The Banker’S Top 500 Banking Brands Listing Ranks the Leading Names
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G LOBAL F INANCIAL I NTELLIGENCE S INCE 1926 FEBRUARY 2011 The Banker WWW.THEBANKER.COM cOver sTOry | ToP 500 bankINg BrANdS introduction In a still-volatile financial climate, building and maintaining strong brand is a vital part of every bank’s operations. The Banker’s Top 500 Banking Brands listing ranks the leading names. John Beck reports. nce counted among the most trusted and Elsewhere, the BrIC countries (Brazil, russia, India stable of brands, many banks have expe- and China) experienced strong growth in brand value. rienced enormous reputational damage Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) took in recent years. Public and investor opin- eighth place, while China Construction Bank rounded ion turned on the financial sector as the out the top 10, indicating that so far, Chinese banks have Ocrisis got under way in earnest back in 2008, and as been unaffected by fears that the country’s economy is blame was apportioned, banking brands suffered. becoming overheated. Meanwhile, Brazil’s strong eco- Now, after a period of damage control, many for- nomic growth helped to boost Banco Bradesco to sixth merly well regarded banks are attempting to rebuild place in the ranking, and saw Itaú climb to 11th, from their battered reputations. At the same time, those, often 25th last year. emerging market institutions, which made it through Perhaps unsurprisingly, the banks which have suf- the crisis relatively unscathed are seizing the chance to fered most tend to have connections to the countries consolidate and develop brand value. which make up the debt-plagued eurozone periphery, In the upper echelons of The Banker’s Top 500 Bank- although Spanish giant Santander still netted fourth ing Brands these two groups are strongly apparent. US place and improved on 2010’s brand value. French banks banks in particular have staged something of a resur- also lost out, with many of the country’s larger names gence since 2010. Bank of America has emerged as the experiencing a significant downwards slide. most valuable banking brand globally, while Wells Fargo clinched second place, relegating 2010 winner HSBC to ecOnOMIc GrOWTh third in the process. US brands posted strong increases Market capitalisation was one of the many factors taken in brand value across the Top 500, supported by into account when calculating the ranking. As a result, the increased performance expectations and renewed efforts resurgence of US banks in the Top 500 is in part backed by to engage with disenchanted consumers. renewed optimism in the financial sector. This is also true 14 | The Banker | February 2011 ToP 500 bankINg BrANdS | cOver sTOry introduction for Brazil, where significant economic growth has allowed Santander’s 2010 international marketing strategy the country’s banks to improve the standing of their included the first year of the bank’s sponsorship of the Fer- respective brands. “The appreciation of the Bradesco rari team in motorsport’s Formula one (the bank previ- brand value is a result of the way the value of Brazil itself ously sponsored the McLaren team), a strategy which has has appreciated,” says the bank’s CEo, Luiz Carlos Trabuco already paid for itself and led to an increase in media cov- Cappi. “We have the advantage of working on the Brazil- erage and brand awareness, Ms del Corral adds. ian market, which has managed to consolidate itself as a benchmark for a global economy that is still recovering.” TOUTInG TransPARENCY Mr Cappi adds that this economic expansion created Mr Haigh cautions however that while good advertising new opportunities to develop the Bradesco brand across can draw attention to a brand, publicity must be backed Brazil. “This [growth] prospect reinforced our need to up with performance. “The things that really drive perfor- position ourselves in the market through our concept of mance are the deliverables which people remember, the being present in 100% of Brazil’s towns and cities. We attributes which define [the banks] as providers,” he says. want to be close to the client and the non-client anywhere “It’s about expressing our commitments through all in terms of geography and also through any kind of remote communication channels and delivering on those com- access, whether the internet, or [Apple’s] iPad or iPhone.” mitments in customers’ experiences with us,” says dave A spokesperson for ICBC also stresses the impor- king, senior vice-president of enterprise marketing with tance of parallel brand and business development, com- Wells Fargo. “If those things are in place consistently menting that the bank looks to “continuously enhance over the years, then you have a good chance to build a brand building, deepen the relations between the brand strong brand.” building and business development” and that “the coor- Bank of America has also continued with its conven- dination