In your poll - "What does moving forward mean to you?" should have a tick-box titled 'Absolutely nothing'.

As someone who has spent their entire career in the field of advertising and marketing< I have to say the new pay-off line is one of the most vacuous and meaningless pieces of over-rationalised nonsense I've seen in a long time.

And as for the response regarding Toyota's use of the same line in the USA - "We're not involved in the American market - so it doesn't matter", perhaps you need need to consider what it really means to be a global brand.

I also note with interest that you're not willing to reveal the budget for the advertising launch of yet another new pay-off line. Why? Are you embarrassed about spending spending our over-inflated service fees on chest thumping rather than service delivery?

Thank you for taking the time to comment on our blog. We will amend the poll with the option you’ve suggested above. It would be very interesting to see how many people share your view... you could be absolutely right!

It’s great to be getting feedback from people who have spent their entire careers in the advertising and marketing fields, and as a marketing professional you’re obviously aware of the strategic purpose of payoff lines and the role of marketing in shaping our perceptions. The fact is that all payoff lines for all companies resonate differently with different people.

As far as our interest in the US market is concerned, our strategy is focused on emerging markets for now. We will constantly review and assess our positioning on the global stage in line with our business strategy, hence this change, which we think is the essence of being a global brand.

With regards to our budget for this launch – I’m sure, as a marketer yourself, that you can understand the sensitivity of this kind of information, especially in such a competitive industry. What we can say is that our total marketing budget is no more than last year’s budget, we have just focused the spend on the latter half of the year for this launch (you may have noticed that we have been pretty quiet for a while).

Cool blog. As for me, I'd like to read something more about that matter.

Hey been browsing this site for ages now and decided i should sign up and spread the word!

I'm Bill :)

Thank you for showing interest in our blog. We look forward to engaging with you and appreciate your support.

Hey there

I am a new member here and just wanted to say hi to you.
What's happening today?

Hi There,

Welcome to the Standard Bank blog.

We've just launched a section on our blog, called Ideas. Feel free to share your suggestions on how we can improve our service for you. You can also add to other ideas or simply "Like" an existing idea.

We look forward to hearing your views.

Great post you got here. It would be great to read more concerning this topic.

I love our new pay-off line. As far as i know we are the only financial institution that changes theirs. I believe that we are keeping up with the times and a change is always good. We are Moving Forward. We would not have been voted the best if this was not the case. We do have areas of concern, however, we have proved that we are willing to change and we're not scared to admit when mistakes are made and every day we find new ways of being the best!!!

Simpler, Better, Faster, wasn't simpler or better or faster than anything we'd experienced before. Inspired, Motivated, Involved, wasn't new or better service and it didn't care what I thought and Moving Forward doesn't seem to be making my life any easier but instead leaving it's customers behind. Moving Forward isn't positive, to me it feels like the bank is moving on and leaving us behind. The online poll is unanimous in saying that what needs to be improved is customer service, Moving Forward suggests that, this is the last thing on their minds and they want to leave us behind like a traumatic memory to be escaped.

Home loans customer services department has pathetic service. My query has not been answer since 21 august 2009. I cant see how Standard Bank South Africa can claim it has good service.

Disgusted with Standard Bank utterly disgusted.

Hi Craig,

We have seen your comment and we will hopefully resolve it as soon as possible.

We're working at improving our service. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve, visit www.standardbank.com/ideas.

Howdy,

I am brand new to this community and just wanted to introduce myself and say "wuzup".

For once a reputable site with active members that I can read - which is good to look at!

I am here to learn & participate. How would I best contribute?

Bye...

Hi there,

We're glad you're as excited as we are about this blog.

You can participate in one of our discussions, comment on the existing and new blog posts as well as give us some ideas as to how we can improve our service to you.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The Standard Bank Team

Our new tag off line helped me a lot in doing my work for 2009 especially because I work in Vehicle and asset finance. It was a difficult year but we did break some ground here and there... I concentrated on what was working for me at the time and aligned myself with the changes in the market. I welcomed the challenges. When i saw the billboards in to Jozi i was a proudly a Standard bank employee. I cant wait for 2010 - non funded here we come.

Everytime I hear/read a Standard Bank advert I cant help but think that the bank is not performing at its peak and that the adverts are addressed to staff of the bank urging them to raise their performance. Why would you address a customer by saying "Lets me the bank that....."? Shouldn't you rather be saying "We are the bank that....."

