However, while the volume of advertising from investment firms has surged forward, in common with most other consumer-targeted campaigns from China's financial sector, the ads are difficult to tell apart, pushing product benefits rather than brands. "Most (financial) brands are just the name of the financial institution," says Delia Liu, strategic planner with Leo Burnett Beijing. Harvest, however, contracted Leo Burnett to do something unusual for an investment firm in China -- start building a brand.
While other funds were still trying to outsell each other with competing product claims, Harvest unveiled a new campaign promising a sense of security rather than specific returns, with a thematic TVC showing how Harvest could help people reach their goals. "They wanted to be the first one to own the category benefit," Liu explained, "to make it the Harvest brand."
After decades of inactivity China's financial institutions are beginning to stir, prompted by the imminent arrival of foreign banks who will be allowed direct access under WTO rules to China's consumer market in 2007.
"This has already alarmed local brands to look at brands in a more serious and systematic manner, and thus spending on marketing communications is expected to rise substantially," says Mary Fan, director of client services for Grey Worldwide in Shanghai. Grey has been hired by China Merchants Bank, tipped as the local bank brand to watch, to oversee marketing.
Adspend is already rising. Banks spent 31 per cent more promoting general services in 2004 than they did in 2003, according to Nielsen Media Research. Insurance adspend over the same time meanwhile rose 39 per cent while credit card advertising zoomed up by 49 per cent. Credit card campaigns are at the vanguard of banks' consumer marketing in China, forming the first attempts to reach out to China's burgeoning middle-class. For foreign banks, still excluded from most areas of the market, credit cards represent an especially valuable opportunity. Both the major global banking brands, Citigroup and HSBC, have recently launched co-branded cards, Citigroup teaming up with Pudong Development Bank and HSBC with the Bank of Communications.
"You don't have to establish a banking relationship for a credit card, but you can sell lifestyle and a brand presence, and build a platform for building a deeper relationship," says David Black, managing director of Blackbox Research.
Specialist card companies have also been raising their profile. Visa, a sponsor of the upcoming Beijing Olympics, launched its first locally developed TVC in June while local rival China Unionpay, which still has a monopoly on Rmb transactions in China, has also ramped up marketing activity. "This sector of the financial market will be hotly contested over the next few years with the maturing of the local player and the opening up of the market," says Adam Goldman, client services director at ICLP Shanghai.
The sense of security and trust conveyed by TV advertising in China makes it impossible to build big brands without it, especially financial brands. However, although a handful of companies have started to make their first tentative steps, above-the-line advertising is not yet a priority for many firms. Marcoms efforts are instead focused on government relations in this closely regulated sector, with banks keen to prove themselves as trusted partners with global potential. "You need to have that image with the regulators that matter," says Philip Lisio, Beijing-based director of investor relations for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. "It's a very important part of your reputation management here."
While companies are starting to exploit the opportunities offered by speaking slots at conferences and opinion pieces in leading publications, Lisio feels government relations is likely to remain key for the foreseeable future as more and more firms enter the market.
Marketing has not been a priority for the board of many financial firms in China, preoccupied with matters such as raising money to enable expansion and formulating basic service plans. Nevertheless many observers argue that an apparent absence of consumer marketing belies what is happening inside, with professional marketers being hired (the position was traditionally held by someone without marketing experience as the result of an internal transfer), while some are starting to appoint external agencies. "They're actually pedalling quite fast internally, recognising that they need to change," says Black.
There is also far more movement below-the-line, viewed as the best way to woo wealthier consumers, the first battleground for financial companies looking to gain an early advantage, while also bypassing China's clunky and outdated retail system.
"Pushing higher-end customers online, to phone banking and even mobile banking through SMS and 3G, will allow banks to provide a high level of service," says Goldman. China Merchants Bank, arguably China's only real bank brand, has carved out a successful niche for itself with white collar and younger savers, almost entirely through below-the-line marketing.
For the foreseeable future, relationships will remain more important than brands, and that involves a fundamental internal review along with external communications. Says Goldman: "It's easy for a bank to plaster a wonderful ATL message all over town but backing up that branding statement with genuine customer service and competitive product offering is another story."