vietnam national university, HANOI
hanoi school of business

Tran Sy Mau A STUDY & SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPING
BRAND OF AN BINH BANK IN THE PERIOD 2005-2010

master of business administration thesis


Master of business administration thesis

Supervisor: dr. nguyen viet anh Hanoi – 2007

v TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i
ABSTRACT ii
TÓM TẮT iii
DECLARATION iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii
LIST OF FIGURES viii
LIST OF TABLES viii
INTRODUCTION 1
1. Background 1
2. Objectives & aims 2
3. Research question 3

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1.3. Building banking brands 20
1.3.1 Introduction about brand in banking 20
1.3.2. Factors in building strong brand 25
1.3.3 Communicating banking brands 36
1.3.4 What brand model for bank 41
1.4. Experience in building and developing banking brands 43
1.4.1 Failures and Success in building brand 43
1.4.2 Experience in building brand 44
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & EMPIRICAL FINDINGS 48
2.1 Research Approach 48
2.2 Research Method 49
2.3 Data collection method 49
2.4. Overview of the case ABBank 51
2.4.1 Introduction 51
2.4.2 History and development process of ABBank 52
2.4.3 Mission, Vision and Objectives of ABBank 54
2.5 Empirical findings 57
2.5.1 Empirical Data 57
2.5.2 Data analysis 58
2.6 Status of brand development in ABBank 72
2.7 Why are Vietnamese banking brands not great? 74
2.7.1. Overview of banking brand in Vietnam 74
2.7.2. Actual existences of bank branding in Vietnam 75
2.7.3. Why are Vietnamese bank brands not great? 80
CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPING BRAND OF ABBANK 86
3.1 Orientations develop banking industry in coming time. 86
3.1.1 Objective and strategy in developing Vietnam‘s banks in coming time 86
3.1.2 Government orientation in developing banking services 88


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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1- 1: Importance of brand to banks 20
Figure 1-2: Seven factors in building successful brands 26
Figure 1-3: Brand resonance model 42

Figure 2-1: Highlight of performances 2004-2006 54
Figure 2-2: Performance Results in the period 2004-2006 55
Figure 2-3: Employees‘ Understanding about brand 61
Figure 2-4: Understanding of employees about aspects of brand 62

to compete in fierce competitive environment. An Binh bank (ABBank) is not
exception. To compete with competitors from domestic to foreign, each bank must
have good brand. Below are some reasons, which make me to, decided chose this
topic what makes ABbank to develop its brand in coming time
First, under competitive pressures from foreign banks, domestic banks more
increasing, ABBank cannot develop without development planning of brand and a
certain brand image in customers ‗mind. Therefore, ABBank needs to have a plan to
develop its brand in coming time, before cope with direct competition from foreign
banks.
Second, Vietnam participates into WTO (world trade organization), more
and more foreign banks penetrate into Vietnam market, and this makes a large
pressure for Vietnam‘s banks.
Third, ABBank changed operation in commercial and investment banking in
a short time and it is new one in Vietnam financial market. Therefore, ABBank
must do many things to build and develop a believable image in customers trust.
Furthermore, ABBank has difficulties in finding solutions for developing brand as
well as improve brand image in customers‘ mind. Therefore, ABBank has to not

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only compete with domestic commercial banks but also prepare finance and human
resource to guarantee existence and development in fiercely competitive
environment as well as cope with foreign banks. At this moment, ABBank has not
yet an overall plan to develop its brand. Therefore, it must have a plan to develop
brand if it wants to exist and develop in fierce condition in today. Moreover, there
are sub-reasons what make me interest in studying brand in banking, that is brand in
banking is new concept in Vietnam and the number of banks have strong brands is
very little.
2. Objectives & aims
The purpose of this study is to show the issues of ABBank case and propose

