Branding old as new
It was recently announced that “a new bank for Victorians” will launch in August: the Bank of Melbourne. “Finally a Bank for Victorians” states the new website. Wasn’t this what the Bank of Melbourne was – before it was axed by Westpac in 2004?
Living in Melbourne in 2004, I was rather distressed when I received a Westpac EFTPOS card through the mail to replace the Bank of Melbourne one I had been using. Not long after that, my local branch was rebranded Westpac. Living in Victoria I had enjoyed banking with a Victorian institution and liked the Melburnian vibe of the bank.
I was therefore rather incensed when, on visiting The Age website in mid March I saw it had been taken over by Bank of Melbourne launch advertising. Didn’t Bank of Melbourne cease to exist back in 2004 I thought?
Little wonder Westpac has decided to resurrect a local icon brand given Bank of Melbourne’s share of the Victorian buyout by Westpac was 26%. At the start of 2011 Westpac had 17% share of the market in Victoria and St George had only 3.5%. No doubt feeling betrayed, former Bank of Melbourne customers deserted Westpac in droves for ANZ and Bendigo.
(Interestingly enough Westpac must have learnt from its mistake because when buying Bank of South Australia several years later it retained this brand and it is successfully positioned around being an Adelaide-based bank for South Australians).
Fast forward to 2011 and Westpac presumably hopes that these former customers will now come rushing back to join the “new” Bank of Melbourne. What then, is behind Westpac’s decision to launch as if it were a brand new revolutionary organisation yet with the same Victorian focus as the old one?
Communications material makes no reference to the old bank but instead the brand is positioned as if it were an evolutionary banking offer that is finally going to change banking for Victorians. “Bank of Melbourne isn’t just another bank. For starters, we’ll be based in Victoria” the website gushes.
Not only does Bank of Melbourne try to pass itself off as an entirely new bank but references to its ownership on its website are minimal. In their About Us section St George and Bank of South Australia state that they are part of the Westpac group. Bank of Melbourne however makes no reference to Westpac on its website stating instead that it is part of Australia’s largest regional bank group, which includes St George and Bank of South Australia. The only reference to Westpac is in the legal disclaimer at the bottom of the site. Is Westpac trying to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes? Does it think that customers have conveniently forgotten its buyout and later killing of the old Bank of Melbourne?
The “new” Bank of Melbourne had the opportunity to present itself as a classic reborn in a similar way to which Mini and VW Beetle did when successfully launching their new updated models. Bank of Melbourne has been given a new modern, shiny, contemporary identity that gives it a twenty first century feel. With this new visual identity Westpac could have also acknowledged it as a relaunch and an opportunity for consumers to come back to their favourite bank. Presenting it instead as if it were an entirely new bank but with the same name, ownership and Victorian focus smacks of inauthenticity which does not engender consumer support. The old Bank of Melbourne had a strong heritage. Why not take advantage of that and build on the latent loyalty that Westpac’s consumer research uncovered for the old brand?
Only time will tell whether Westpac has made the right decision in not openly acknowledging the whole Bank of Melbourne story. It will be interesting to see whether the latent brand equity in the previous Bank of Melbourne will be enough for Victorians to embrace the new Bank with enthusiasm or whether cynicism and scepticism about it being a marketing ploy, and consumer distaste for the power of large corporations will prevail. After all, if consumers want a genuine Victorian-based, community-focused bank there’s always the Bank of Bendigo. Now and always a bank for Victorians one might say.
