Profound Marketing Strategy of Bank of Communications – With Campaigns

Updated on: Jan 5, 2023
marketing strategy of Bank of Communications - featured image

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My name is Aditya Shastri and I have written this case study with the help of my students from IIDE's online digital marketing courses in India.

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In our previous article, we learned in detail about the marketing strategy of Union Bank of India. In this article, we are going to elaborate on the marketing strategy of Bank of Communications with the services they provide you such as BComBEST, BComEASY Business Credit, BOCOM FORTUNE Services, Mobile Banking Services, BCOM MPF Services, FWD LIFE, and many more. 

The objective is to help you gain insights into how the Bank of Communication grew to be the fifth-largest bank in mainland China and one of the banks that printed banknotes in contemporary Chinese history. 

The world is now entirely online, and marketing is the backbone of every company, as you can see. Marketing has migrated to the digital environment along with users from all over the world. If you’re interested in mainstream digital marketing, check out IIDE’s Free MasterClass on Digital Marketing 101 delivered by our CEO and founder, Karan Shah.

We will completely discuss the unique marketing strategy of Bank of Communications in this blog post. But first, let’s learn more about the Bank of Communication before moving on to this topic.

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About Bank of Communications – 

marketing strategy of Bank of Communications - Bank of Communications logo
Source – Wikimedia Commons

In order to repurchase the Beijing-Hankou Railway from its Belgian owners and give it Chinese management, Liang Shiyi proposed the establishment of a Bank of Communications in 1907. One of the banks that has been issuing notes the longest in contemporary China is BoCom, which was established in 1908. On April 1st, 1987, BoCom reopened after being reorganized. 

Since its re-establishment, BOCOM—first China’s national shareholding commercial bank—has been serving in dual capacities as both the successor to a century-old national banking brand and the leader of China’s banking reform. In China’s banking transformation and reform, BOCOM has accomplished six “firsts”: 

  • The first to establish a shareholding structure for its capital and form of ownership.
  • The first to establish a centralized system for an organization based on cost-benefit and market principles.
  • The first to open up the Chinese banking sector to competition.
  • The first to develop assets/liability ratio management and implement it to control risk and business operations.
  • The first to establish new bank/business ties through a two-way selection process.
  • The first commercial bank to combine banking, insuring, and securities operations.

In order to further develop BOCOM into a modern financial organization under a century-old national brand with better corporate governance, sufficient capital, rigid internal control systems, safe operations, impeccable service, and return, and strong global competitiveness, the State Council approved BOCOM’s general plan on developing the reform of its shareholding structure in June 2004. This was done with the goal of advancing China’s banking reform, which had already been well underway.

Through the reformation, BOCOM has improved its organizational structure, and effectively brought in the mainland and foreign key investors including HSBC, the National Social Security Fund, and China SAFE Investment Ltd. The first commercial bank based in China to list beyond the Chinese mainland was BOCOM, which did so on June 23, 2005, in Hong Kong.

BOCOM was admitted to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on May 15, 2007. With its “well-defined development plan, perfected governance practices, well-developed banking network, innovative operation and management, top-notch banking service, and sound financial status,” BOCOM has now developed into a reputable advanced commercial bank functioning under a century-old national brand.

Quick Stats –

CEO Wei Chen
CMO Yi Ping Peh
Area Served Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America.
Industry Financial Services
Market Revenue 143.568 billion yuan in the first half of 2022
Vision “Building the best wealth management bank in China”
Tagline “A century of BoCom, your wealth management bank”

 

Marketing Strategy of Bank of Communications –

In order to engage customers and develop profitable relationships with them, a marketing strategy is essential for BOCOM International. After getting enough knowledge of the company, let’s begin the marketing strategy of bank of communications.

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Bank of Communications segments its services into – 

  • Personal Banking 
  • Private Banking 
  • Corporate Banking 
  • Investment

Bank of Communications correctly chose the target market whose requirements and expectations fit the company’s resources and skills after breaking the huge diversified customer market into smaller ones with homogeneous features. Bank of Communications has chosen one or more segments based on the characteristics of the segments and the company’s resources, competencies, and growth aspirations. 

BOCOM International has positioned its company in a way that gives customers a clear idea of what they are buying and serves as a point of reference for them. 

Bank of Communications is positioned as One of China’s top providers of financial services.

Marketing Campaigns

marketing strategy of Bank of Communications - marketing campaign

This campaign’s primary goal was to –

  • Build and maintain the reputation of the BComBEST service as well as the brand.
  • Increasing public knowledge of the BComBEST service.
  • Entice new clients through social media and the Internet.

