Fortis, now the largest retail bank in the Benelux
region following the takeover of ABN AMRO last year, has announced
the launch of a major new global advertising campaign – Life is a
Curve – as it readies itself for a future in which the group will
have a presence in over 50 territories worldwide.
Adrian Martorana, general manager of global branding and
communications at Fortis, told RBI the campaign is
expected to run for “something like the next five years, whether in
the current form or slightly modified”.
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The project, Fortis’s first fully integrated advertising
campaign, urges customers to consider the phrase ‘Here today. Where
tomorrow?’, but is also positioned with a view to the future of the
group itself.
“We are going to have 10 million customers and 85,000 employees.
That ambition had to be matched by the campaign,” said Martorana,
who added the project was in the pipeline before the 2007
acquisition of ABN AMRO.
Spread across TV, print, outdoor and other media formats, the
Life is a Curve campaign has been constructed “from the outside-in
as opposed to the inside-out”, said Martorana.
“People aren’t as au fait with the products and
services a financial services company offers as they are with, say,
cars. The problem they have is a lot of financial services
advertising, because it’s been from the inside out, has said ‘trust
me’. We have turned it around and said let them make the choice,”
he said.
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By GlobalDataThe campaign, which is being conducted in collaboration with
global communications firm Grey Group, has also seen Fortis
readjust the make-up of its marketing efforts.
“For the first time in years we are back on television in
Belgium. We had shifted towards outdoor poster advertising and a
bit of print, but I think when you are starting to build a brand
and make it resonant, bring it to life, you can’t do that without
television.”
Online initiatives are also becoming increasingly important to
Fortis, which now directs 10 percent of its advertising budget to
such projects, as are concordant product launches. An expected
savings and investments product drive may be accompanied by a
similar focus on mortgages.
“Product advertising has to work hard,” said Martorana. “The
campaigns will be a little more creative, especially when it comes
to the outdoor work.”
This creativity also extends to what the bank calls ‘ambient’
advertising, a technique which will become increasingly apparent
during the summer months.
“We are thinking about what we can do to activate the brand on
beaches and places like that, in a way that will not intrude on
people’s holidays but will be meaningful.”
The campaign will launch in Belgium, the Netherlands and through
selected pan-European media from 16 June, before extending across
other territories from Q3 2008 onwards. Product campaigns are
expected to be introduced from the beginning of July, but Martorana
says it is brand equity, not just brand awareness, that is being
emphasised internally as well as externally.
“The most important thing in building a relationship with a
customer is how you stand in their mind. Brand equity is one key
thing we are trying to drive in the company.”
