People perceive their favorite brands as trusted friends and react accordingly when a brand falls short of their expectations or promises. Think of a brand as a decent human being and act like one.
Here in the Netherlands one of the biggest banks has an issue with decency. Now for months, we hear ‘how Rabobank is growing a better world together’. Rabobank even announced a three-year programme to kick-start the transition to a more sustainable food and agricultural sector.
Perhaps unfortunately for Rabobank, two things have happened in society:
- People are in general more suspicious about what big companies are saying and especially in the banking industry.
- As Rabobank correctly has identified, sustainable food and agriculture have become more and more critical to choices people make.
The more relevant and important your brand or cause is to people, the more your actions will get noticed – and get reactions.
It took only a little bit of time for people to figure out where Rabobank invests. Turns out ‘6.8 out of the 8.8 billion that Dutch banks invest in ‘very animal-unfriendly meat industry’ comes from the bank that advocates a ‘better world.’
In our connected world, both positive and negative messages distribute faster and wider than ever before. As a result, the Dutch now know that the Rabobank is not what they advocate. They also know it is not only the Rabobank that has this issue, but many more banks – there are only a few without issues.
Suddenly consumers are getting aware of a new category in banking – ‘the animal friendly banks,’ opening the doors for the real sustainable banking brands who smartly so jump on the wagon and educate consumers about the wrong investments traditional banks make.
And how is the Rabobank responding? Just as how people expect from the big institutions: without taking real responsibility. Rabobank does not think of their brand as a decent human being and does not act like one. Only when a brand does, people will acknowledge the mistake and might forgive you for it.