The situation
After the so-called ‘Berlin Banking scandal’ of 2001, The ‘Berliner Sparkassen’ were looking for a campaign to help them repair their damaged brand. What they had in mind were ads that reflected the free-wheeling spirit of the city, but didn’t break the ‘corporate design’ rules of their mother company and its countrywide ad-campaigns.
The solution
Our proposal tried to get away from the ‘bad vibes’ that surrounded the Sparkasse in previous months. Instead, we tried to regain trust by focusing on the bank’s most visible brand-ambassadors: the employees in various small branches around Berlin. By creating ads that highlighted their sometimes spunky, always friendly character, we tried to give the brand a likeable face that customers could put their trust in.
From the niche to the masses:
FIMATEX by Société Générale
The situation
The French bank ‘Société Générale’ decided to place its niche like online-broker in the limelight. To make the brand appealing to the mass market, they needed a campaign that redefined the brand, as well as an overhaul of the company’s structure.
Our solution
If Fimatex wanted to compete on the mass market, their highly complex online tools, designed for qualified and experienced investors, needed to be explained in a very simple way. We created attractive publicity materials that explained the basic principles of the brand and its tools to potential customers. And just in case, we also installed a highly qualified call center to field potential questions.
The testimonial
We hired the Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher as our brand ambassador. We liked his speed and his friendly appearance. It also helped that he already dabbled as an active online-broker in his free time.
The result
The entire campaign was based on TV-spots, print-ads, online-advertising and a regular presence in financial trade shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We also installed a system for direct marketing with accompanying premium advertising. After the wrap-up of the campaign, Fimatex had established itself as the only sizeable foreign online-broker on the German market.
The success in numbers
Customer growth increased by 196 %, completed orders increased by 166 % (source: Fimatex pressreport). With our campaign Fimatex broke into the Top Five German online-brokers.
Berlin Stockmarket: Tradition meets future.
About the Berlin stockmarket
The ‘Börse Berlin’ was founded in 1685 by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhem in close proximity to the ‘Berliner Stadtschloss’, the king’s residence in the centre of Berlin. Today, the ‘Berliner Börse is one of the most important and modern regional stock exchanges in Germany. It’s considered to be grounded, reliable and internationally connected.
Our work
To further cultivate the brand, we created a concept that adjusted their profile to a new era seeing as online trading had changed people’s definition of what a trading floor really is. Our new communication design was intended to launch the established brand into a new era of trading.
