UOB rolls out brand campaign in line with its 80th anniversary

UNITED Overseas Bank (UOB) is rolling out a brand campaign as part of its 80th anniversary celebrations.

The campaign will focus on the bank's unwavering and long-term commitment to its customers and employees, UOB said on Wednesday.

"The new brand campaign builds on the heritage of UOB and the elements that best position it to remain relevant in the changing lives of its customers and employees across its network of more than 500 branches and offices globally," it noted. "It portrays a bank that is built on, and led by, timeless values that are needed to do what is right for its stakeholders. This principle is what lies behind the new strapline, 'Right by you'."

Gan Ai Im, UOB head of brand, said the new campaign "captures the ethos that have driven UOB's achievements over the past 80 years and reflects how we will be guided into the future in our decision-making, behaviour and relationships with all our stakeholders".

She said staff training is reinforcing the four values of being "honourable, enterprising, united and committed". The four values are also factored into the key performance indicators for senior managers, Ms Gan added.

The campaign is based on research that UOB had conducted over a year which focused on its customers from retail to wholesale banking across its regional network. "Customers told us that UOB is a dependable organisation, standing by customers over the ups and downs of economic cycles," Ms Gan noted.

UOB also ran an online exchange over nine months to draw insights from a cross-section of employees ranging from the newly hired to the ones who have been with the bank for 40 years.

The campaign starts on Thursday (Oct 1), timed to coincide with the first day on which UOB opened its doors in 1935. On that day, 80 years ago, UOB began offering banking services for the merchant community in Singapore as United Chinese Bank at Bonham Building, Raffles Place. In 1965, the bank was renamed United Overseas Bank as it expanded into Hong Kong and thereafter grew organically and through a series of strategic acquisitions across the region.

Today, UOB, Singapore's third-biggest bank, is rated an Aa1 by Moody's and AA- by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings respectively.

The campaign will be launched in Singapore first and it will be rolled out progressively in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China and Hong Kong in 2016.