Marketing is constantly evolving, moving from mass to direct to digital marketing, and now to data-driven marketing. CIB’s marketing strategies and resources have kept pace with these changes while adapting to external factors, the Bank’s objectives, and consumer behavior. Consumers use more devices, are more privacy-aware, and have increasingly sophisticated customer-experience expectations. CIB’s forwardlooking approach to marketing and communications has kept us aligned with these trends, setting CIB apart from other banks. The Marketing and Corporate Communications division includes a team of user experience (UX) designers who are responsible for the front-end experience across all digital touch points. Marketing campaigns have both the goal of raising awareness for products and services and of driving traffic to digital channels. CIB’s marketing campaigns focus on value propositions rather than on competitive pricing or other simple appeals.
2021 Highlights
Website Launch
A corporate website is the most influential touchpoint for any company, and it acts as an intelligent platform that dynamically tailors relevant experiences to the needs of users, which is mission-critical for corporations to stay competitive, attract the best personnel, and serve eager investors. In June 2021, CIB launched its new corporate website. Within the first three months post-launch, despite a 16% decrease, we started to witness marked improvements in key indicators when compared to the old site. We also witnessed indictors of good performance for the new tools added to help nurture prospects during the consideration phase of their purchase journey.
Despite a 16% decrease in overall traffic, there has been an increase in the average pages visited per session (16% increase) and average session duration (30% increase), indicating improved retention on site. Users browsed the website more easily and are likely to gain more information in a single visit, reducing the need to come back multiple times for the same information. We have also seen a decrease in the average bounce rate (7% decrease), also indicating a possible improvement in website speed/ performance, as well as improved website navigation and accessibility.
In a more long-term view, traffic and KPIs have all seen positive increases as the website has stabilized. Users, sessions, and pageviews have all gone up 6%, 10%, and 24%, respectively. The increase in traffic can largely be attributed to an increase in organic traffic on the site. Paid traffic is comparable between the first and second halves of the year at 1.2 million. Organic traffic increased by 12% since the launch of the new site, possibly indicating improved SEO and reachability of the site and improved performance. This is supported by the 24% increase in pageviews, which is a possible indicator of improved site structure and layout, making it easier for customers to navigate the site. Regarding key sections, we have seen a 39% increase in traffic to the Cards Apply Online page and a 12% increase in traffic to the Loans page. In terms of the submitted leads,there was a 120% increase in Cards Leads and 126% increase in Loans leads in comparable periods since the site launched. The Offers page has also seen a 17% increase in traffic.
Overall paid leads have increased 5% q-o-q from the old site to the new site, and organic leads have increased 72%. The increase in organic leads is mainly attributed to improved SEO, as well as the placement of helpful tools across the site that assist the customer shift from consideration of a product to action. At least 3,400 lead submissions for loans have passed through the loan calculator, and at least 800 leads have passed through the Offers page.
CIB’s corporate website will play a central role in our ambition to achieve 30–40% of our sales digitally, where we intend to put to full use the extent of the platform in building personable and relevant experiences to our visitors.
Expanding CIB’s High-Net-Worth Experiences Platform
In an increasingly competitive industry, it is becoming imperative to design experiences to retain and grow our high-net-worth (HNW) customer portfolio, create loyalty, and drive brand advocacy. In 2021, CIB Private customers enjoyed exclusive privileges, benefits, and giveaways with our longstanding partners: The G-Hotel, Pier 88 Almaza Bay, Pier 88 Gouna, and Club 88 Gouna, among others.
Our Wealth customers also benefited from the same kinds of offerings, including benefits and offers in Sahel with The Lemon Tree & Co. and Galambo Restaurant at Hacienda White, Carlo’s at Hacienda Red, Le Sidi Boutique Hotel and Restaurant at Hacienda Bay, Seashell Compound, and Villa Coconut in El Gouna.
In 2022, we will continue to offer valuable lifestyle experiences with key partners to our HNW clients, including exclusive benefits, special discounts, rewards, and more.
Supporting SMEs and Launching CIB Growth Business Banking Segment
More than ever, financial inclusion and digital intermediation is becoming necessary for banks to prop up key industries and segments in society. With the government’s push for inclusion and SME support, the division has helped the Bank market a diverse range of products and services to fulfil their needs.
In 2021, the division also helped the business launch CIB Growth, where existing business banking customers received tailored SMS and e-mail shots, along with branded welcome kits introducing the Growth segment. These included asset and liability products, tailored with ways to bank and how to apply to different products and services as part of the newly branded Growth Card. We launched the Growth segment into the market via press release coverage and social media awareness posts with the support of ‘Always on Campaigns’ to emphasize the different products and services, ease of banking, and digital banking capabilities for business banking. This was integrated with our new website to divert targeted customers to ‘Apply Online’ to capture leads.
