Show of support / As a financial institution it is in ASB’s interest to stimulate the economy, but showing support for struggling businesses in particular may help to build positive associations with the brand. According to ASB, SMEs provide around 600,000 jobs in New Zealand and contribute to 26% of the country’s GDP.
In our Reacting to Covid: Recovery trend we identified several brands providing protection for adjacent, affected businesses. Small businesses are some of those most severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Data from the International Trade Centre (ITC), collected based on responses from 1,200 businesses in more than 100 countries, found that the crisis has strongly affected 60% of SMEs, partly because they are overrepresented by sectors most badly hit, but also because they are more likely to be financially fragile. Around one in four of the small businesses interviewed by the ITC were at risk of shutting down permanently over the next three months.
We have also seen Pornhub offering free ad space on its site to small businesses, while UK broadcaster Channel 4 partnered bigger brands with independent high street retailers to fund an ad-break takeover on the channel, helping to raise awareness of the businesses featured, as part of its #Back4Business campaign.
Product promo / The initiative also acts to raise awareness of the bank’s recently launched Business Hub. By offering up its sponsorship deal and committing cash to promoting SMEs, ASB can position itself as a bank that understands the needs of its business customers and as one that is able to provide genuine support, through both the initiative itself and the tools and resources it offers online. It also directly aligns with the bank’s historical pledge to ‘serve the community, to grow and to help Kiwis grow’, suggesting that the campaign is an authentic attempt to deliver on its purpose rather than being a short-term PR stunt.
Switch it up / The offer is only available to ASB’s business customers, rewarding current users while providing an appealing incentive for new sign ups. It can be challenging to convince customers to switch business accounts; a 2019 survey from Accenture found that, at least in the UK, only 15% of SMEs intend to change banks within the next 12 months. With this exclusive opportunity, ASB can hope to drive growth at a time when the World Bank is forecasting a 5.2% contraction in global GDP.
