The Hindu Business Line : Not just a PSB

Trying to get over its PSU hangover, State Bank of India is on an image-building drive. `Surprisingly SBI,' its latest campaign designed by O&M, attempts to familiarise consumers with its gamut of products. The largest bank in the country has been feeling the pinch of its competitors' high-decibel campaigns and hopes to change perceptions, especially among the younger generation and the high net worth individuals it wants to reach out to.

Claims T.S. Bhattacharya, Managing Director, SBI, "The biggest challenge for us is to fight the perception of SBI being a PSU brand. We do not want to be under the cover of a PSU brand and consumers should be able to perceive how different and advanced we are compared to the others."

High-profile campaigns from competitors such as ICICI and HDFC Bank and of late, other PSU banks such as Bank of Baroda, have made SBI beef up its ad spends to a whopping Rs 90 crore. At present, it has ten empanelled agencies under its fold including the likes of O&M, Mudra and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Graduating from product-based advertising, the largest bank wants to acquaint its existing and future consumers with a corporate campaign to highlight the range and depth of its products once again.

`Surprisingly SBI' has just finished with its first phase. Rensil d'Silva, Senior Creative Director, O&M (the agency handling the corporate campaign), says, "We felt that the younger generation did not know about the kind of products SBI had. It was perceived to be their father's bank and so the strategic intent behind the campaign was to present its products in a contemporary way." Building in humour to attract its potential consumers, SBI has unleashed a series of ads to draw attention to its products. The comic situations in its ads are based on the protagonists' ignorance of SBI products and their superiority. Bhattacharya emphasises, "We are technologically the most advanced bank in the country and provide products and services right from the student to the big industrialist. It is a bank which meets everybody's requirement." Bhattacharya claims, "The middle class does form the backbone of our bank and while we are reassuring them to stay with us, we are also addressing the younger generation from the metros and high net individuals. We believe we are not just another PSU bank and want to emphasise the fact that we are different."

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