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Northern Rock needs to be bolder

Posted in Media, Latest reporters' blogs, Russell Parsons February 19th, 2008 by Russell Parsons

If the old adage that all publicity is good publicity were true then Northern Rock would be well on its way to becoming the UK’s biggest financial institution.

The bank which overstretched itself and fell to its knees before being temporarily placed in government hands has had nothing but publicity in the last six months, none of it good and none of it to bank’s advantage.

The latest twist in the very cautionary tale has prompted many questions. Will there be compensation for shareholders? Will customers’ savings continue to be guaranteed? How much will the nationalisation cost the taxpayer?

Not many are asking how the beleaguered bank is going to pull off one the biggest marketing tricks of recent years and repair its battered brand.

Northern Rock’s creative and media agencies, Cravens and MediaVest Manchester, if yesterday’s nationalisation does not affect their contract with the bank, will have to create and plan an impressive reassurance campaign to reinstall faith in the bank.

Likewise, if Virgin’s bid is not now dead in the water, Richard Branson and his team will have to pull a rabbit out of the marketing hat just to convince prospective customers the bank is a safe home for their investments.

 And what of Northern Rock’s sponsorship of Newcastle United football club and the Newcastle Falcons rugby team? Any promotion of the brand, even if it is adorning the shirts of Kevin Keegan’s currently underperforming Magpies, has to be a positive thing as the bank looks to rebuild trust. However, questions are bound to be asked about the potential additional costs to the taxpayer from paying sums to football and rugby clubs. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a change of sponsor once the current contract is up.

The words which greet visitors to the homepage of the bank at the moment are “Business as Usual”, which I am sure is the case for existing customers, but it will take a little more than this reassurance, more likely a significant reassuring marketing campaign to attract prospective customers to the bank going forward.