The Caixa Woman project is deploying a series
of media platforms, including TV, internet and, interestingly, a
proprietary print magazine. State-owned CGD is also sponsoring
hand-picked events under the Caixa Woman tag to increase the brand
awareness with its products and services.
Another plank of the marketing strategy
involves the setting up of partnerships with companies that, via
the Caixa Woman card and website, offer products with special
benefits for CGD’s clients.
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The project was soft-launched last year, at
first offering credit cards and insurance products. Earlier this
year new products began to be offered, and the general
communications effort became more intense. The re-launching of the
project was marked by a live concert by Portuguese pop band Clã at
CGD’s Lisbon headquarters, an event attended by a 400-strong
audience composed almost entirely of women.
The next step, says Suzana Ferreira, CGD’s
head of communications and marketing, is to create more tools and
products.
Caixa Woman’s latest marketing initiative is
the broadcast of a series of mini-films on a cable TV network that
will, according to Ferreira, tell the ‘everyday’ stories of three
Portuguese women. Each film is three minutes long and will be
broadcast during the week on prime time by the Fox Life channel,
with a repeat of the three films combined at the weekend.
Ferreira says the films are short dramas and
not publicity ads, although they will have a considerable degree of
product placement. The first broadcast was on 29 June.
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By GlobalDataIn May, CGD published the first issue of its
glossy Caixa Woman magazine, with a circulation of 20,000
copies. The magazine, which is distributed free at CGD’s banking
branches, featured on the cover Portuguese pop star Mariza, a world
famous fado singer, who is one of the public faces of the bank.
Contents are similar to other women magazines, including articles
on celebrities, food and beauty.
A section at the end, however, deals with
personal finance issues, with the emphasis on the ways Caixa Woman
can help clients to meet their consumer needs. For instance, in an
article under the ‘motor’ tag, the writer notes that the hardest
part of the process of buying a car is choosing the right
model.
“When it comes to getting a loan, there are
tailor-made solutions for each case,” the article says, and
promptly explains with details how a number of CGD’s credit
facilities work.
Standalone Caixa Woman
website
CGD also increased the promotional
activity around the standalone Caixa Woman website in May. The site
is a consolidation of information complemented with indirect
postings on bank products. There is also plenty of information
about special offers from companies that have forged partnerships
with Caixa Geral de Depósitos.
“Many companies want to be partners with Caixa
Woman so they can reach the same public we are reaching,” Ferreira
said.
The target audience is women aged between 25
and 45.
A roll down menu at the left-hand side gives
access to all the products that CGD has designed to meet what
Ferreira calls the specific needs of Portuguese woman. The ‘Caixa
Woman solutions’ include:
• MasterCard credit cards, in
regular and mini formats, via which clients can collect reward
points;
• Online and ordinary savings
accounts paying interest rates above the market average and
offering the chance to win a house in a lottery;
• Life insurance especially designed
for women aged between 20 and 50;
• Personal loans so “you won’t have
to delay that purchase”. Loans can be paid back over five years,
start at €1,000 ($1,400) and can reach €5,000;
• Special loans to pay for health
treatments and home purchases;
• Discounts on an Apple iPhone.
Although some market experts have said
Portuguese women are not particularly well-served by the country’s
retail banks, Ferreira says the Caixa Woman project has not been
designed to fill a void in the local market.
“It is not that women are badly served by the
banking sector in Portugal,” she argues. “The idea behind Caixa
Woman is to take advantage of opportunities to reach an audience
that has particular needs.”
She claims that Caixa Woman is starting to
show results by attracting new clients to the bank’s products and
services.
“In May alone, we have issued more than 2,000
new Caixa Woman credit and debit cards,” she said. “We have also
collected more than €10 million in deposits into our two saving
accounts linked to the Caixa Woman initiative.”
Ferreira points out that new services and
products could be centred around Caixa Woman in the future, as well
as new media initiatives to increase the awareness of the project.
CGD is already sponsoring a jazz festival under the project’s
brand. The Cool Jazz festival, in Cascais, a resort close to
Lisbon, and Mafra, will host international stars like Katie Melua,
James Taylor and Seal.
