GTB BANK: Will You Dare Risk Your Brand Promise?

A Promise is a Promise! When you swear by your integrity to always put “customer first” then you must abide by it.

Well, you and I know GTbank as the most customer friendly bank and that they communicate this brand promise strongly. But just take a visit to one of their branch situated at Okota, Isolo, road, you can’t but meet fed-up human traffic at the cash deposit section. A customer here at this branch should be ready to spend conservatively up to 30, 45 or more minutes just to make deposit.

Grumbling customers are made to line up in a cubicle or corridor wasting precious time. This situation has created a perception in my mind and that of others who know that a visit to GT Okota, branch is to just go and queue.

Not keeping to your brand promise is sure to affect your business either in the short or long run if you refuse to nip it in the bud. Once your customers begin to perceive your business wrongly based on their experience on contact with your business, then be sure it will reflect in your financial statement.

Agree, that we are humans and we make mistake sometimes in our service delivery to clients, but when they begin to repeat themselves, it becomes a bad identity or perception. So, create a process by which you deliberately ask your customers if they were treated right. If you treat them right, you can be sure of a repeat visit or referral. 

Here what Samson Echenim wrote recently in Punch Newspaper, “Experts say it cost an average of five times as much effort to attract a new customer as to retain new one. Customers tell 10 to 16 people about their negative service experiences. 91% customers would not patronize a business that displeases them.”

Never forget that true branding effort involves communications that inspire an emotional reaction in the recipient. Branding does not sell a specific product. Rather, it creates an image of what the brand stands for (often called "image campaigns" in the ad trade).

Please note, this is not an attempt to bring down GT , they re  my bankers- just that the truth has to be told. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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BRANDING HAS BECOME LIKE YOUR WEDDING CAKE! PART 2

Well a good way to wrap this topic up is to share a case study with you on this line of thought. I stumbled on this advert coming from the stable of Oando oil Marketing Company, here in Nigeria. It reads:
  
  To you it’s fueling an aircraft
To Us It’s Ensuring Your Safe Journey

Now, the Advert in question displays a picture of Oando’s Oil tanker fueling an aircraft. Truth is, I got attracted to the advert because it invokes an emotional reaction which is SAFETY. In other words, they are providing that fueling service with the sole purpose that their client experiences safety in the air. When you fly and you don’t have enough aviation fuel, there is great danger.
  
Branding has gone many steps beyond the physical product or service offering. It is the promise or value to be derived from your offering.

You have no brand if your target market can not discern what you stand for. Ensure you do a BRAND ANALYSIS. Once you can strategically define in one word or in a phrase what your business stands for, then you sure know branding has commenced for you.  Then, do not hesitate to strongly communicate it in all your advert campaigns till it sticks in the heart of your market.  

BRANDING HAS BECOME LIKE YOUR WEDDING CAKE!

PART 1
Yes! Believe it or not, wedding cakes have become something else. What do I mean? Today, couples have become strategic by giving their wedding a THEME. The Wedding THEME now informs the dress code, colour choice, hall décor and lastly the CAKE colour and design too. The truth is, when you appear at such a wedding you will know that they are communicating something to the audience.

This is the way to go with business. Your business must have a THEME in the market place. You don’t just exist in the air.  Branding today, not only has to do with just advertising message or publicity alone but also with what services the brand is offering, how it is presenting the offering, what types of employees are hired and how they are contributing to the overall brand.
  
Branding in these times is a strategic activity rather than just a marketing differentiator. Consumers associate with a brand because it communicates certain values to them. For example, consumers associate with Volvo because the brand stands for safety. A number of other cars provide similar safety measures but Volvo communicates strongly to the customer that the paramount thing on the company's mind is its customer's safety. So, people on whose priority list safety tops –  sure can associate themselves with Volvo.

In contrast, a true branding effort involves communications that inspire an emotional reaction in the recipient. Branding does not sell a specific product. Rather, it creates an image of what the brand stands for (often called "image campaigns" in the ad trade). Further, that created image evokes a positive emotional response in the consumer's mind.