Marketing Strategies of ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank is India's second-largest bank with total assets of Rs. 4,062.34 billion (US$ 91 billion) at March 31, 2011 and profit after tax Rs. 51.51 billion (US$ 1,155 million) for the year ended March 31, 2011. The Bank has a network of 2,533 branches and 6,700 ATMs in India, and has a presence in 19 countries, including India.

ICICI Bank offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialised subsidiaries in the areas of investment banking, life and non-life insurance, venture capital and asset management. They were first to introduced concept of branding in the Indian banking industry. They were also first in the industry : Process, People and Physical evidence brought to life by ICICI Product Innovation various deposit, loans, investment, demat, mobile banking, NRI services offered by bank. Introduction of DSAs(Direct sales associates) and DSTs (Direct sales team) Unleashed the power of the internet First bank to focus on retail banking as a driver for growth Comprehensive data centre availability & data protection solutions

Basis of Segmentation
Occupation o Different products for different occupational segment identified. Different deposit schemes like fixed deposit, recurring or roaming current account (mainly for business people), salary account etc. are provided to customer.

Income o Minimum balance serves as a income segment barrier. o Various investment schemes available, person can invest depending upon his income.

Geographical o Concentrated on Tier 1 & Tier 2 Cities, now they are trying to extend their reach.

Age o Different products for different age group: Senior Citizen Services: The Senior Citizen Services from ICICI Bank has several advantages that are tailored to bring more convenience and enjoyment in your life. Young Stars: It's really important to help children learn the value of finances and money management at an early age. Banking is a serious business, but we make banking a pleasure and at the same time children learn how to manage their personal finances.

Targeting
Differentiated Marketing Strategy Tailors its marketing campaigns to meet the needs of its target prospects Creates differentiated product offering for different segment Use of technology in tracking customer segment

Positioning
Core proposition Hum hain na trust, credibility, total financial solution provider (brought about through its cross selling effort) Modernization process and physical evidence technology as the backbone and accelerator

Need Identification
Adapting international practices to the local context Information system warehouse Product development department continuously studies market and analyses competitive landscape

Product differentiation
Variants in various basic products like savings bank accounts to suit different customer base and customer needs like Saving account Senior citizen service Young star for children, make them learn how to manage their personal finances. Fixed deposits - Safety, Flexibility, Liquidity and Returns Recurring deposits offer twin advantages- affordability and higher earnings Roaming current accounts for businesspersons who need to do lot of travelling.

Product augmentation
Redefinition of the banking products with extra benefits and features added to the products. By need identification analysis they come to know, where the gap exists between what customers expects and what he is currently getting. Thus this will help them come up with the new products with extra features and benefits.

Pricing
The pricing decisions or the decisions related to interest and fee or commission charged by banks are found instrumental in motivating or influencing the target market. The pricing strategy adopted by ICICI is as follows: Penetrative pricing aimed at achieving large market share Philosophy of profit through volume Their effort was to drive out competition Price leader in retail banking product Aggressive pricing facilitated through low cost of fund acquisition

Distribution Strategy
Cross selling of products as a major area of focus. Creation of concept of DSA (Direct Selling Agent) Creation of concept of DST (Direct Selling Team) Effort on the part of the bank to reach the customer rather than waiting for the customer Use of internet, mobile, ATMs and other technological device to reach and serve the customers

Product Promotion
Aimed at generating sales Communicates product features and benefits Mainly through print media

Point of purchase promotion tools are required for different products to reach the relevant customer segment. Also, different promotion media which can be used Advertising: Television, radio, movies, theatres Print media: hoardings, newspaper, magazines Publicity: road shows, campus visits, sandwich man, Sponsorship Sales promotion: gifts, discount and commission, incentives,etc. Personal selling: Cross-sale (selling at competitors place),personalized service Telemarketing: ICICI one source Call center (mind space)

Outdoor Activities
Aim of their outdoor activities is Need to be seeneverywhere!! Events at corporate campus Promotional material at channel partner outlets Billboards Signboards Kiosks in residential and commercial complexes

Other Initiatives
In-film promotions Baghban Co-Branding Initiatives Alliance with Amway India for launch of the international credit card. The card will enable Amway distributors to purchase Amway products and earn and redeem reward points Indian Railways Catering And Tourism Development Corporation, in conjunction with ICICI Bank, announced the launch of mobile payments and ticketing system, offering IRCTC customers to book railway tickets via SMS and make payments through their ICICI Bank accounts Cross brand associations - acquiring databases of high net worth clientele of lifestyle products : Tie-up with Woven Hues Young Stars Account Promotion through tie-up with Cartoon Network, and in-series promotion through Tom & Jerry Seminars in partnership with media channels

People
Orientation towards customer service Division of SME, Personal Banking and other functions at the branch level and thus easy for people to manage it and provide best services to customer. Effort towards providing sophisticated and modern image of the bank through its people To realize its potential in bank marketing, ICICI become conscious in its potential in internal marketing. The starting point in internal marketing is that the employees are the first internal market for the organization. The basic objective of internal marketing is to develop

motivated and customer conscious employees. A service company can be only as good as its people. A service is a performance and it is usually difficult to separate the performance from the people

Process
Flow of activities: all the major activities of ICICI banks follow RBI guidelines. There has to be adherence to certain rules and principles in the banking operations. The activities have been segregated into various departments accordingly. Use of technology for both internal and external processed Process are system driven and independent of the people handling it Standardization of service across the branches saves lot of time behind individual transaction Extensive investment in software solutions for process systemization Simplicity of operation various functions are segregated One can access the various services ICICI Bank has to offer at anytime, anywhere and from anyplace.

Physical Evidence
Physical evidence is the material part of a service. Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues. The physical evidences include signage, reports, punch lines, other tangibles, employees dress code etc. All these aspects aim at tangibalizing the untangible aspect of the service. Signage: each and every bank has its logo by which a person can identify the company. Thus such signage is significant for creating visualization and corporate identity. Financial reports: The Companys financial reports are issued to the customers to emphasis or credibility.

Tangibles: bank gives pens, writing pads to the internal customers. Even the passbooks, chequebooks, etc reduce the inherent intangibility of services.

Punch lines: punch lines or the corporate statement depict the philosophy and attitude of the bank. Banks have influential punch lines to attract the customers like Hum hai na being used by the ICICI.

Employees dress code: ICICI bank follows a dress code for their internal customers. This helps the customers to feel the ease and comfort. Thus gave them the same environment in whichever branch they go, they dont feel uncomfortable with new environment, thus standardization of the service.