GB00_erste lage_E - Erste Group

RETAIL AND REAL ESTATE
Outlook
The priorities in 2001 in distribution to small and mid-sized companies will be to maintain the
profit margin despite an adverse environment, achieve selective growth in risk assets and further
expand commission income. Another important task is to advise and prepare small and mediumsized
business customers for the introduction of the euro at the end of 2001.
The needs-oriented advisory services launched with retail customers as part of the retail strategy
are also being extended to the business with small and medium-sized corporate clients. In
this market segment Erste Bank plans to use a standardised tool which it calls Business Check.
This device, developed together with the savings banks, can be used in the entire savings bank
sector and greatly contributes to the projection of a unified identity.
In 2001, in order to ensure that the steadily rising requirements of customers and markets
for quality are met, Erste Bank will continue to invest systematically in the further training and
development of its customer advisors.
Savings banks
The savings banks strategy of Erste Bank is based on the Bank’s function as the sector’s lead
bank and centre for product development and design, as well as on the distribution strength of
the savings banks based on their knowledge of the market and their local roots. The sharing of
resources and division of labour with the savings banks generates synergies in the form of cost
reductions and earnings enhancements.
Co-operation with savings banks
Alongside the sector-wide roll-out of the retail concept introduced in 1999 in the form of the advisory
tools “Finanzcheck” and “Finanzplan”, in 2000 the joint marketing of the savings banks and
Erste Bank was further refined. The approach to the market is now uniformly based on joint marketing
plans that are produced annually. For the effective communication of the sector’s messages,
notably by means of advertising, a central budget was created to which the savings banks
and Erste Bank transferred a significant proportion of their existing marketing budgets. This has
created a secure foundation for the continued rapid building of the collective s brand and for the
effective implementation of the uniform corporate design in the appearance of the savings banks
products.
Combining the marketing budgets of the individual savings banks with that of Erste Bank results
in additional potential for synergies, particularly cost savings. The common Internet presence
of the savings bank sector went live in March 2000 at www.sparkasse.at.
32 Erste Bank 2000