and co-operation of the brand building and tional advertising campaigns, but that only constitutes a business marketing departments [has] strengthened small part of its brand building and marketing tactics, [ICBC’s] ability to react to market conditions”. says its global strategy and marketing officer Anne Finu- cane. “In the past, brands were built traditionally on what the quarterly numbers said plus an advertising BranD BUILDInG budget and good Pr,” she says. “Now, we need to deal Broader economic performance certainly counts for a with the reality of an imperfect industry, which certainly lot, but it is but one of many ingredients that go into cre- has had its issues, but is working hard [to remedy them]. ating a strong brand, says Brand Finance CEo david We as a company are demonstrating there are lessons Haigh, who notes that the top-ranked banks all possess a learned… The idea of brand management is to recognise memorable visual identity, consistent and recognisable the reality, [and] to do whatever we can in terms of what branding, as well as strong advertising slogans. matters most to consumers and contributing to public Another commonality among many of 2011’s high- policy to embrace that which we think moves the world ranking banks is that they have seized the opportunity to economy and domestic economies forward.” consolidate and simplify their branding after mergers or To achieve this, Bank of America has been active in acquisitions, Mr Haigh adds. “Consolidating banking engaging with various public policy initiatives, Ms Finu- brands saves money, makes life easier and increases cane says, including supporting the US dodd-Frank brand value.” Bank of America, for example, now incor- Act’s Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Bank of porates Merrill Lynch, while Wells Fargo has absorbed America also holds regular meetings with electoral offi- Wachovia’s operations. This trend further contributed to cials and community advocates and has appointed a the increased success of US banks in the ranking, Mr number of consumer policy executives. Haigh says. Ms Finucane also credits Bank of America’s early This applies in many countries. Itaú – the biggest repayment of Troubled Asset relief Program (TArP) winner in this year’s ranking – merged with Unibanco funds, the appointment of a new CEo in the shape of back in 2008. Likewise, Santander, which is the most Brian Moynihan, and its philanthropic efforts for valuable brand in the retail banking sector and in improving public perception of the brand. Europe, completed its global rebranding operation in A more earnest, humble approach to publicity cou- 2010 (incorporating various Uk banks and Banco real pled with a tentative admission that the industry has in Brazil) and has since made savings of 22% on its total made mistakes has become increasingly conspicuous over marketing budget in two years., despite a number of the past 12 months. Even goldman Sachs, known for its high-profile international campaigns. “[In 2010] we still often rather aloof stance on such issues, has introducing a had some very valuable brands in the group such as Alli- 63-page, 39-step plan designed to address criticisms of its ance and Leicester, but they have now changed to San- business practices and improve treatment of clients. tander,” says María Sánchez del Corral, head of global How much of a genuine impact these industry-wide branding, marketing and corporate advertising at San- efforts will have remains to be seen, but a change of atti- tander. “one strong brand is good in terms of efficiency.” tude may well be needed to ensure continued success The approach appears to be paying off. In the Uk , for and safeguard brand reputation. despite strong results, example, just 20% of consumers were familiar with the negative publicity in 2010 damaged goldman’s brand bank three years ago, but this figure has now increased to value to the extent that the bank slipped to 16th position 98%, the bank says. globally, down from seventh in last year’s ranking. February 2011 | The Banker | 15 cOver sTOry | ToP 500 bankINg BrANdS methodology METHODOLOGY WInners 2011 The methodology employed by Brand Finance in this Top 500 Rank Brand Change in brand value Banking Brands listing uses a discounted cash-flow technique (2010-2011) $m to discount estimated future royalties at an appropriate 1 Itaú 9,744 2 Wells Fargo 7,029 discount rate, to arrive at a net present value of the trademark 3 Chase 5,750 and associated intellectual property: the brand value. 4 Bradesco 5,379 The steps in this process are to: 5 Deutsche Bank 5,307 1. Obtain brand-specific financial and revenue data. The 6 ICBC 5,111 net revenue was then segmented into the following revenue 7 Credit Suisse 5,067 streams: retail banking, commercial banking, wholesale 8 China Construction Bank 5,016 banking, investment banking, bancassurance, asset manage- 9 Bank of America 4,572 ment, mortgages, wealth management and credit cards.