The Hindu Business Line : Advertising? Don't bank on it!

I suspect the agencies that work for public sector banks bank with new generation banks. They seem to be clueless about the actual service that their clients are providing.

BANKS WOULD DO WELL to treat customers with warmth and concern; they are not mere "account numbers."

I am always intrigued by the advertising that is created for banks in India. Hardly surprising considering the fact that I have spent the first six years of my working life working in one bank or the other and the next 23 years of my life working for one advertising agency or the other. I continue to be a customer of one bank or the other. And I continue to be amazed at the advertising for some of the banks that I see.

Are these the same banks that I have dealt with or heard of? It seems obvious to me that some of my friends in advertising who devise the strategy and create the ads for banks have no idea of the actual service at the ground level (or is it the counter level) for most of the banks that they work for.

I know I am sticking my neck out a bit here, but I have been at the receiving end of poor service from banks for years, so I guess I have the right to give my point of view even if I ruffle the feathers of a few of my former colleagues from the banking industry and more of my present colleagues from the advertising industry.

Service? What service?

It is possible to do endearing ads about customer service (is the right word customer delight). Let me quickly clarify. I have received outstanding service from Corporation Bank because an individual employee knew me by sight and name. She would give me cash even before my cheque went to the cash counter.

I was not merely a bank customer but a preferred customer, to her, at least. Not so much of the bank as an institution but of this service-minded employee.

And then what happened? This lady got transferred and I became a mere account number. I believe I may be a high net worth individual but the bank does not share the same sentiments, at least if the actions (or inaction) of some of its other employees are anything to go by.

And this is my question to all the banks which are flaunting their customer service in their advertising. "Have you been able to institutionalise customer service through the length and breadth of your organisation? Or are you merely talking about a few isolated cases of individualised service execution?"

I suspect it is the latter, which reminds me of the cute ad for Bank of India. There is this little boy with a piggy bank. He seems to have realised the value of saving (unlike a few of us) early on in life. His piggy bank seems to be his prized possession.

He goes to sleep with it and carries it with extreme care over paddy fields and across backwaters to his trusted bank for safekeeping. He is unable to reach the counter but there is our friendly neighbourhood banker to give him a helping hand, who, with an understanding smile, puts the piggy bank into the bank's locker. Friendly! Considerate! Empathetic! There are the images and associations that Bank of India attempts to portray.

I don't bank with Bank of India so I am not in a position to gauge its service levels. But having worked in and continuing to bank with more than one nationalised bank, I can vouch for a few things. Just try asking for a statement of account on a crowded Saturday and you can "feel" the friendliness. Just reach the bank two minutes after cash hours on Sunday and you will see how considerate they are! Just ask the harassed cashier for a different denomination and you will quickly realise what empathy is.

In fact, my friend and co-trainer, Ramesh Venkateswaran, an acknowledged service expert, asks this embarrassing question of bank managers who attend our service workshop. "Have you ever stood in the queue to collect cash from the bank?" There is an embarrassed silence from the participants. "How would you know how customers feel about the waiting or poor service or soiled notes, when crisp new notes from the RBI are hand-delivered to your table?" is my question to bank employees. And I think that my friends in advertising agencies suffer from the same syndrome.

I suspect that the agencies that work for public sector banks bank with new generation banks. With due respect, I must say that they seem to be clueless about the actual service that their clients are providing. Creative excellence cannot address poor, inadequate service. As Bill Bernbach said, "Dullness won't sell your product, but neither will irrelevant brilliance."

Advertise a philosophy and a position

Let me quickly wear my advertising agency hat. It is not easy to create advertising for banks that is different and yet truthful. It seems easier to create "mere puffery" as more and more banks seem to be only about making money. Their deposit rates are the same, the lending rates the same and their approach to customers the same. So how does one differentiate? How does one stand out from the crowd?

HSBC seems to have done it pretty well in a recent commercial. The global bank claims that it knows local differences and appreciates them. There is this entertaining commercial of a vivacious girl returning home after an exhilarating shopping trip. (How can shopping be anything but exhilarating for a young woman?) She triumphantly holds up a new pair of shredded jeans that she has obviously chosen with great care. She leaves the room for a moment, presumably to get ready for the evening out where the shredded jeans will make her the cynosure of all eyes. As she leaves, her mother enters the room, stares with consternation at the torn jeans and prepares to stitch them on her sewing machine. "Different people ... different views ... " is the sign-off. A different commercial. Stays clear of hype and the trap of over-promising that some of our banks so easily fall into. Is there a lesson here for us?

To balance the ledger

I realise that banks have played a major role in our prosperity and development. But they are still living in the early '70s and the heady days of post-nationalisation India. I remember how rude some bank clerks would be to customers then. "Not happy? Go to the bank across the road," they'd say sarcastically, secure in the knowledge that the bank across the road was another nationalised bank that was equally apathetic and didn't care whether you were opening an account or closing one. Today, sadly, the bank across the road is a new-generation bank.

Like Corporation Bank, my favourite (!) nationalised bank, said it would take a clear four weeks to give an ATM card. (Very superstitious - believing in the power of even numbers!) No ATM card arrives from Corporation Bank for eight weeks! A complaint letter to the Chairman ensured that the card was delivered, however late, at my residence. Room service! Citibank, on the other hand, will give it in three working days.

A few weeks ago, I approached the same bank for a housing loan. Despite my banking with them for several years, holding several accounts and fixed deposits, the bank politely refused me a loan. I went to ICICI which gave me a loan in two weeks. And all the documents were signed at my office. I did not have to go them once! Does Corporation Bank care? Not really!

This, in fact, leads me to make a prediction about banks in general and nationalised banks in particular. You will continue to do business but will miss the urban bus. You will do great business in Karur, Hubli, Mayiladuthurai and Talegaon, but will bleed in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore. The young executive, the high net worth individual and the person who values his time and his self-respect will avoid you like the plague. My 75-year-old father-in-law and 89-year-old father will bank with you as they cannot change.

You will still continue to give loans to large corporates but they will be fickle. They will be wooed. They will flirt with other banks and you will continue to see endearing commercials of little boys with piggy banks!

Under-promise, over-deliver

It is strange that banks are comfortable talking about service in their advertising but found wanting when it comes to delivery. Why not set clear delivery standards? The time to sanction a loan, the time to collect an outstation cheque, the time to collect cash for a cheque on Sunday... Let banks put their money where their mouth is and gear themselves for competition. The solution is a clear service strategy, not just better ads.

(Ramanujam Sridhar is the CEO of Brand-comm.)

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