2022 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

In a crowded banking market, Gulf Bank has reinvigorated its brand by pursuing a creative and messaging strategy that has transformed how they communicate with customers. This strategy has played out across multiple campaigns and has already brought significant ROI for the bank and improved customer perceptions. Our entry details this creative transformation.

Background

Gulf Bank is one of Kuwait’s oldest banks, operating for 60 years, excelling in customer services on various fronts. In recognition of Gulf Bank’s Diamond Jubilee, the Bank wanted to convey and celebrate what it does best: customer satisfaction. At the same time, as the third largest bank in the market, it needed to reinvigorate its brand and distinguish it from the market leaders while competing against newer brands. What began as a brief for a brand campaign, soon evolved into an overarching strategy to transform the Bank's marketing communications, to reposition it to be relevant to a younger audience and change perceptions through creative communications.

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

Unlike most countries, Kuwait's Central Bank restricts individual’s banking relationships with their primary bank. This means a customer cannot apply for a credit card or loan from a bank that they do not have significant relationship with (salary account). Over time, this has led to a market of sameness. Gulf Bank was the #3 bank (in size), where the top two banks had maximum share of voice because of their size. Additionally, the consumer base was rapidly changing. Millenials and Gen Z make up the largest segment of the Kuwaiti population. Any bank that wants to thrive needs to win over to this youth segment, and the usual staid approach wasn't working. Gulf Bank had a choice; either continue to exist in this state of limbo, or disrupt like a true challenger brand, and and create a personality that made people sit up and take notice.

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

Social media analysis showed metrics like engagement, was significantly lower than other service categories. This insinuated that whilst consumers had evolved, the way banks communicated had not. Either banking communication was not engaging or it was not relevant. Based on our analysis and in-depth discussion with the brand’s stakeholders, it was clear that the only way for the Bank to remain future-proof was relevance, communicated in a consistent and refreshingly different way. This is what had inspired a roadmap to reposition Gulf Bank to become more relevant, consistently deliver on promise, focus on new segments, and shake up the norms.

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

Proclaiming to be just a ‘bank that does’ is redundant. ‘That’ was replaced with ‘who’ in our communications because Gulf Bank is a bank who is there for you. Constructed of two simple words; Maakum Doum (literally translated as “always with you”), when put together, it delivers a powerful positioning and promise. It connotes a bank that believes in the success, ambitions, dreams and future of its customers. Throughout 2021, all communication across products and services continued to deliver on the Maakum Doum promise. Not only did the campaign launch a new brand positioning, but also a refreshed visual style that was bold and different. At every step through the campaign for Gulf Bank, we pushed the boundaries in how we communicate; both in messaging and visual style.

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

The rejuvenated brand promise also inspired the bank to innovate in product development that focused on new segments. A social media analysis shows that total engagement levels have increased by 69.83% over the first quarter of 2021. Gulf Bank attracted a record number of new customers, as evident in the all-time high for new deposits for their flagship AlDanah account, a mammoth increase in youth account openings, and over new prepaid card issuances that exceeded expectations. Gulf Bank remains committed to ensuring the success of the people of Kuwait. It remains committed to its promise: Maakum Doum.