By December 2012, Dubai Bank successfully migrated customers to its new entity Emirates Islamic Bank, moving accounts and assigning a new image to branches, signage and customer collateral. Jamal Bin Ghalaita, CEO Emirates Islamic Bank spoke to Zoya Malik on the positioning and branding that supports the bank's core principles
What was the rationale for integrating Dubai Bank's activities and customers with Emirates Islamic Bank, in terms of core strengths and positioning? How was the branding rolled out?
Dubai Bank was acquired by the Emirates NBD Group in October 2011, in line with the Dubai Government's efforts to enhance the banking sector in the Emirate.
Both Emirates Islamic Bank and Dubai Bank had a legacy of individual and often complementary core strengths within the Islamic banking space. While Dubai Bank still exists under a fully active Central Bank licence with its head office in WTC, the decision was made to integrate some of the operations of the Group's two Islamic banks, which was driven by the desire to offer customers the most comprehensive Shari'ah-compliant suite of products. The Emirates Islamic Bank name had a stronger presence in the market, and so became the bank into which some of Dubai Bank's operations were integrated and so were the elements of a strong and recognisable brand name, broad range of products, high standards of service and a strong financial base combined, to form a leading customer focused Islamic bank.
The integration began in March 2012, with the announcement of a joint Executive Management team, and was completed in December 2012, on budget and within a record nine month period. What was even more remarkable was that both organisations continued to deliver on their day to day performance targets, to achieve a record growth of 60 per cent, the highest in the financial services market during 2012, while still delivering on their operational integration targets. The integration has resulted in Emirates Islamic Bank becoming the third-largest Islamic bank in the country, laying the foundation for a future of aggressive, sustained growth in 2013 and beyond.
What were key considerations in terms of external communications and marketing to customers?
From an external customer perspective, the key considerations were awareness and transparency. The mandate for the organisation was to ensure that all our customers should feel that they were served in an ethical manner. A series of customer communications was developed, highlighting key areas such as the reasons for the operational migration and the benefits it would offer, while reassuring customers about the continuation of services during and after the integration. Multiple channels were used for these communications to ensure transparency, which in turn became a key factor in the success of the process.
What are Emirates Islamic Bank's new goals and how are these being communicated? Internally and externally?
Emirates Islamic Bank has a clear stated vision of becoming "a leading regional Islamic financial services institution with a core platform in retail banking and a strong commercial banking franchise." The integrated bank aims to focus on four key customer segments - Personal Banking, Priority Banking, including high net worth segment, Business Banking - focused on SMEs and commercial banking.
Emirates Islamic Bank offers customers a wider product and service base, combined with a larger network of branches and ATMs, rooted in a strong commitment to customer service and care. On an external basis, the new vision and focus is communicated through integrated marketing programmes that reflect the banks' direction of defining the concept of lifetime value for them.
Internally, we have realigned our internal priorities, measurements and communications to ensure that this message is communicated regularly and consistently to all our staff, not just those on the front line. The introduction of awards schemes like the "Service Superstar Award" is another way of aligning the internal organisation towards a single vision of the organisation.
In the integration of banks with previously split functions, how does the bank communicate its integrity to the customer in terms of translating that the brand has "one true" feel?
It has primarily been a top-down approach to this issue at Emirates Islamic Bank. The integration has not just been restricted to technical and financial operations. Indeed, it has been a complete integration of values. A strong internal communication programme during integration has ensured that all staff and in particular, all customer-facing officials have internalised the key unified messages highlighting the new re-vitalised entity. Employee-focused programmes have also been instituted within the bank to ensure that the morale within the organisation remains high, and staff feel a sense of unity and identify with the Emirates Islamic Bank brand.
What were the business transformations in transitioning customer accounts and marketing and communications?
Customers were the primary area of focus for the organisation. As such, all activities undertaken to complete the integration were designed to minimise the impact on them. The migration of accounts from Dubai Bank to the Emirates Islamic Bank systems led to the creation of new account and IBAN numbers, which were shared with customers.
All customer accounts that were to form part of the integration were migrated to a new platform over a weekend to avoid disruption of services. Similarly, debit and credit cards as well as cheque books continued to work as normal, ensuring that the impact of the changeover was minimised from a customer perspective. Banking operations continued seamlessly for the customer, irrespective of whether they were conducting their transactions in the branches, through the call centre, at the ATM or online. From a customer perspective, the transition did not lead to a disruption in the services provided. Customers were able to walk into any one of the 49 branches to get their new account numbers and conduct their transactions, using either their existing or new account numbers.
How much has the branding cost the bank? What are the desired results?
The integration is proving to be a valuable move for Emirates Islamic Bank and its customers. Its value lies in the growth of the business, rather than the costs associated with the consolidation. The results are already visible in the market. During 2012, Emirates Islamic Bank became the fastest growing bank in the UAE, as its operating profit showed a growth rate of over 60 per cent In 2013, the strategies and focus of the bank continue to demonstrate their success, with the first two months of the year demonstrating enviable results.
What is interesting about the visual aspects such as colours and logo and how easily has the branding been accepted?
As a part of the integration Emirates Islamic Bank and Dubai Bank made a conscious decision to bring selected operations of each bank together under a single brand. Emirates Islamic Bank undertook a comprehensive research project to assess the value of both brand names, the results of which clearly indicated the higher level of brand equity resting within the Emirates Islamic Bank name. With this in view, the organisation made a conscious decision to retain the Emirates Islamic Bank name and bring the vast majority of Dubai Bank customers under that brand.
When we look at the brand it is clear that the use of the word "Emirates" makes the bank a pan-UAE entity. The use of the word "Islamic" in the name also offers a clear indicator of the bank's values. In conjunction, these two words create a sense of strength and growth coupled with transparency and the highest ethical standards. Rather than using a tagline, we allow the name to speak for itself, as it conveys exactly what the bank is and what it stands for. The overall response to the brand has been overwhelmingly positive and its acceptance among its increased customer base, has been universal.
What were some of the hurdles and successes in the branding and communication process?
Overall the process has been relatively painless. Since Emirates Islamic Bank did not opt to rebrand, rather it chose to use the more recognised and accepted brand as its focus, the results have been highly positive. The key in making the transition easier is to ensure that the unique qualities that identify the brand such as transparency, customer focus and dedication to the highest standards of service are maintained. This is exactly the mindset with which Emirates Islamic Bank entered into this transformation and as a result the level of customer acceptance has been overwhelming.
How important is realistic planning for integration of operations and branding? What were the priorities?
Realistic planning of the timeline was crucial to the success of the integration and efficient operations of Emirates Islamic Bank, post integration. While we would have liked to speed up the process, it was important to ensure that the systems - once in place - would work efficiently. We preferred to deliver efficient tried and tested systems that would deliver results every time. We also knew that if we did not meet our customers' expectations on the first day after the integration, we may lose many of them. As a result, the planning and overall coordination were essential. Our top priority was to ensure customer convenience and satisfaction. The integration process took about nine months and was completed successfully in December 2012.
How was the branding coordinated with 'one message' along all media and social media channels?
During the integration process, the bank made a conscious choice to stay in the traditional media space. Online and alternate channels like the website, email, mobile apps and SMS were used for communications.
© Banker Middle East 2013
