Volvo Ocean Race: Overview, Marketing, History

50 CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY 2: TEAM SEB
SEB USED THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE TO ESTABLISH THEIR BRAND IN A NEW
MARKET, STRENGTHEN THEIR BRAND IN EXISTING MARKETS, MAINTAIN
AND CREATE CUSTOMERS AND UNIFY AND INTEGRATE THEIR WORKFORCE.
SEB is one of the largest bank and insurance groups in Scandinavia where
it is regarded as a traditional bank and a major financial player in the Baltic
states. The company had been expanding since 1997 when it merged with
Trygg-Hansa, a Swedish insurance company. From being a locally based
Swedish bank the company has expanded into a full-range financial group with
operations across Northern Europe.
In 2000, SEB purchased the German bank BfG and was building an increasingly
strong position in the European financial market, as well as being represented
in 20 countries around the world. The group was also mounting a strong
offensive as a leading internet bank.
With this expansion and the recent merger activity, the bank had been looking
at ways of fulfilling a number of business objectives.
BUSINESS ISSUES FOR SEB
Following the merger with Trygg-Hansa in 1997, SEB found itself in a banking
and insurance market place with escalating competition. During these years,
the bank grew from being a Swedish bank with most of its employees in
Sweden, to a Northern European bank with more than half of its employees
and customers outside Sweden. BfG alone had over 170 branches across
Germany and 4,200 employees.
The purchase of BfG led to the SEB brand being launched in Germany in 2001.
Whilst well known in Sweden, SEB was a name and a brand that was virtually
unknown in Germany except within a small circle.