Deft Growth Plays At the Altar - financial services and marketing - Brief Article

Brandweek, June 4, 2001 by Hilary Cassidy

Scorecards ready? Keeping track of the financial sector is a confusing business these days, replete with mergers, new names and logo changes. The unions between large banking institutions are reshaping not only the category but its marketing tactics as well.

"Ultimately what they would like to do is leverage the brand as a distribution system and cross-market product where it makes sense," said Joan Solotar, managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston. She was speaking of Citigroup's recent partnership with AOL Time Warner, but the thought rings true for most of the new big companies. Another common message: all want to be known as client-centric, able to deliver personal and valuable services to individuals or institutions.

The industry is finally embracing more sophisticated brand strategies as the monoliths seek to project a unified overall positioning, differentiate themselves from rivals and communicate their multiple capabilities to disparate audiences.

Not surprisingly, the longer partners have been paired, the more sure-handed and effective the marketing. Citigroup is bringing the "Citi" name to more services, dropping some of its acquired well-known brands like Salomon (in banking and brokerage) in the process. After four years of marriage, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter shortened its name to Morgan Stanley and bowed a new logo last April. "Now we're neither predecessor company," said Steve Liguori, global retail marketing officer. "We want to be one company with one overriding mission--to be the first choice of clients on all things financial. The new image is smart, trusted and dynamic."

Morgan Stanley's current campaign uses the theme "Well Connected," implying that its trained professionals are the connective tissue needed for smart business. Liguori said the message is especially timely as stock market do-it-yourselfers have learned that successfully playing the market requires expert advice after all.

Also heralding the benefits of working with pros, Merrill Lynch has opted to change its tagline, from "Be Bullish" to "Ask Merrill." The positioning plays up the depth of the firm's resources, with upcoming ads expected to focus on specific services. Analyst Solotar praises Merrill Lynch for moving its strategic focus from the total brand to more individual parts of the business while still maintaining the broader connection.

J.P. Morgan Chase, a young partnership just six months old, is still mapping out its overall message, but the main idea, according to executive vice president Frederick W. Hill, is the "concept of fusion, that the sum of the parts is clearly greater than either firm standing alone."

The "Right relationship" theme that has been used on the retail side could be applied to the wholesale business, but the firm wants to ensure its marketing execution clearly highlights the value it feels the merger has brought to customers. "On the retail side we can now offer our clients advisory and investment opportunities and on the wholesale side, we can execute any transaction anywhere in the world at anytime," said Hill.

No matter how strong the ideas, the economy will play a major role in how loudly those messages will be shouted in the coming months. Although the major banks see an opportunity to gain share from weaker competitors, most say their marketing spend will be flat or down versus last year, per industrywide cost-cutting.

Bank of America, however, will buck that trend, intending to match or increase its marketing activity this year under a mandate from new chairman and CEO Ken Lewis, who insiders hail as a champion of brand building.

"We have the strongest commitment to building the brand in the history of the company," said Dan Roselli, svp-brand and communications, who was hired away from Allied Domecq in October to oversee brand strategy in the newly created position.

Roselli said Bank of America is selling ingenuity in its current campaign, which includes consumer-friendly taglines like "Why not bank your own way?"

"The financial services industry at its core is a service industry and a retailer," he said. "When you look at customer satisfaction, being able to individualize your relationship with customers and clients is what good service organizations do."

The complexity of the category makes brand management all the more important. "It's not going to get less complicated," said Liguori. "The importance of trusted brands is going to grow in significance in consumers' minds."

                           FINANCIAL SERVICES
Brand                 Company Name, Location
1. Citigroup          Citigroup, New York
2. J.P. Morgan Chase  J.P. Morgan Chase, New York
3. Bank of America    Bank of America, Charlotte, NC
4. Morgan Stanley     Morgan Stanley, New York
5. Merrill Lynch      Merrill Lynch, New York
Brand                 Lead Agency, Location
1. Citigroup          Fallon, Minneapolis, & various
2. J.P. Morgan Chase  FCB, New York
3. Bank of America    Bozell, New York
4. Morgan Stanley     Leo Burnett, Chicago, Brouilard New York
5. Merrill Lynch      J. Walter Thompson, New York
Brand                 Total Assets  Media Spending  Quality  Salience
                       (billions)     (millions)
1. Citigroup            $111.8         $145.2        5.69       46
2. J.P. Morgan Chase      60.1           90.8        5.82       49
3. Bank of America        57.8          122.2        5.29       58
4. Morgan Stanley         45.4          283.9        6.03       35
5. Merrill Lynch          44.9          127.4        6.31       47
Brand                 Equity
1. Citigroup           26.2
2. J.P. Morgan Chase   28.5
3. Bank of America     30.7
4. Morgan Stanley      21.1
5. Merrill Lynch       29.7
Sources: Brandweek research (assets);
Competitive Media Reporting (media); Total
Research: QxS=E