Following the launch of the campaign, they had amassed 400,000 views and 17,000 clicks in total. The TV commercial of BComBEST Thematic received a Silver – Galaxy Award in recognition of television commercial recognition for their outstanding work, while the associated graphic design received a Bronze – Galaxy Award in the category of print advertisement.

MeComm sponsors the award to recognize exceptional success in product and service marketing. Every year, an international tournament is held. Per each category, only one gold, one silver, and one bronze award will be granted.

marketing strategy of Bank of Communications - marketing campaign

Your dependable and knowledgeable wealth management partner, BComBEST Service, offers committed services while you increase your money and add value at various phases of life, helping you to have a prosperous future. 

In this campaign, they mentioned the features of BComBEST,

  • Customized Services
  • Services for Wealth Management
  • Exclusive Benefits
  • Retailer Offers

marketing strategy of Bank of Communications - marketing campaign

This marketing campaign was a success. Due to this campaign, people were aware of one of the services offered by BOCOM. They clearly talked about the USP of “ BOCOM HK” i.e you could stay up to date on the bank’s goods, services, and marketing materials. Additionally, you could link your personal WeChat account to your internet banking, which would allow you to control your banking account information through the “BOCOM HK” WeChat official account.

Social Media Marketing

The Bank of Communication is not active on its social media platforms.

  • Facebook: 91 followers
  • Instagram: 30
  • Linkedin: 4K+

Among the platforms they are present they have the maximum followers on LinkedIn.

If you want to learn more about how to use social media for your growth Social Media Marketing Course will definitely help you.

SEO Strategies 

marketing strategy of Bank of Communications - ubersuggest seo screenshot

Source – UberSuggest

According to SEO rankings, the number of keywords less than 500 is bad, and 1000 + is good with 10,000 being outstanding. There are approximately 7093 keywords available here, which indicates that BOCOM’s SEO strategy is effective. You’ll see that the Bank of Communication’s website receives about 615500 organic monthly visitors, which is a remarkable number of people.

There is no substitute for SEO strategy, and BOCOM makes extensive use of it. As we’ve previously seen, online searches account for the majority of its traffic.

Influencer Marketing

Bank of Communications collaborated with one of the famous Chinese actors Wang Yibo on one of the endorsements of the Bank of Communication credit card. Besides acting, dancing, singing, and rapping, Wang Yibo is also a professional road motorbike racer and a TV broadcaster from China. As a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band Uniq, he made his debut. 

E-Commerce Strategies

Customers of the Bank of Communications were able to invest without danger. Wealth Management Connect’s rules and regulations are very new, and the Mainland and Hong Kong regulatory agencies may grant surveillance and make adjustments to the relevant legislation and operating requirements at any moment, which may impose policy and regulation risk.

Mobile Apps

Bank of Communications had made it possible for its customers to use mobile banking services. For the convenience of BOCOM consumers, BOCOM has even established a customer-friendly and highly easy-to-use mobile banking application, which can be simply accessible via the app store or Google Play. This app is not available in India as it does not provide services here.

Content Marketing Strategies

The process of developing and disseminating material that is meant to deliver value to a certain customer segment is known as content marketing. The content is usually free and is intended to engage people with the brand in order to eventually sell them a product or service.

Large multinational corporations, such as BOCOM International, manage a variety of strategic business units across many industries. BOCOM International needs a strong business portfolio strategy in order to optimize its resources and harness core skills. BOCOM International will benefit from business portfolio planning as it makes the following decisions.

This ends the marketing strategy of Bank of Communications. Let’s conclude the facts and end the case study.

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What’s Unique in the Marketing Strategy of Bank of Communications?

Presently, the Bank of Communications is one of the top five main commercial banks in China, with over 2,800 branches in over 80 major cities. Aside from Hong Kong, the bank maintains foreign branches in New York, Tokyo, and Singapore, as well as representative offices in London and Frankfurt.

BOCOM, on the other hand, needs to strengthen its influencer marketing because boosting the bank’s brand recognition, products, and services with some well-known and popular faces would eventually increase the company’s sales.

Digital marketing is critical as it connects a company with its customers when they are available on the internet and is effective in many fields. It connects businesses with their target customers using Google SEO and PPC, social media marketing, and email marketing. If you want to learn more and expand your skills, check out IIDE’s 4-Month Digital Marketing Course and 11-Month Digital Marketing Course.

Additionally, to acquire insight into the topic of digital marketing, you can enrol in one of our free online masterclasses hosted by IIDE’s CEO, Karan Shah.

We hope this article about the marketing strategy of Bank of Communications has given you a fair understanding of the company’s marketing tactics.

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Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs......[Read full bio]

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