the brand can reassure the customer and add functional as well as emotional value.
Based on the discussion so far, the research problem is stated as:
Research question 1: What solutions can help ABBank develop its brand in the
period from now to 2010?
However, to have solutions for developing brand of ABBank, the study
needs consider the issues discussed in this paragraph, the research problem is
further narrowed down as one following sub research question.
Research question 2: What are difficulties and challenges facing AnBinh?
4. Scope of work
The study is conducted only in ABBank as a sample of Vietnam banking
system. However, the thesis only study in Hanoi branch of ABBank about 150 to
200 personal customers will be chosen in some transaction offices of ABBank in
Hanoi to fulfill the objectives detailed above. The period is chosen for the study is
only in 5 years from 2005-2010 and in this thesis, the study focus on finding
difficulties and challenges and then propose solutions for ABBank to build and
develop its brand in the period 2005-2010.
5. Data & process
With the main objectives are to find solution for ABBank to develop its
brand in the period from now to 2010. Study takes information from many sources
as following:
Data source: Bank‘s information & findings, Internet, papers

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The way to process data: The method to process data is mainly by excel
Data has been taken from some websites, which specialize on branding in the world
and Vietnam such as Brand channel, Interbrand, Businessweek or vneconomy,
saigontimes and so on. Information from survey/interviews more than 100
customers in Hanoi as well as over 100 employees of ABBank in Hanoi branch.
6. Methods & approaches

 The time of the study from 2005-2010 is another limitation.
 Customers in surveys are mainly personal not consist of enterprises.
 Numbers of customers to interview and survey is not large.
9. Expected results
The study expects to show the following findings:
 Propose solutions for building and developing brand in ABBank.
 Understanding more detail and deeply about brand in banking
 Finding the difficulties and challenges in the process of brand in ABBank
 Giving out the best solutions for developing brand in ABBank
10. Follow –up (potential)
Further study will be taken on building and developing ABBank brand after
a period. Other way of study will be analyzing the importance of brand to banks in
ABBank particularly and all over banks in Vietnam in generally. This study is an
information channel and reference source for banks in Vietnam when they want to
develop their brands. Apply successfully in ABBank in the further future.
11. Short introductions
With objective is considering brand development in ABBank, therefore, this
study concentrates on studying brand problem in ABBank case. The result of study
will respect the status of brand development all over Vietnamese banks.
Furthermore, the study will be conducted as a case study limited to ABBank and
certainly, will not directly be applicable to other banks in Vietnam. In addition, this
study will only examine branded difficulties and show solutions for ABBank. Due
to the standardized thesis format and for the sake of clarity, this thesis will be
divided into five clearly defined parts and chapters as follows:

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11.1. Introduction
This part presents the topic and the research question to the readers. It seeks
to build interest in the topic and help the readers understand the motivation for

Since 1 January 2007, Vietnam became formal member of WTO; this is an
opportunity for Vietnam economy as well as most enterprises. However, go together
opportunity is challenge and challenge in here is extremely large, if we have no well
preparation we will fail, especially to banking industry, which is easily affected by
international and multinational corporations such as HSBC of UK or Citibank of
America… With a strong power of finance and labors force as well as over one
hundred years experience they are easy to defeat domestic banks when they are
permitted to open their own banks in Vietnam market. It is necessary to build and
develop brand and this is an important task even necessary mission to all. Why?
Building brand in order to assert banks‘ position, credit, and reputation is the most
important task in this period. Through building brand, banks improve image,
competitive ability, develop market, keep market share sustainable and enhance
competitive ability to not only among domestic banks but also among foreign
banks.
Branding is a relatively new concept for the banking industry. Banks are
slowly realizing that they need to manage their strategic assets, too. Competition in
the global business environment is tough and achieving a unique position and
competitive advantage becomes more and more difficult and expensive. The high
level of investment necessary to maintain production capabilities and rising cost of
R&D for product differentiation makes strong marketing capabilities and unique
brands pre-requisites for modern companies to cover these heavy investments. How
can companies and management teams catch up?
1.1 Understanding Brands
1.1.1 What is brand?
According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is defined as a
name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify
the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them

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consumers a message about a product. Consumers saw the brand as encompassing a

