Georgian lender JSC TBC Bank has scored a runaway
success with its use of social media campaigns as part of its
campaign to promote its tagline ‘My Bank Is On My Side’. JSC TBC
head of marketing and communications Salome Kokosadze discusses the
bank’s innovative use of social media with Douglas
Blakey
Go deeper with GlobalData
JSC TBC Bank may
not be among the first names to spring to mind in European banking.
But the Georgia-based lender deserves to be front of mind in terms
of its innovative use of social media.
It has not only used Facebook to
promote its brand and serve as an important communication tool;
Facebook has become an integral part of the bank’s marketing and
communications strategy.
JSC TBC head of marketing and
communications, Salome Kokosadze, discussed with RBI the
thinking behind the bank’s social media initiative.
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By GlobalDataRBI:
What is the background to JSC TBC’s use of social
media?
Salome Kokosadze
(SK): JSC TBC Bank has always been active on almost every
marketing platform but its transition to social media (mainly on
Facebook) started only around 18 months ago when Facebook became
the number one social network in Georgia according to the number of
users and their visits.
It was a big challenge as TBC Bank
was the first ever bank in Georgia to introduce a social media
campaigns using Facebook.The goal of our campaign was to create
additional value for JSC TBC Bank clients by offering them special
services via Facebook.
Facebook’s presence is very strong
in Georgia (more than 630,000 users), and clients of JSC TBC Bank
consider it to be a very important communication tool.
We wanted to create a special
atmosphere online via the bank’s Facebook Page, where our target
audience could have immediate, frank, and direct relations with the
bank.
We therefore made basic banking
services accessible via Facebook for clients and the general
public.
RBI: What banking
services are available via the bank’s Facebook page?
SK: On the JSC TBC
Bank Facebook Page, fans and clients are able to:
- apply directly for a loan –
several hundred applications were submitted via Facebook in the
first week the service launched; - get up-to-date financial
information – fans can find live currency rates, world market
indexes, and commodity prices, allowing them to plan their future
financial wealth and react to changing market conditions as soon as
possible; - get a qualified consultation
on every banking subject they are interested in—clients can discuss
personal financial issues with TBC Bank consultants, get solutions
to their banking issues, and have a log of their conversation
emailed to them; and - apply for job positions –
anyone interested in starting their career in TBC Bank can apply
directly from Facebook.
RBI: Can you share
some details of the campaign performance to date?
SK: The
campaign on Facebook is designed to promote the bank’s core motto:
’My Bank Is On My Side’, and show our clients and the general
public that TBC Bank is everywhere its clients are, even on
Facebook.
The virtual services have been
created specially for Facebook, along with the opportunity for our
customers to have more comfortable communications with the
bank.
The campaign has achieved
significant results. We have achieved higher awareness about the
bank and its products.
We have also helped solve customer
issues and create happier clients. The JSC TBC Facebook Page has
become a ’real’ virtual branch of TBC Bank.
Half of the customer feedback has
been appreciative of the bank, the other half has highlighted some
problems. But what matters here is that JSC TBC Bank listens to the
customers and tries to anticipate most of the opinions and change
for the better, after all ’Thank You for Relationship’ is one of
TBC’s favourite mottos.
In two months after going live, the
JSC TBC Facebook Page attracted 23,000 new fans and over 50,000 Tab
Views. Our campaign showed one of the highest engagement rates from
our fans, accumulating 874,000 Post Views.
Behind these rough numbers also
stand the real people – non-clients and clients of JSC TBC Bank,
who have had hundreds of problems solved and hundreds of tough
questions answered.
Hundreds of them have also acted on
the advice they received from us, which has brought benefits to
everyone in terms of improved banking service and higher client
satisfaction.
RBI: How else is the
bank using Facebook?
SK: JSC TBC Bank’s
presence and operations on Social Media are supported by
LeavingStone, to provide both Social Media Marketing services as
well as the development of various applications for the bank.