Let's be the bank... This phrase indicates our quest to help our customers Move Forward. We're constantly striving to improve our service and be the bank that takes you from where you are to where you want to be. We're aware that excellence in service starts at 'home' which means that our adverts are directed to both customers and employees.

If you have any ideas on how we can improve our service and how we can help our customers Move Forward, visit www.standardbank.co.za/ideas.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Standard Bank

Great new Initiative with your branding and new ad's.

About Ideas, what rewards will an individual get if he added a idea that can add to your product positioning and revenue stream?

As a Entrepreneur I have a value proposition with Full Business Plan, Financial and Go To market Strategy....

As a Proud client banking with Standard bank for over 15 years, I would love to contribute to your innovation and helps others move forward!

Hi Anonymous,

Thank you very much for your comments.

We're currently running a Service campaign where we encourage people to leave their ideas on how we can improve our service.

We are happy to hear your idea. Please leave your idea here: www.standardbank.co.za/ideas. However, it is advised that you please read the terms and conditions before leaving your idea.

We look forward to hearing from you.

I have been a Standard Bank account holder for years now, and I dont worry about their branding or payoff lines. The people are great at any branch I have NEVER had a problem with my bank and just want say keep rolling!! I don't care if it's forward or side ways but it just cannot go backwards. How about a pay off line that goes " Know your bank !! Standard Bank, we're here for you!!

I am all for new and shiny things especially when it comes to branding however I feel that Standard Bank has been doing it poorly. I don't mean the design wasn't sexy, or the pay-off lines simple and clever. I mean that more energy is spent trying to tell the market who you are that what is spent on listening to your customers and hearing who they say you are. I would say rather spend a year listening to your customers see what they want see where they are going and then realign with them. Branding isn't a prescriptive action it's a reactive action, your products are generic and stale yet your brand is forever evolving - reminds me of that second runner-up brand who always changes their branding prescriptively against their competitor (Coca-Cola).

So I would say listen to your customers if they are important to you as you say, create an effective forum for the conversation to take place. I don't mean go invest in a website for this, I mean go to their mediums, go social - which you have but I feel its again more prescriptive than responsive. Customers are speaking to you all over and you just keep moving on past them. I have been a Standard Bank client my whole life so I know your brand well but I also know what my friends and family get in terms of service and products from their banks.

Spend the time saying yes we can do this, Garage Card listing on internet banking, multiple Credit Card listings on internet banking and so on. The new Joe Soap wants a consolidated view of his finances which he wants to manage himself. The bank needs to be invisible until they absolutely have to be seen - ironically that is a mark of good design.

When I started writing this I looked up at my library and spotted a book I read a long time ago name "The Open Brand" and they said it right. This blog is wrong, looking at the responses its really just again a prescription or announcement platform which is fine but not very engaging - that said a few people got engaged but then you guys nipped the conversation with a response liken to "your call is important to us, a representative will get back to you shortly".

So right back to the initial thing how is the pay-off line "Moving Forward" benefiting me as a customer. The conveniences I need to move forward is out of the control of Standard Bank its firmly placed in our exchange laws. As an entrepreneur I can't move forward unless I haemorrhage hefty amounts for the ability to receive micro payments on-line and else where. Not to mention being able to receive foreign funds.

Why not create a starter merchant type product allowing young start-ups to receive payments on-line. This would be a first in South Africa, and would create a flourishing ecosystem which would help our economy tremendously. Do that and we are moving forward, reduce fees for using products that don't have a staff costs per say and we are moving forward. Compete on interest rates against other banks and you are moving forward. However right now you are moving away, you are moving away from your everyday clients and aligning with the less 20% investors who need you to enter markets allowing them to easier trade there. Focus on your man on the ground not your brokers in the sky.

Winsome answers, I like it!

Fantastic Website! Keep up the superb job!

It was extremely interesting for me to read this post. Thanks for it. I like such topics and everything that is connected to them. By the way, try to add some photos :).

Hi there,

Thank you to everyone who has participated and left your comments. We really appreciate it and we hope you continue to enjoy our blog.

Kind regards,

The Standard Bank Team

Hi Mitchell

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and ideas with us. You have made a few excellent suggestions here.

