services:
Demographic: The potential individual customers are Vietnamese people who aged 21-40. They are employees, working in the offices or factories, small businesses. They are living in the big cities, such as HCMC, Hanoi, Danang.
Customers’ demand: The individual customers are considerably interested in services which bring lots of utilities and benefits to their daily life such as: ATM, payments, savings, personal loans (for purchasing of consumption goods, housework facilities, transport vehicle, house)
Current trend in customers: They are paying more and more attention to the non- cash transactions relating to the costs of living.
Usage: Individual customers go to the bank 1 time/month. And the income between 5 and 10 million dong has a high ratio of respondents.
Lifestyle: They desire to use the services of high convenience to save time. They care much about simple and quick procedure when using banking services.
Young people are characteristically independent, self-control. They are more interested in and willing to use personal banking services.
Attitudes: Young people use banking services more than elderly people.
* Key findings from individual customers who are not using banking services:
There are some major reasons that why some people does not use banking services.
First, the procedure transaction is so confusing and waste time. The feeling of not being welcomed and appropriately respected is the reason why individuals don’t use banking services. One reason is the habit of borrowing being considerable point of individuals.
c. Targeting:
We plan at the segment of individual customers who are in following characteristics. They are from 21 – 40 years old. They belong to the middle to upper social class in society. They love to be independent, self-control, stylish. And, they are looking for utilities and benefits from using banking services for livings
d. Positioning:
As a result of the analysis from the target segment, BIDV’s brand should not be positioned just a collection of financial – service products but more than that, an open, friendly, customer-oriented and innovation bank. It would be based on customers’ value:
The lifestyle: customers’ emotional benefits of personal freedom, self-control, risk- taking and lifestyle.
The convenience: the utilities and benefits for better work and life.
Both elements target precisely what customer desires from the bank and are linked to their loyalty drivers – the specific values and features that drive using services intent.