Yet another major state owned bank would undergo a brand makeover to woo the NextGen population. Mumbai-based Union Bank of India (UBI), the sixth largest state- owned bank with a balance sheet of around Rs 1,18,000 crore has decided to reposition itself and may even appoint a brand ambassador to launch the re-branding campaign. This is the third state-owned bank to have opted for a re-branding exercise in recent times, the other two being Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank. MV Nair, chairman and managing director of UBI confirmed the development to FE. ?The logo too will undergo a change by March 2008,?? said Nair.
The bank is presently availing the services of marketing and advertising expert, Deepak Jain – the dean of Chicago based Kellogs School of Management towards marketing and re-branding initiatives. However, Nair did not disclose the amount that the bank would be spending towards the entire re-branding and marketing exercise, but market estimates are anywhere between Rs 60 crore to Rs 75 crore. The re-branding exercise has brought about its own share of criticism from private as well as public-owned bankers. ?I need to woo customers, so re-branding and aggressive advertising initially helps to tell the world what we offer,? said a private banker. ?Whereas, PSU banks, have the cutting edge of getting more than required customer base because of they being government-owned for one and secondly due to their vast branch network across the country,? he added.
Meanwhile another chairman of a state-owned bank said: ?The re-branding exercises undertaken by the Indian banks have turned out to be futile attempts to improve the market share and increase the profitability. Indian banks are more recognised by the names than the brand images. I would rather utilise the bank?s money to improve staff-efficiencies than paying up huge sums to an advertising agency.?
Bank of India chairman and managing director T S Narayanasami said: ?Although other banks may have their own perceptions on re-branding exercises, I personally believe that it is not necessary for my bank in the current scenario. I do not agree that any sort of re-branding exercise will boost future profitabilities of our banking operations.?