Banco Sabadell (Jul'05 - May'08)
Company: Banco Sabadell (IBEX member)
Period: July 2005 - May 2008
Industry: Banking
Division/Department: Segment Marketing
Job Position: Customer Segment Responsible
Description
I joined Banco Sabadell in a newly created position, specifically in the Mass Market Marketing Segments Department.
My goal was to develop the bank's youth client segment.
At that time, La Caixa had launched its youth program LKXA and Caja Madrid had CMCool. Most entities had their own youth programs and were promoting them as a way to secure their future client base.
For someone looking to develop in the marketing area, this was an ideal project as it allowed me to experience the integral creation of the product offering, communication model, and commercial relationship with clients from scratch.
Among my responsabilities & functions were:
Internal and External Analysis
Initially, I focused on analyzing the bank’s youth client portfolio. I needed to fully understand their motivations, the products they contracted, why they did so, their socio-demographic profile, etc. I also had to understand the customer margin and product holding.
During the first months, I concentrated on gathering and analyzing all possible information. I started using CRM tools with the help of the Datamining department. I used the Datamart to extract information and Access to process it before performing statistics with Excel.
During this time, I also began to familiarize myself with the products offered by the entity, which helped me start planning which products to offer to young people and under what conditions.
On the other hand, I had to research competitors’ youth programs, understand their approach, and how each entity positioned itself to capture young people's attention.
In parallel, I gathered all market information available. I used external tools like Marketing Law Firm, which provided me with competitor information, but I also obtained it from other sources, often calling entities directly and posing as a potential customer interested in their offerings.
Product Offering Composition
When I joined Banco Sabadell, the youth program and a complete financial offer for the segment did not yet exist.
To develop the product offering, I had to meet with different Product Managers to coordinate the creation of products for the segment and the conditions I wanted to offer. Each proposal had to be associated with a profitability study with a sales forecast for validation by management. This process was challenging since my role was newly created and did not have clearly defined "authority." Who was responsible for developing a Youth Account? The Product Manager or the Segment Manager?
Both of us had an interest, but the PM was more focused on high-margin, high-volume products, whereas I was driven by attributes like new account acquisition, product linkage, and young client loyalty to achieve a longer client lifecycle. These internal negotiations were difficult, especially initially. However, thanks to good relations, we ultimately achieved a strong product offering, many of which are still part of the bank's offerings today.
The products I was most involved in, and am most proud of, included the Master Credit for postgraduate study financing and the Project Account.
The Project Account was an idea I conceived to improve young people's financial management. Most young people (at least eight years ago) did not monitor their balance. Thus, saving was very challenging. The Project Account was like a "savings account" where young people could decide how much to transfer monthly. The key feature was that it offered an attractive interest rate and allowed capital withdrawal without penalty, provided it went back to the original account. In other words, the young person had to be aware that they were "breaking their piggy bank."
The results of this account were very positive as it strengthened client ties with the entity. The bank still offers it to customers today (https://www.bancsabadell.com/cs/Satellite/SabAtl/Jovenes/1191332201205/es/).
Non-Financial Offering Composition
Young clients are not particularly interested in banks or financial products, at least not until their first job or when they need a loan for study financing. For this reason, it is very difficult for a financial entity to capture their attention using conventional adult marketing campaigns.
This required me to find attractive formulas that would make young people value being Banco Sabadell clients. One such formula was to equip the youth program with a series of non-financial services that would appeal to them.
Unlike other entities that focused on discount programs, I aimed to offer something more.
A greater connection with the client can be achieved by surprising them, and a continuous discount program does not surprise. On the contrary, it becomes something expected by the second year and can even be counterproductive if withdrawn. However, a loyalty plan that detects "key" moments in a young person’s life and offers small "surprises" throughout the year can create a stronger impact.
To achieve this, a well-maintained database and CRM proficiency were essential to launch the appropriate campaigns at the right time.
