In-depth Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank – With Detailed Overview

Updated on: Jul 29, 2022
Marketing Strategy Of DBS - 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 learnt in detail about the marketing strategy of The Union Bank of India. In today’s marketing lessons 101, we’ll gain insights into the marketing strategy of DBS bank – widely considered “The safest bank in Asia” for 12 years consecutively. 

What good does a great product or idea serve without even greater marketing? 

Before we dive deep into the marketing strategies employed by the DBS bank (previously known as The Development Bank of Singapore Limited), do check out our Free Digital Marketing masterclasses by our CEO and founder, Karan Shah, to fuel your marketing soul. 

So let’s find out how DBS has marketed itself as “one of the best and safest Asian banks” by strategizing its segment, Target groups, and Position.

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About DBS – Company Overview 

Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank

Founded on 16 July 1968 by the public authority to assume control over the modern financing exercises from the Economic Development Board, the bank’s primary design was to give advances and monetary guidance to the assembling and handling of businesses and to help layout and redesign existing enterprises in Singapore.

Recorded on the Singapore Exchange, the bank was set up by the Government of Singapore on 16 July 1968 to assume control over the modern financing exercises from the Economic Development Board. Today, it’s beyond what 150 branches can be found all through the country. DBS is the biggest bank in Southeast Asia by resources and among the biggest banks in Asia, with resources adding up to US$501 billion (S$650 billion) starting on 31 December 2019. 

It likewise stands firm on market-prevailing footings in purchaser banking, depository, and markets, resource the board, protections business, value, and obligation gathering pledges in different locales besides Singapore, remembering for China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, and South Korea.

Quick Stats on DBS Bank
CEO Piyush Gupta
CMO Karen Ngui
Area Served Multinational
Industry Banking and Financial sector
Market Share/ Revenue 10.49 Billion USD
Vision To make Banking Joyful
Tagline Live more, Bank less

 

Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank 

Let us now learn the Marketing Strategy of DBS bank. 

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

The DBS bank caters to the financial need of a broad spectrum of customers; be it Personal banking, Corporate, or SME banking. The bank promises to provide one-stop banking solutions. 

To enhance the personal banking experience, DBS digitalized the entire banking process, bringing banks right on the phone screen which serves users’ banking requirements 24*7. The bank also rolled out a cashpoint rewards feature for its segment of credit card holders to attract the targeted mass.  

The brand closely follows print and social media to promote activities like video tutorials on “how to open a bank account in seconds on your smartphone?” and other mediums to aid users.

With the revolution in digital banking, DBS has positioned itself as a technology and security-driven banking system that makes everyday banking “simple yet joyful” 

The brand has also emerged as “The Best Digital Bank in the World” and “Safest Bank in Asia” in recent years. 

Marketing Campaigns

Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank - Campaign 1

DBS launched a brand new marketing campaign titled “E-very-thing is in or-derrr” to highlight their seamless, intuitive and joyful banking experience. The campaign is supposed to run for 3 months focusing on the ease of banking while living the best moments of life. 

The campaign showcased the interoperability between two of its apps, DBS digibank, and DBS Paylah! to manage banking operations like booking tickets, ordering meals, and more.

The campaign was promoted on Social Media and other Owned media assets. 

Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank - Campaign 2

DBS’ 2020 Marketing Campaign in India highlighted its Singaporean heritage along with its commitment to India. The campaign was promoted across various platforms like Television, Digital, and Social Media. 

The brand film features Sachin Tendulkar as its Brand Ambassador and demonstrates its affiliation to attributes associated with Singapore, promising trust, efficiency, and stability along with the ease of everyday banking with DBS. 

The brand shares a vision of being a partner in India’s growth story while cherishing its rich Singaporean culture. The brand regarded Sachin’s endorsement as a step to make themselves relatable to billions across India. 

Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank - Campaign 3

In 2014, while most brands resorted to social media posts to increase their followers, DBS launched a First-of-its-kind mini-web series. It tells the tale of dreams, love, and food but all along with the ease of banking, and financial assistance that helped change those dreams into reality. 

The story revolves around Ken and Asha, who meet in an ATM and click instantly on their mutual love for food. The 4 episode series follows their journey from the time they meet to finally opening a restaurant of their own along with DBS bank on their financial aid.  

