ING: ORANGE ACCOUNT LAUNCH

Credits & Description:

Category: Financial Services, incl. Investor Relations and Corporate Finance

Advertiser: ING BANK

Product/Service: SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Communication Group Manager: Aslı Alemdaroğlu (ING Bank)

Media and External Relations Manager: Buket Okumuş (ING Bank)

Media and External Relations Assistant Vice President: Tulay Kilicdagi (ING Bank)

Media placement: Interview - Izmir Ticaret, Hurses, Ayrintili Haber, Yenicag - 10 January 2011

Media placement: Press Conference - Aksam, Bugun, Bursa Kent, Cumhuriyet, Denizli Yeni Olay, Dunya, Haberturk, Hurri - 21 January 2011

Media placement: Press Release - Radikal, Sabah, Sozcu, Star, Vatan, Yeni Safak, Bloomberg Business News, Yeni Me - 21 January 2011

Media placement: Lunch With Economy Chiefs - Bugun, Hurriyet, Haberturk, Milliyet, Sabah, Vatan, Gozlem - 25 January 2011



Summary of the Campaign

On January 21st, ING Bank introduced a new product named Turuncu Hesap. It is a unique savings account working like term deposit without term concern. It offers competitive interest rates, has no minimum limit, operation fees. Therefore it provides freedom in earning money.



Turuncu Hesap was more than a product for ING Bank, rather a milestone of the strategy to re-position the Bank and to attract new customers. Therefore the launch was planned to attract most attention from customers, to improve "innovative" and "accessible" perception and make ING Bank the savings bank of Turkey.



The share of savings within GDP is very low in Turkey, which is a national problem since it hinders generating domestic resource. The strategy was first to make agenda setting & issue management of this problem and then product offering. 360° communication plan was set:



• All ING staff participated

• Comprehensive media plan covered conventional media, bloggers and social media.

• Commercials for TV, radio, outdoor and newspaper.



The result was beyond expectations. A great interest from media, thousands of new customers and a more innovative and accessible bank perception…



ING Bank acknowledged the goal of positioning itself as the savings bank of Turkey by Turuncu Hesap.



The Situation

ING Group, a leading global financial service organization over 150 years, operates in fields of banking, life insurance and asset management in 40 countries. ING Bank Turkey began its operations in 2007 when local Oyak Bank was acquired by ING.



After acquisition of Oyak, main challenge was to align values of two companies for a common culture. Afterwards, the business target of attracting new customers became the current agenda. ING Bank's target in the long run was to become the savings bank of Turkey. Turuncu Hesap was shaped by Consumer Banking Department as an attractive product to contribute ING’s plans.



The Goal

The objective of ING Bank with this product was manifold:



-To increase the awareness of ING Bank

-To get new customers.

-To improve "innovative and accessible bank" perception.

-To position ING Bank the savings bank of Turkey.



The target audience was everyone who wants to make savings freely even with very small money.



Two researches were undertaken before start up:



- Quantitative periodic brand tracking survey conducted quarterly around 700 people which indicates problem in innovative and accessible attributions.

- Special qualitative research about saving habits of Turkish people, used in shaping the promises of product.



The Strategy

According to the data of Ministry of Finance, Turkey ranks the 6th from bottom among 32 countries in terms of share of savings/GDP. It is argued that low saving ratio is one of the fundamental problems of Turkish economy and should be raised to generate domestic resource. However, the main problem is to persuade people for savings.



The strategy was bringing savings issue to nation’s agenda first and presenting Turuncu Hesap from ING’s global expertise as a remedy. With its attractive offers Turuncu Hesap would take great attention and increase customer base while creating the belief that ING Bank has a product addressing Turkey’s problem.



360° communication plan was set. The most critical decision was to recruit all staff and motivate them as if it is a re-launch of ING in Turkey. Comprehensive media plan covered conventional media, bloggers and social media. Commercials for TV, radio, outdoor and newspaper ads.



Execution

Before launch;

• Internal communication: "Orange Days" started within Bank in December. Interactive meetings were held with branch managers to explain details and take their feedbacks to finalize before actual launch. Special teams were set up to visit branches for training and motivating staff.

• Issue management: 6 months before launch, CEO has started to address savings issue by all the stakeholders. A week before launch Chief Economist gave an interview about importance of savings.



Launch started with a press conference held in out-of-the-box venue, reorganized with oranges and orange juice bottles to underline innovativeness. Small orange trees were prepared for gifts. Following conference another meeting was organized with finance bloggers. Same day advertisement campaign has started on TV; next day on papers and outdoor. Facebook page was prepared from where customers may apply for product.



Following week, CEO met with Economy Chiefs of major dailies to share first results.



Documented Results

The results can be evaluated in 3 headings:



Media results were very good in terms of coverage and usage of ING’s messages: 42 news in national and local papers reached 16,985,499 people. 3 news on national TVs, 61 news on internet portals, 85 entries on Facebook, 91 tweets in Twitter and 20 entries in Friendfeed.



Facebook followers of ING Bank jumped to 15,000 from around 3,000 people.



Marketing results were a real success. Around 160,000 people applied for Turuncu Hesap in 3 months which corresponds to double of targets (confidential information).



Perception results suggested significant improvements in "close to its customers", "easy to access", "global expertise" criteria, and small increase in "innovativeness" criteria.



ING Bank introduced following "firsts" with Turuncu Hesap:

- Application without going to branch on internet

- Highest interest rate

- Term deposit without term concern