Banco Sabadell supported this approach. And to the "non-financial" program, we often added targeted Direct Marketing campaigns with very specific objectives, achieving response rates over 15%.
The non-financial offer included discounts on travel, cinema, shows, fashion, and a music agenda with key concerts in each city. The discount program was managed in collaboration with the agency LaFórmula de Comunicación.
Brand Development
Another essential for the success of the youth program was to change the language and way of communicating with young people. Banco Sabadell, according to market research, was perceived as very "adult" and closely associated with companies, which did not resonate with young people.
Thus, we developed a new brand for the segment: BSclickOK.
"BS" allowed clients to identify it as Banco Sabadell. "Click" conveyed immediacy, ease, and modernity, as we would primarily communicate through digital and online media. "OK" aimed to reflect agreement and ease.
We also wanted young people to remember their bank easily, so we included the URL: BSClickOK.com in the logo.
The brand’s look & feel needed to be modern yet highlight the brand. Therefore, we opted for a dark background, black, and a white logo with the mouse pointer on "OK."
The agency responsible for brand and program image development was MKN.
Website Development
I also played a significant role in creating the website. The site would be the primary interaction point for young people with the bank for account management and non-financial services. Therefore, I worked closely with the Online department on its development.
I still remember the night before the launch, adding content with the online team until late to ensure everything was perfect.
The website would also be linked to analytics to track visits, customer interactions on the site, etc.
Youth Program Launch
Management set a goal for the youth program launch to be a national event. However, we wanted it in a place where young people would feel like protagonists. Therefore, we organized a press conference at UPC Square (Polytechnic University of Catalonia), where Banco Sabadell had an office.
Since we wanted broad media coverage, we leveraged a recent agreement with Leo Messi to hold a press conference where Messi would present the youth program.
This strategy worked, attracting many media outlets and hundreds of young people to a massive press conference.
After the press conference, Messi performed a few ball tricks, later raffled among those who sent an SMS on the spot to enter the draw.
The event was a resounding success and had significant national repercussions, as seen in media coverage:
In addition to media presentations, we conducted a Direct Marketing campaign (via mail, SMS, and email) to the entire client base, introducing the youth program and offering a Nokia mobile phone with free messaging (this was before WhatsApp existed, 8 years ago).
The launch was accompanied by a client acquisition offer and extensive POS deployment across the branch network.
We also ran press insertions in youth-related media (Mundo Deportivo) and Television.
Youth Program Success and Next Steps
The youth program launch was a client acquisition and loyalty success. The client base for this segment grew beyond expectations. The following news reflects its impact:
https://www.finanzzas.com/sabadell-capta-42500-clientes-entre-los-jovenes-este-ano
Following the launch, my duties became more focused on managing the youth program. This included driving program engagement and ensuring young clients increasingly connected with the entity.
I mainly relied on Direct Marketing campaigns encouraging direct responses. The ones with the highest response rates were the launch of the Project Account and a promotion offering tickets to a Melocos concert.
Monitoring and Metrics
Another responsibility was to report on the youth segment's business progress. Every month, I created a report for management detailing segment KPIs. These included margin per client, average account balance, average product holding, average card transactions, etc.
For campaigns, I also reported results, especially for direct response campaigns. Each campaign required extracting the ROI to justify its profitability.
Online metrics tracking was equally important. Verifying non-financial offers' interest and ensuring that the content on bsclickok.com attracted young people was crucial. I reviewed analytics weekly to identify what was working well and what needed improvement. Depending on the findings, I consulted with LaFórmula (if it was a non-financial offer issue), with online (if it was a technical problem), or addressed it myself (if it was a content issue).
Other Projects: BS Junior
As the youth segment manager, another group also required special attention: children.
Taking care of children from an early age not only ensures a future client base but also fosters loyalty with the current client portfolio (parents, grandparents, etc.). Thus, another major focus was developing a program for "juniors."
However, the approach had to differ from BSClickOK, as the decision-maker was the parent, not the young person, and financial and non-financial needs were very different. Parents are concerned about their child’s future, so the most suitable products are those related to future savings.
