UBS launches biggest ad campaign in 7 years to ‘drive business’

HAVING recently swallowed Credit Suisse, UBS wants the world to know indigestion won’t be a problem.

The man tasked with spreading the word is John McDonald, the bank’s chief marketing officer. Just over a year into his post at UBS, he is presiding over the bank’s biggest marketing investment since 2016.

Financial industry publication Finews estimated the figure at double-digit millions – a figure McDonald would neither confirm nor deny.

The campaign was launched in the United States and United Kingdom in January, and hits several other locations this month – Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan in the Asia-Pacific; Brazil in South America; and Italy and Germany in Europe. It rolls out in Australia later this year.

Sitting down for an interview with The Business Times, McDonald emphasised that the campaign is more than a brand refresh.

“This is very much about how the brand will drive business,” he said. “It’s about growth… We want to make sure prospects understand what we offer and understand the combined entity.”

Next month will mark one year since UBS was made to take over its domestic rival to stave off a feared banking crisis.

Various legal milestones have since been completed, although more remain. The deal is expected to be fully completed this year.

Shareholders are better off, as the stock has risen more than 45 per cent since the news of the deal broke. This strong performance comes in spite of integration-related expenses, and even as peers have been sold off or are flatlining.

Swiss private banker Julius Baer is down 20 per cent over the same period. Shares of US bank Morgan Stanley, the next-largest wealth manager after the combined UBS-Credit Suisse entity, are up about 1 per cent.

Clients are gaining confidence, too. In the third quarter of last year, UBS reported that Credit Suisse Wealth Management managed to attract net new money for the first time since the first quarter of 2022.

Employees, however, are still facing some uncertainty. UBS made headlines last week on potential job cuts as it works to integrate a massive acquisition. McDonald himself is working on integrating the marketing teams of UBS and Credit Suisse.

The campaign is, therefore, as much about convincing outsiders as it is about winning over insiders. The campaign slogan “Banking is our craft” was chosen after “hundreds” of interviews to understand the audience and be sure of its response.

Clients had to see their experience reflected in it, McDonald said, and it had to be appealing to prospects. Employees, meanwhile, should be able to see themselves in it.

The concept of craft appealed because of its association with “Swissness”, he said, adding that feedback internally has been “great”.

A career marketer, McDonald joined the Ogilvy graduate programme in 2001 and discovered he “loved building narratives and telling stories”.

The story he is telling now is one of UBS bankers being craftspeople – experts, preservers of tradition, striving for perfection, engendering trust.

He said the bank tested its campaign in Singapore and Hong Kong, to ensure the campaign delivers the same message here too. “The Asia-Pacific region is a priority,” he said.

The campaign will run in multiple languages and feature localised elements. One video ad, for instance, features the UBS Singapore team.

In Q3 2023, Asia-Pacific accounted for US$13 billion of the US$22 billion in net new money attracted.

The bank will report its Q4 results on Tuesday (Feb 6), when chief executive Sergio Ermotti is also expected to unveil a three-year strategic plan.

McDonald’s brand campaign is the palate cleanser. The main event is still to come.