HSBC reviews $70m China marketing duties
by Robin Hicks Media Asia 07-Aug-08, 05:11
BEIJING - HSBC is reviewing its US$70 million marketing activities in China as the world's second-largest bank pursues an aggressive expansion strategy in the world's fastest-growing banking market.
The company, which this week reported a 29 per cent fall in first-half profits due to heavy losses in the US, is pushing for more response-driven marketing across all media in China, its most important strategic market.
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The initiative is understood to have been prompted by Team HSBC, the WPP agency collective that has managed the bank’s marketing and advertising globally since 2004.
Creative agency JWT, direct agency RMG Connect and media buyer GroupM will attend training sessions and workshops led by marketing consultants hired to facilitate the process. The review will scrutinise HSBC’s China marketing budget, how it is divided between agencies, and how it is split between different channels - for example, HSBC spends $30 million on its sponsorship of airport walkways between planes and terminals alone.
“The challenge for any marketer in China is as much about brand-building as it is about efficient targeting,” said a source. “But the reality is that both are extremely difficult in this country. We are doing what any large company should be doing.”
HSBC was one of the first foreign banks to incorporate locally following the opening up of China’s financial services industry in 2006. It is now the largest foreign bank in China, although it is still dwarfed by local rivals.
China’s ‘big four’ local banks hold more than 60 per cent of bank deposits while foreign banks hold less than six per cent.
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