Are bank brands still bastions of respectability or have recent woes taken their toll on consumer confidence? Bear Stearns was bailed out by JPMorgan Chase at a fraction of its share price, Societe Generale was slapped in the face with the biggest trading scandal in history and Northern Rock, having bet heavily on CDO’s, had to be nationalised to save it from going bust. These three scandals alone would probably rock the credibility of any brand - for today’s banks, they are only a rousing curtain call for a stage full of rumours, greed and gargantuan losses.
There’s little doubt that the crises constitute full-blown PR disaster for an industry that has not always painted itself in the best possible light. “Look at Northern Rock - there’s no other way to describe that than debacle,” said Matt Godfrey, CEO of Publicis Asia.
It is believed that the new CEO of beleaguered Credit Suisse, Brady Dugan, sent a memo to his staff, noting how humbled and embarrassed he was by the recent problems faced by the bank. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new, softer image for investment banks. “At the moment, the banks are still battling, putting out plays, and so it’s hard to tell how they will position themselves in the future,” says a source.
“It will be an industry wide challenge for banks to educate their stakeholders and improve their image.”
“With all the scrutiny on the banking industry at the moment, this is the biggest opportunity for banks to infiltrate society and actually mean something that they’ve had in 15 years,” adds Y&R regional creative planning director Rob Campbell. “But they need to bear in mind that actions speak louder than words - they can’t rely on bland, category generic advertising anymore, and they’ll need to really back it up with actions.”
Campbell cites Campaign Palace’s work for Australia’s Westpac as an example of how banks, through showing that they undersstand the moral implications of their activities, can boost their business.
It is likely, however, that banks will have to look at much more than just advertising. “It seems clear that banks are going to have to be more transparent in their communications,” says Damien Ryan of Ryanfin consulting, a Hong Kong-based consultancy. At the same time, some argue that at least for the time being, this is a Western concern - Asian banks have not yet been hit as hard.
Which gives them time to prepare. “Smart banks will look at the failure of communications in the US and sit down with their PR consultancies and ask ‘Do we have a PR contingency plan if the crisis hits Asia?’”, said Godfrey.
“Asian companies have long corporate memories, and after being caught unprepared in the late 90s and during the dotcom bust, I’d be surprised if the people in charge don’t have active strategies in place to deal with crises as they arise,” added Godfrey.
Not everyone in the industry agrees that this is the case. “It’s true that there are a few more fires to put out now, but I don’t think that banks are changing or should change their core approach to PR,” says Citigate Dewe Rogerson executive director Charlotte Bilney.
“Financial services are for the most part commoditised, so a bank’s first priority must be to clearly and doggedly bring out its differentiators.
“That’s true no matter what the external conditions are or, for that matter, whether they’re talking to investors or consumers.”
