Brand Update : SBI

SBI has been on an overdrive in the advertising world with a series of campaigns following the much acclaimed " Surprisingly SBI" campaign. The entire world was surprised because of the aggression of India's largest bank. The bank was successful in changing the perception of many new generation customers about the key advantages of SBI like " largest number of ATMs", branch connectivity etc.

Then came the second series of campaign " Every Indian's Banker".The ad was a big fall from the quality hype created by " Surprisingly SBI" campaign. The second series campaign was aimed at projecting the bank as a common man's bank which served no strategic purpose as such. Every one knew that SBI used to serve all class of Indians. The second series of ads served no business or brand purpose. Neither the ad gave any new information to the consumers nor it invoked any brand equity for SBI.

Then came the third series of the campaign. The series is currently running across media. The ad shows India's eminent personalities like Tagore, Bose to Tata with the caption - The Banker to this Indian. The brand is trying to show off that it was the banker to the most eminent sons of the soil.
Frankly speaking, I am not the least impressed by the new campaign. Nothing but just a waste of money.

SBI was right when it launched the 'surprisingly SBI ' campaign because it needs to remind the customers about the advantages of banking with the largest Indian bank. SBI obviously had lot of advantages like " government backing" , largest number of branches and lower rates. With the high profile ad campaign by both public sector and private banks, SBI needed such a campaign to keep its brand on top of its customer's minds.

But the second and third series aiming to create an emotional connection was a total disaster.
I was a poor customer who believed SBI claims that it had restructured itself and has shed all the previous "PSU" style functioning. Reports suggested that it had trained all the staff and has become more customer friendly than ever before.Even being a cynical fellow , I believed all the claims ..

Then one day, I visited the SBI branch to take a demand draft. It was during the Lok sabha election time. The person manning the DD counter flatly refused to issue me the DD saying that he had closed the counter early because he had to attend an election training program. I stood there wondering how can a bank refuse to issue a demand draft to a customer ? . I went to the manager and was really surprised when he admitted his inability to help me out because of staff shortage. I had to shout and threaten to file a complaint with the banking ombudsman inorder to 'motivate' the manager to take necessary steps to issue me the demand draft.

What ever that SBI do to prop up its image, nothing will work unless the bank take care of its service DNA. The bank is still to change its customer service culture. They are in the service business and people form an important part of the service marketing mix. Having said that,SBI can breathe easier because the service quality is not remarkable in other banks as well ( private banks included).

SBI just need to instill a DNA of customer service in their branches. In most of the branches, the bankers feel that they are doing some favor to the customers. In a service business, the brand is built at the moment when the customer avails the services not when he sees a campaign.

Hope that SBI will atleast once surprise me positively.

Some different perspectives : Adformula, Bhatnaturally

Related Brands
SBI

Tent Town: A New Graphic Novel Project

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to work on a graphic novel.

I have worked with other artists and writers on some projects and they never really got off the ground properly. I have had a lot of concepts running around in my brain, but I knew I wasn't ready to tackle the project or else it was so involved, I didn't know if I would ever have the time to do it properly.

Over the summer, I had posted some concept sketches that I worked on for an idea that had been gelling for about 2 years. The concept was born out of ideas of fear of loss and impending poverty. The climate of the nation's financials didn't help anything, so it just sat there waiting for some life to be injected into it.

Fast forward to Atlanta and DragonCon 09. While at dinner with CNET's Tom Merritt, the topic of conversation turned to graphic novels. Tom had always wanted to work on one but couldn't draw. I always wanted to work on one, and while I could write, I needed a writer who could navigate science fiction territory better than I could. Hence, the project Tent Town was born.

It should be made clear that this project is NOT, I repeat NOT an ongoing webcomic. This is basically a way for Tom and I to work on a project together and see where it takes us. If the response is positive, we'll continue. If it's lukewarm, we can always move the project to the back burner. This is strictly for the fun of it. And sometimes, you just have to work on projects like that.

A big thanks to Tom for agreeing to work on this with me. The story is certainly developing and we look forward to showcasing it in the coming weeks.

Dry facial skin with liquid soap complete with equipment

Dry facial skin with liquid soap complete with equipment. Facial skin rejuvenation always experience, therefore need to be cleaned by dry or facial facials face. Soft soap is needed and according to your skin type, normal, dry or oily. Because if one treatment is obtained the skin becomes damaged...

Liquid soap for the skin and facial beauty

Liquid soap for the skin and facial beauty is available in 3 bottles with different colors and scent of your own. Packaged in bottles of 250 ml content. You can use it to bathe and clean your face from the rest of the dirt or makeup. Feel the freshness of aroma therapy.

NATURALLY MADE SOAPS In the press

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know that my White Chocolate and Strawberry Gateaux soap, see the picture above, is being featured in the Western Morning News Christmas Gift Guide on Friday 27th November, so be sure to rush out and get your copy!  Dont forget to tell your friends too.

Flipkart : The book store at your door

Corporate Brand : Flipkart.com

Brand Analysis Count : 430

Flipkart is an Indian online bookstore modeled around Amazon . The site was started by two IIT graduates Mr Binny Bansal and Mr Sachin Bansal. The site became operational in 2007. Within a short span of time, Flipkart has created a lot of buzz among the book lovers.

I am a book lover and my job as an academician demands that I read a lot of books. I came to know about flipkart quite accidentally. I used to buy books from another famous e-commerce site where I was a loyal customer with a gold level book club membership.

Marketers know that it is very difficult to poach loyal customers from a competitor. Lot of factors cause customers to stick to a familiar brand. Inertia, trust , averse to risk are some of the factors that prompt customers to stick with their old way of doing things. I was also of that type.

One friend suggested me to check out flipkart and and when I did, it split my loyalty instantly. One of the main USP of flipkart is the ease of use. Unlike other e-commerce site, flipkart is very very easy to use. Searching books was very easy and the site was also minimalistic. During that time, my earlier bookstore revamped its interface and it became very difficult to search books in that site which prompted me to look for alternatives. The simple interface of flipkart and their fast delivery also inspired my colleague ( who is a voracious reader) to switch to this site.

In services marketing theory , often we teach that " high level of performance " is an attribute that can cause delight in customers. Flipkart is an example of a site that differentiate itself on its performance rather than low price.


According to reports, Flipkart 's USP is its simple interface, fast searching and free shipping. The owners have rightly identified the critical differentiating factors and their service delivery is also quite fast. According to the brand owners, the market for online bookstore is around Rs 25 crore out of the total market size of Rs 4000 crore ( source). Competition is slowly hotting up in this space also.

What is interesting about flipkart is that the brand does not rely on above the line promotions. Rather, the brand depends on SEO and word of mouth publicity to drive customer traffic to the site.

Not all things are perfect for this brand. I still buy from my old store after comparing prices. The lack of a loyalty program is a big minus for an e-commerce site like flipkart. I feel that bookstores' cashcow will be the loyal customers rather than unique visitors.

For a startup, flipkart has really succeeded in getting basics correct. The brand has the potential to lure or poach customers from other similar competitors because it can deliver its promise faster. But when the customer base grows, it is a challenge for the brand owners to keep the high level of performance intact.

Kudos for the flipkart team.

FANTASTIC WEEKEND

Whew!!!  What a weekend, I'm so tired I cant tell you that much except to say it went really, really well.  Sold out of a couple of ranges!  Lots of interest, lots of people loving the soaps and lots of sales.....  Guess what I'm going to be doing for the next few days?