Tuesday, March 2, 2010
DAILY TIDBITS 02/03/10: Citibank Singapore and M1 talk about connections; Maybank look forward to “Blue Skies” ahead
Introducing our new post format: bitesize chunks of easily digestible advertising updates… Delicious! We now have two posting formats; lengthy analyses of advertisements that we feel require “proper” deconstruction (read into that as you will!), and light-hearted overviews of daily highlights and lowlights that we come across. In doing so, we hope to increase our media coverage. Scanning The Straits Times and other forms of print and broadcast media, we so often pick up on things that we would love to discuss, but simply do not have the time. With our daily tidbits we will be able to include more adverts, raise more points of discussion, and hopefully, therefore, please more readers! So, here we go…
1. 1. Is Citibank Singapore positioning itself in too narrowly defined terms?
Citibank Singapore ran another full-page ad today, which again emphasises accessibility. Like the ad they ran last week (see here) we love the visual appeal of the ad. The slogan – “My bank goes wherever I go” – sits well with the message that Citibank provides a tripartite of instant connections, instant access and instant services, allowing you to do your banking “anytime, anywhere”. You can’t fault them on the comprehensiveness, and effectiveness of their coverage, but for us there is still the latent concern that Citibank may be pigeonholing themselves by over-emphasising accessibility.
We have already commented that whilst Citibank’s coverage is indeed impressive (especially for what may be popularly conceived as a “foreign” bank), their value propositions do not differentiate them enough from their local competitors. Citi Mobile, Citibank Online, 900 touchpoints islandwide; they all provide excellent options for customers in terms of accessibility but, as far as we can tell, this is very similar to what DBS, UOB and OCBC offer. Yes, Citibank may be doing an excellent job of raising awareness and distancing themselves from their "foreign" competitors (i.e. HSBC and Standard Chartered), but they are not providing readers with an extra incentive to bank with them.
Our recommendation? Keep the current focus on accessibility, but integrate it with products and services that are truly unique to Citi. Talk about local accessibility, but also talk about how this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that banking with Citi can gain you access to a global network of knowledge, support and insights. We think this would be a far more powerful offering – do you?
2. 2. M1's visual will connect with businesses, but could do more...
We love the visual M1 used today for their “Business Broadband from M1” full-page ad. It shows an internet cable being plugged into a socket on which the Singapore skyline is superimposed. A simple, yet very effective concept that suggests M1 can plug your business into the opportunities abound in the Singapore marketplace.
Yet whilst the visual is great, we feel the message could be even more powerful if complemented by a slogan. At the moment all we have is “Business Broadband from M1” at the top and “Switch to M1 Business Broadband for better value!” below. Perfunctory, to say the least. We feel that something like “Let M1 plug your business into Singapore” or even "Plug into Singapore" would convey a stronger impression of the real value of M1’s service (measured in terms of business opportunities, rather than cost savings), instead of relying on price comparisons alone. Any alternative suggestions? Let us know below!
3. 3. Maybank’s Blue Skies Structured Deposit: great positioning, great packaging
Maybank’s new “Blue Skies Structured Deposit” ad impressed us immensely, primarily due to the excellent integration of slogan, visual, product packaging, and market context into one, clearly communicated banking product. The slogan – “Discover blue skies ahead” – speaks to investors who are looking to re-invest their money in financial products and, in this case, to take advantage of the “blue skies” ahead, which represent the return of the bull market. The slogan draws parallels with the name of the product, which in turn draws parallels with the five “Blue Chip” companies in which it invests (CapitaLand, DBS, Keppel Corporation, SPH and SingTel). This suggests that these true-blue (sorry, we couldn't help it!) Singapore companies can be trusted to give you good returns, thus circumnavigating the risk that may still be associated with investing in foreign, especially Western companies and markets in the wake of the credit crunch.
Combined, we think this shows great market awareness (in terms of both financial and consumer markets) on behalf of Maybank, which is clearly communicated through a well-integrated advertisement.
As always, do let us know what you think by commenting below!
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