JSC TBC Bank is presented on
Facebook with two pages: the first one is JSC TBC Bank’s official
page and the second is the official page for TBC Smart Club: the
loyalty club for JSC TBC Bank clients.
These two pages are very different
in terms of content and the goals they serve.
JSC TBC Bank’s official page is
almost a virtual branch of the bank on Facebook, while the page of
TBC Smart Club is focused on creating value for loyal customers by
offering interesting applications, competitions and various fun
campaigns that are also implemented in reality, outside the online
environment.
RBI: How has the bank
promoted customer loyalty on the second Facebook page?
SK: The idea behind TBC Smart Club is to promote
‘Unforgettable Experiences!’ that in fact encompasses everything
what the brand TBC Smart Club stands for. This page on Facebook
unites more than 245,000 users, giving them the chance to express
themselves the best way they can.
This is the place where the focus
from organisation is transferred to each user putting them into the
centre and the bank stimulates certain interests of its loyal
customers and makes an effort to spread information about these
interesting people outside the virtual world and support them.
As a result of such activities, JSC
TBC Bank published a book, What Facebook Has Done, that in
fact started as a literature contest for young bloggers.
‘My Art’ was another
photo-competition followed by an interesting exhibition in TBC
Gallery where users could exhibit their paintings and other work of
art.
All these campaigns started on
Facebook and then attracted coverage from mainstream Georgian media
and introduced those interesting people to the broader
audience.
RBI: What else have
you done on Smart Club?
SK: Other examples
include ‘My Magic Box’. Since we believe that sharing kind wishes
and love will bring happiness, the bank launched this application
in order to surprise customers and involve more people in the fun
of TBC Smart Club last Christmas.
Each user of the TBC Smart Club had
an opportunity and unique way to wish Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year to their friends via sending Magic Cards.
The more cards a person received,
the more their Magic Box grew in size. Users could also customise
their boxes with their own designs. The intriguing part of the
campaign was that people could not see the received cards until 7
January , the Orthodox Christmas. The boxes full of love and
happiness were opened on Christmas Eve.
‘My Magic Box’ became a popular
tool for TBC Smart Club members to share the happiness and joy of
one of the best days of the year, raising awareness for the bank
and the club. 25,000 users were involved in the campaign and sent
out 70,000 Magic Cards.
RBI: What sort of
challenges has the bank met to use Facebook to its
fullest?
SK:
The most recent campaign and application on TBC Smart Club is
SmartBooth: the photo booth simulation on Facebook.
As photos can represent an emotion
or experience that never will be forgotten, TBC Smart Club gave
Facebook members the chance to take photos directly via the
Facebook application and set it up as a profile image.
Users who expressed their emotions
in a creative way were rewarded with cameras so they would always
have the chance of taking a snapshot of their best experiences.
Creating a Facebook page for the
first time was one of the biggest challenges for JSC TBC Bank as
the culture of social media didn’t exist in Georgia at all.
While operating on social media,
the bank has always followed the principle of being important to
online users, offering a great number of innovative campaigns and
applications.
RBI: And
crowdsourcing? Is this part of the bank’s campaign?
SK: TBC Bank
launched a new crowdsourcing campaign via Facebook application,
where fans could choose or offer places where they wanted the bank
to install ATMs or open a branch. Before this campaign these
locations were selected by bank staff
Enabling customers to contribute
their ideas and express their opinions has brought about some very
important results. More than 3,000 users were involved in a
three-week long campaign and, as a result, 10 ATM locations were
chosen by Facebook fans which appeared to be more important than
places bank staff had originally planned.
RBI: How has Facebook
integrated with the bank’s wider marketing strategy?
SK: JSC TBC Bank’s
strategy is that social media is an integral part of the entire
marketing process. Almost everything that happens offline is also
supported online. As an example we can launch a game called ‘Find
10,000!’ and a ‘Deposits’ game that is part of bank’s deposits
campaign.
This has been running for two years
to promote the benefits of keeping money in the bank rather than
elsewhere.
In both cases small teaser applications have been launched on
Facebook in order to support the campaigns and increase the number
of people that have been involved in the games.