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specific set of values, which would lead them to reject an alternative unless their
perceptions were altered or other factors.
1.1.2 Types of brand
A brand in many ways is an external manifestation of an internal culture.
The essential point of a brand is that it inspires customer loyalty and/or a method of
distinguishing one product from similar rivals. For the owner of a brand, two
important characteristics should flow from the existence of the brand. There are two
types of brand.
Manufacturer brands
Manufacturer brands are created by producers and bear their chosen brand
name. The producer is responsible for marketing the brand. The brand is owned by
the producer. By building their brand names, manufacturers can gain widespread
distribution and build customer loyalty.
Own label brands
Own-label brands are created and owned by businesses that operate in the
distribution channel – often referred to as ―distributors‖. Own-label branding – if
well carried out – can often offer the consumer excellent value for money and
provide the distributor with additional bargaining power when it comes to
negotiating prices and terms with manufacturer brands negotiating prices and terms
with manufacturer brands.
1.1.3 Function of brand
Brand is very important to all banks. Especially in this stage, when
competitive pressure is large and a lot of difficulties and challenge come to
domestic banks. Therefore, to understand about function of brand is the way help
banks to use brand as a tool in the development process. Below are some functions
of brand and these expressing the importance of brand to a bank.

focus on internal and external stakeholders, including staff; a need to monitor the
whole service delivery process and the role of strong organizational values in
motivating staff to deliver the services brand.

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1.1.5 Key Concepts in Building Brand
Brand is common term and in that term, there are quite many concepts
related to it. In this study, the research focuses mainly on finding difficulties and
challenges as well as solution for develop bank brand. This section will examine
key concepts in this process. Bank brands are different application of the brand
concept; however, the theory presented applies to bank.
Brand Personality is defined as ―the set of human characteristics associated
with a brand (Aaker, 1996, p.347). The brand image building strategy implies the
definition of a brand personality and a user personality. The match between brand
personality and consumer personality is also an underlying concept of the
relationship marketing which is based on the self-image congruence notion. Brand
Personality is an important source of imagery, a soft attribute of image. According
to Aaker (1996), brand personality can create brand equity according to three
models: self – expression model, relationship basis model and functional benefit
representation model.
Brand Identity includes brand names, logos, positioning, brand associations
and brand personality. A good brand name gives a good first impression and evokes
positive associations with the brand.
Brand Awareness is a status when people recognize your brand as yours.
This does not necessarily mean they prefer your brand (brand preference), attach a
high value to, or associate any superior attributes to your brand, it just means they
recognize your brand and can identify it under different conditions. Brand
awareness consists of both brand recognition, which is the ability of consumers to
confirm that they have previously been exposed to your brand, and brand recall,

corporate branding? Corporate branding is a potentially strong tool for re-aligning a
corporate strategy and ensures that the corporation – big or small – is leveraging
adequately on the untapped internal and external resources. A strong CEO and a
dedicated management team are always seeking to raise their own bars and be
change agents for their corporations backed by a strong corporate branding strategy.

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A well-drafted and professionally managed corporate branding strategy and
implementation plan can be a powerful component of the boardroom work.
According to this concept, corporate branding is often, but wrongly, referred to as
an exercise where the bank logo, the design style and color scheme are changed.
Naturally, these are important elements to evaluate and potentially change at a later
stage once the strategy has been decided upon. It is often accompanied with a new
corporate slogan, and then everyone expects results to occur during the project.
Corporate branding is a serious undertaking that entails more skills and activities
than just an updated glossy marketing facade with empty jargon.
A strong corporate branding strategy can add significant value in terms of
helping the entire corporation and the management team to implement the long-term
vision, create unique positions in the market place of the bank and its brands, and
not the least to unlock the leadership potential within the organization. Hence, a
corporate branding strategy can enable the corporation to further advantage on its
tangible and non-tangible assets leading to branding excellence throughout the
corporation.
a) The Corporate Brand in the Banking Sector
Branding is the cornerstone of service marketing for the 21st century; the
corporate brand is the primary brand for banks. In banking, the corporate brand
builds on the identity of the corporation to offer a distinct promise to customers,
shaped by all members of the organization. Both bank brands and corporate brands
involve multiple interfaces, and employees are an important part of communicating

equity. Brand is the most powerful weapon that the firm has at its disposal.
Corporate brands can be used as master brands and have a longer life than product
or service brands. As we know, product brands live in the present while corporate
brands live in the past, present and the future. Differentiation is not enough in
business today, it is also important that the sender of a message represents the real
source, which is the case for the corporate brand. Businesses that come from a
corporate body reassure stakeholders in insecure times.
Moreover, as businesses are becoming more global, banks tend to emphasize
corporate brands instead of service and product brands. The increased use of the