The campaign garnered outpourings of love with positive reviews and was well commended on social media. The brand managed to bag several awards upon the successful marketing drive of this campaign. 

Some of the many awards won for Chilli Paneer 

  • Best Social Media Campaign (BFSI) – Global Youth Marketing Forum
  • Silver Best Benchmark Content/Branded Content – Exchange4Media IDMA Awards 2015


Social Media Marketing 

DBS has a 360° presence across all the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The brand promotes its banking services and posts informational content mostly through carousel images and occasionally resorts to videos. 

Along with informational posts, the brand also posts content related to different occasions like Father’s day and various other festivities. 

Facebook – 992K followers
Twitter – 34.4K followers
Instagram – 28.5K followers 
LinkedIn – 738K followers 

The brand has a strong presence on Facebook, it is observed that it mostly posts informational content related to personal banking through images and short videos.

SEO strategies 

Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank - SEO

As per SEO ranking, it is said that the Number of keywords – below 500 is bad, above 1000 is good, and 10,000+ is amazing.

Here, we can see that https://www.dbs.com/in/index/default.page  has more than 190K organic keywords which are excellent suggesting that the digital marketing of DBS is impressive. 

It can also be seen that the website drives huge monthly traffic. Such practices help the web pages rank higher in Google organic SERP results. 

Influencer Marketing

Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank - SMM

Given that DBS is a banking and corporate sector, DBS does not rely on influencer marketing but rather endorses successful leaders and personalities to promote its services. 

DBS chose Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar as its Brand Ambassador to gain the trust and reliability of the Indian masses. 


Ecommerce Strategies 

DBS fulfils the banking needs of consumers via its websites. Users can log in with their credentials on the websites and opt to avail of various banking services like net banking. The website also lets users invest in various portfolios, and mutual funds, and it helps availing personal as well as Home loans or any loan against property, all through a well-functioning website.

Mobile apps 

Besides an efficient website, the bank also offers its users the comfort of personal banking through mobile banking through its mobile application Digibank, which can be easily found on both the Google play store and the iOS app store.  

Through the mobile application, users can enjoy a seamless banking experience like booking tickets, ordering food, paying merchants, bills, and much more at ease and comfort with guaranteed security.


Content Marketing Strategies

DBS loosely follows an infographic content marketing strategy with its posts bursting common banking jargon while simplifying operations for the masses.  It also aims to educate the masses against banking frauds and scams by creating awareness through its posts. 

Through its social media presence, the brand mostly promotes and unveils its new features through images or short videos, which are often found in newsletters and blogs.

This ends the elaborative marketing strategy of DBS Bank. Let us conclude our learning below from the marketing strategy of DBS Bank.

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Conclusion – What’s unique in the Marketing Strategy of DBS Bank?

In this lesson on the Marketing strategy of DBS, we saw how DBS never fails to project itself as The Safest Bank In Asia, garnering the trust of more than a billion people through its safety and high-end features making banking effortless on the maximum possible levels. It has always presented the need for subtle and simple banking with its tagline – “Bank less, live more.”

The company’s vision of safe and easy banking is reflected through its successful marketing campaigns winning the trust of a huge number of people. 

The brand’s collaboration with acclaimed and highly regarded personalities shows its serious commitment to serving the banking needs of people which makes up for the lack of moment marketing and influencer marketing. 

The right marketing yields numerous fruits such as propagation of brand values, promotion of new features, and more visibility. 

With time, marketing methods have changed drastically. Almost everyone these days can be found on the internet, on one medium or the other, suggesting the need to market services digitally. With the increasing importance of digital marketing, learning about the growing field is an important step. If you would like to learn more and develop skills, check out IIDE’s 4-Month Digital Marketing Course to learn more.

Alternatively, you can enrol in one of our free online masterclasses led by IIDE’s CEO, Karan Shah, to gain insight into the field of digital marketing. 

We hope this blog on the marketing strategy of DBS Bank has given you a good insight into the company’s marketing strategies.

If you like such in-depth analysis of companies just like the marketing strategy of DBS Bank check out our IIDE Knowledge portal for more fascinating case studies.

Thank you for taking the time to read the marketing strategy of DBS Bank, and do share your thoughts on this case study marketing strategy of DBS Bank in the comments section below.

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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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