The junior program was based on this premise—encouraging saving in a way that both the parent and child would appreciate. For this reason, the program featured periodic campaigns with gifts from Dreamworks animated movies (Shrek, Ratatouille, Over the Hedge, etc.) to incentivize savings. This made parents happy due to the attractive interest rate on the BS Junior account and children happy because they received a reward for saving.
We also carried out other initiatives with toy stores to capture children's attention, encouraging them to "push" their parents to save for their birthday, etc.
In fact, the focus on satisfying our clients' children extended to providing drawing materials at branches, so parents could bring their children and keep them entertained while conducting transactions.
Other Projects: CuentaMÁS
In my third year at Banco Sabadell, after launching both the youth and junior programs and managing both effectively, I was additionally tasked with managing the BSCuentaMÁS. BSCuentaMÁS was a flat-rate account that integrated all client operations under a quarterly fee. At the time, this type of product was very innovative and attracted many clients.
However, my role was to manage the loyalty program behind BSCuentaMÁS. Besides the financial services included in the account, there were various non-financial services forming the loyalty program.
These non-financial services included discounts on insurance, restaurants, travel, etc., essentially covering anything useful in people’s daily lives.
For this project, I was also heavily involved in Direct Marketing campaigns, presenting non-financial offers combined with financial offers to increase cross-selling. Always with advantageous conditions exclusively for BSCuentaMÁS clients.
Another responsibility here, as with the youth and junior segments, was reporting on the business development generated by the product. Strong emphasis was placed on segments, making it crucial to closely monitor their progress.
Other Projects: Senior Account
Within the segments team, I also had to collaborate on the "Senior" segment. Among the actions I participated in, the one I remember most was a promotion encouraging "Seniors" to deposit their pension with the bank.
I remember this promotion well as it was the first time I participated in a product placement initiative. The promotion was communicated for several days on Carmen Sevilla’s show, leveraging viewer calls received after the announcement.
It was impressive to see the volume of calls collected within the 1-3 minutes from the moment Carmen started presenting the promotion. After those 3 minutes, calls ceased completely.
Agencies I Collaborated With
The agencies I worked with during my time at Banco Sabadell were:
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MKN: for developing the youth program's image and junior segment campaigns.
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LaFórmula: for youth program actions as well as managing non-financial services.
Achievements
Among my achievements was launching the youth program from scratch and increasing the client base by more than 10% in the first year, as well as strengthening current client connections with the entity. Many of the products I launched to the market continue to be successfully marketed.
Learnings
When I joined Banco Sabadell, I had no Marketing experience nor had I worked in technical tasks within any company. Therefore, my experience at Banco Sabadell was crucial for my professional development. I was also fortunate to work with people who trusted me and provided guidance. Many of the things I apply today come from what they taught me during my time at Banco Sabadell.
I learned to develop projects from scratch, master various marketing tools, and plan marketing and loyalty initiatives.
I also learned to use different tracking tools, both for business and online, and database management.
Finally, I developed a strong consumer focus, considering differences at each phase of the client lifecycle.
Skills acquired
- Marketing Strategy
- Operational Marketing (briefing, copywriting, advertising...)
- Project management involving several stakeholders
- Presentations to board of directors
- Benchmark of competition
- Collaboration with sales department
- Trademarketing & POS
- ATL & BTL promotional & advertising plan
- Loyalty programs (relational marketing)
- Digital Marketing & customer experience
- Customer Life Time Value management
- SAP (ErP)
- Sales analysis
- Budget & Gross Margin
- Sales Forecasting
- Pricing
- PR
- Celebrity management & negotiation
Reasons for the Change
There were two reasons I decided to change jobs. One was to secure a higher salary, and the other was to hace an international experience. In this second case, Deutsche Bank weighed heavily in my decision. At Deutsche Bank, I would have the opportunity to work in an international environment and possibly work in another country in the future.