In 2022, the Bank’s strategy is to actively develop SME growth asset plans and take it to the next level to surpass the mandated 25% of CIB’s portfolio in SME lending and 10% of CIB’s portfolio in small segment lending to comply with CBE mandates. To this end, a strategy has been put in place to further increase the number of new bank customers and retain current customers by focusing on the following high-level projects and milestones that the division will assist with:
- Further emphasis on the Growth segment
- Spotlighting Business Solution Partners
- Launch of the medium segment: ‘Business’
- Launch of the ‘Micro’ small segment, supported by EGP 1 million
- Launch of Loyalty programs
We will penetrate this segment through untraditional marketing initiatives, such as:
- Building an online network where business connections are nurtured and experiences shared, and, by time, community members are turned into brand advocates while providing access to ideas from members on how we can improve products and services.
- Content generation through sponsored industryrelated articles powered by CIB, the launch of a podcast featuring thought leaders discussing the successes and failures of running a business, and frequent live streaming episodes.
- Brand advocacy through testimonial videos.
Local and International Media Engagement
During 2021, the Corporate Communications team expanded the scope of their work and increased their media presence. They published over 30 press releases and newsletters, around 20 of which revolved around social responsibility.
Despite some ongoing restrictions due to COVID-19, the Bank continued to support and sponsor a number of activities. The division played an important role in highlighting the Bank’s positive impact on society and its commitment to its social responsibility. For example, the Bank announced its sponsorship of the 2021 Squash Championship, which garnered widespread attention.
The Bank also played a part in several charitable activities with different institutions and associations as part of its endeavor to improve health services for children. These institutions included the Egyptian Clothing Bank, the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation, the Ibrahim A. Badran Charity Foundation, the Banati Foundation, the Children’s Cancer Hospital 57357, and Benha University.
The division was integral in helping the Bank advocate for responsible banking and promote its green initiatives, including joining the Net-Zero Banking Alliance to reduce carbon emissions and supporting the Task Force for Climate Related Financial Disclosures.
Africa
Following the acquisition of Mayfair Bank in Kenya, now Mayfair CIB Bank, a branding, marketing, and communications strategy was developed to support CIB’s business strategy in Kenya to facilitate trade finance and credit facilities for Egyptian corporates looking to engage with other African countries. As such, the division will support CIB in organizing ‘teach-ins’ for mid-sized corporates in Cairo to present CIB’s trade finance and credit facilitating capabilities, as well as market knowledge and economic insights. It will also lead and host individual marketing trips to Kenya for the most desirable Egyptian corporate targets to make introductions to relevant manufacturers or trading partners. The team has developed a new corporate identity, with the rebranding of Mayfair CIB Bank being implemented across the Bank’s branches, as well as being spread throughout CIB’s online presence and touch points.
Internal Communications (IC)
Building on CIB’s vision to enhance and invest in its internal communications, CIB has appointed an international consultant to evaluate current means of internal communication, assess the communication needs of different stakeholders and employees, and develop an internal communication channel strategy, which began rolling out in 2021. This transformation framework was placed to develop a full understanding of the current IC strategies and endeavors and to help identify gaps and focus areas. This was preceded by a thorough analysis that included IC trends, best practices, intranet assessment, management interviews, and employee surveys. CIB also saw the launch of the internal communication channels assessment tool to boost channel efficiency by using the correct channel to communicate information to employees.
Working toward building an integrated culture among employees, the IC team unified the utilized communication channels, along with managing and monitoring daily content sent to CIB employees, to ensure a smooth flow of information while building a sense of trust and loyalty internally.
One of the several steps taken toward unifying and building a single trusted source of internal communication was to implement a clear policy governing mass internal e-mails that are sent to large numbers of employees, including both (a) e-mails sent to all employees of CIB and (b) e-mails sent to all members of a specific unit from someone outside that unit, and to remove access from any other users. This serves the purpose of aiming to regulate everyday e-mails, taking into consideration the target audience, priority, tonality, authenticity or appropriateness, among many other factors.
Continuing our journey of creating a solid internal communication front, as well as a unified, transparent, and informative culture amongst employees, the Intranet enhancement project took major steps in the right direction. CIB’s aim from this project is to create a strong, attractive tool that connects employees, promotes company culture, and instills its values across the organization.
While the project’s focus is to keep employees both informed and engaged, the new intranet will focus on UI/UX and the enhancement of the employee experience, which will allow for increased employee productivity and engagement. It will also provide an interactive and social space for employees to help in increasing employee collaboration, and communication, teamwork; cementing the company culture, values, knowledge; and ensuring all employees are both informed and engaged.
The CIB Intranet played a vital role during the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a virtual environment where employees can stay informed, connect, communicate, and share.
Additionally, on the communications front, our weekly internal digital newsletter, CIB Round-up, is still going strong and keeping our employees updated on all the latest news internally and externally. Being bilingual, the newsletter focuses on CIB-related news, the banking sector, and the Egyptian economy. It also includes a dedicated section for CIB Sustainable Finance, shedding light on CIB’s sustainability updates, news, performance, and achievements, as well as national and global sustainability-related topics.
To maintain an open-door policy and a two-way communication environment with CIB’s executive leadership, a biweekly CEO and COO breakfast/lunch is held where employees can network with the CEO and COO and other CIBians in a casual setting. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, invitees per event were limited. However, the discussions remained mutually beneficial and transparent between all concerned parties.