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corporate brand is also a response to the imitation and homogenization of products
as well as the fragmentation of markets.
The corporate brand is a strategic resource that guides the business and
creates value. A general advantage to corporate brands is the economies of scale
that it generates in all aspects of communication, compared to the promotion of
individual line brands. As a result, of strong brand values, higher prices can be
charged for services, and sales volumes are likely to increase. It is easier to
introduce new services under the existing brand name, but it can be difficult to enter
new markets if the brand does not fit the new customer segment. In addition, if a
new line fails, then more damage could occur than with a firm that practices
individual branding. The power of the corporate brand is clearly demonstrated by
Interbrand‘s list of the world‘s 100 strongest brands, of which a vast majority is
corporate brands.
By creating clusters of functional and emotional values for their brands,
banks can add value to the lives of customers. Customers generally do not create
relationships with individual products or services, but it might do so with a brand
(which represents a set of promises). People argue that customers consume all facets
of the brands identity: physical aspects, personality, and implicit relation.

promise to the consumer of what the product, service, or company stands for, and of
the kind of experience, they can get from it.
A brand incorporates a personality based on cultural factors including film
stars, sport heroes, or fictional characters. Today‘s brands are viewed and
understood from an emotional perspective. Therefore, branding has to do with the
way that customers perceive and buy things, not simply a characteristic of certain
industries. A brand equals a ‗relationship‘, ‗reputation‘, a ‗set of expectations‘ and a
promise. Moreover, they state that a brand is a combination of tangible and
intangible attributes, symbolized in a trademark, which if properly managed, creates
influence and generates value.

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1.2.1. Positioning
Positioning is the process by which a company offers its brands to the
consumer and positioning is an essential aspect of branding. It is necessary that the
message to be communicated by all the organizations activities because any of them
may be the particular characteristic that the customers analyses and develops their
perception. Moreover, the objective of the positioning as the process makes the
offer into a brand. Positioning is not about what you do to a product, but what you
do to the mind of the prospect. This means products and services are positioned in
the mind of prospects. According to Aaker (1996), brand positioning refers to both
the process and the result of building or rebuilding an image for a brand relative to a
target market segment.
1.2.2. Brand Equity
―Brand equity‖ refers to the value of a brand. Brand equity is based on the
extent to which the brand has high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality
and strong product associations. Brand equity also includes other ―intangible‖ assets
such as patents, trademarks and channel relationships. Brands differ in the amount
of power and value they have in the market place due to different factors. Powerful

particular brand. Consumer‘s beliefs may differ based on their individual experience
or perception of the brand. Furthermore, the brand identity is the total proposition
that a company makes to consumers, or the promise it makes and is everything the
company wants to be seen. It may consist of features, benefits as well as all other
values that the brand possesses.
1.2.5. Brand Popularity
Brand popularity can be defined as the extent to which a brand has been
widely sought after and purchased by a significantly large population. Furthermore,
it is considered the accumulation of market acceptance and brand goodwill over a
long period. Brand popularity can occur from word-of-mouth, from prior users and
is the result of the superior image of the brand, which is reflected in the brands
marketing. Brand popularity will positively influence the brand performance in the

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short run as well as in the long run, by creating a favorable brand image in the
minds of consumers. As a result, the brands popularity will have a positive
contribution to the brand's loyalty, image, or market sales.
1.2.6. Service and Banking Branding
A company uses product branding when they decide that the product should
stand on its own, and should be left to succeed or fail without any support from the
corporate brand or company name. Usually fast moving consumer goods are
associated with this level of branding. Corporate brand is when the brand name
gives all its identity to the products or service, and then the products receive
strength and association through the companies brand values. In extreme cases of
corporate branding, the company‘s name is strongly associated with the product,
while there is no mention of products and services at all.
1.2.7. Yin and Yang Model to Branding
According to Asian culture, Yin and Yang are complementary sides to every
individual, and it provides balance so that the individual is harmonized. Like Yin