As I’m sure you already know, in November last year we launched our Service blog, a platform which invites our clients and the general public to share their ideas on how we can improve our service. We genuinely do want to know how we can improve our service. We have a team of people dedicated to reading through and assessing these ideas on a daily basis. We're proud to announce that since the launch of the blog, we have already implemented one of these ideas. The idea focused on the heights of our ATMs. We took this idea into serious consideration and replied informing the user that the new design for our ATMs has been designed so to accommodate shorter people as well as those in wheel chairs. http://www.blog.standardbank.com/idea/atm-height

With an organisation the size of ours, operational changes take time to filter through the system, but that does not mean we're not dedicated to change, and the ATM change illustrates this. Your ideas in the post above have been noted, but we encourage you to share those ideas on the Service blog so other users can vote on them and possibly add their own enhancements. www.standardbank.co.za/ideas

The Standard Bank blog was launched in July 2009 and since then we have seen an increasing amount of interaction from our users. Our users engage on this blog by interacting and commenting on the polls, blog posts, discussion topics and ideas. We are one of the first banks in South Africa to embrace social media whole heartedly and this is a relatively new communication channel for financial services in our country. We are very active on both Twitter and Facebook and this ensures that the doors of communication are always opened.

Having said that, we are learning as we go and we are committed to making the changes that our clients require. We acknowledge that the tone on our blog is still a little "too corporate" but we hope that within the next few months you will begin to see a change in tone. Once again, with a corporation like Standard Bank there are certain rules and regulations that govern how we communicate with our clients, and we are required to adopt the overall voice of the organisation - this gives us little room to move, but we are constantly pushing our boundaries and exploring this new voice through mediums like the Standard Bank blog, the corporate blog and our Twitter and Facebook profiles."

We are constantly looking for ways to communicate, listen and accommodate all our customers. This is why we have designed a specific product and means to see to our lower earning customers. This product gives these bankers the opportunity to become a part of the economy, while still enjoying a pricing structure that this group can afford. This means we are not only looking out for the stakeholders, but rather everyone involved in the Standard Bank family. While trying to assist all our customers in South Africa, we’re also operating in a number of countries around Africa, we aim to continue to Move Forward in Africa and help where we can.

Thank you for providing value to the internet. Your content actually helps people.

This is one of the reasons we ventured into social media: to keep you informed and give you another way of connecting with us. Many thanks for the feedback.
Regards
Russel Smit, Manager, Electronic Communications, Standard Bank Group.

Ola, what's up amigos? :)
I will be happy to get some help at the start.
Thanks in advance and good luck!

Hi there !

just to say that i agree with original poster

chaussures

Hi guys

I would like to give you credit on the work done. Standard bank became my third bank after changing from the two previous banks. So far I have been so happy with your service guys. You are fast and commited to your work. Whenever I think of going to any other bank it's frustration but when I go to standard bank it's excitement.

Your service is excellent, keep up the good work

Siphokazi

Thank you very much for your comment. We're so pleased that you are happy with your change in banks as well as the service we provide.

Hi people, pleased to meet you. This forum is cool.

It was a difficult year but we did break some ground here and there... I concentrated on what was working for me at the time and aligned myself with the changes in the market. I welcomed the challenges. When I saw the billboards in Jozi I was a proud Standard Bank employee. I cant wait for 2010.

I would like to say thank you to author of these articles on this site. I read all of these articles and I still need to read some new articles. I've watched a video on facebook about this topic and I loved it. Also it is one of the rare topics on this site.

See you on a new topic.

Change is something all of us need to adapt to. Whether a person, group, or company change is something that all of us need to work with and not against.

Very interesting website. Good job.

Hello,

This is my first visit to your blog, I hope to be happy with you.

Thank you

Your service is excellent, keep up the good work

Nice forum here.

Hi guys, I am new to the forum and simply wanted to say Hello! Looking forward to being an active member with you guys.

I was in an accident a month ago and it has taken that long for the other person's insurance company to claim they are at fault, although they are not paying my storage fee for my car that is totaled because they said they advised me to move it in the beginning, I live in an apartment were it could not sit for a month I had no other choice but to leave it at a shop for storage. Should they be responsible for those fees?

My insurance provider simply just told me they raised my costs as a result of an responsible auto accident, however I did not get any ticket for the accident. Is that fair?

I got good information with the help of your blog posting. Your blog is very helpful for updating my knowledge. I will look forward for your future updates.

Regards
Sharon Baker, NY

Excellent post on fundraising circus! I really enjoyed reading it, and my site is about Easy Fund Raising Ideas so I’m not just saying is lightly. Keep up the great work!