Bancaja 2009: Corporate brand strategy

In 2005, Bancaja, the leading savings bank in the Autonomous Community of Valencia in Spain, launched an ambitious repositioning plan for the brand. The aim was to transform the then regional financial institution into a reference for the entire Spanish banking industry. This brand strategy played an important role within the bank's 2004-2007 strategic plan, with decisive importance of building a strong brand to enhance the institution's competitiveness. The campaign's results were extraordinary. Four years later, in June 2009, Bancaja had succeeded in becoming the third largest saving bank and the seventh banking group in Spain. In the midst of a global economic recession affecting the financial sector full on, Sebastian Ruiz, Bancaja's Marketing Manager, had to decide on the institution's brand strategy for the next few years: Should they continue to develop the brand in accordance with the strategy defined in 2005 or was it time to reconsider it?