Faculty of Marketing

Services Marketing

Semestrial Project

Students: Simion Dana – Maria

Todor Ana – Daria
3rd year of study
Series D
Group 1752
 MARKETING MIX IN A SERVICES COMPANY
BCR

1.Introduction
A bank's job is to provide financial services to consumers that assist them better
manage their lives. Banks are offering a variety of services to stay current and attract clients
as technology improves and competition intensifies. Whether you're creating your first bank
account or have been managing a checking account for years, it's useful to understand the
various sorts of banking services accessible. This guarantees that you are making the most of
your present banking institution. Determining which services are most important to you can
lead you to the bank that best meets your requirements.
Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), a member of the Erste Group, is one of Romania's
most major financial groups, with universal bank operations (retail, corporate & investment
banking, treasury and capital markets), as well as leasing firms, private pensions, and housing
banks.
BCR operates a network of 19 business centers, 17 mobile offices specialized to
corporations, and 430 retail units located across the majority of the country's municipalities
with a population of more than 10,000 people. BCR is Romania's number one bank in the
bank transaction market, and its customers benefit from the country's largest ATM network –
2,000 ATMs, 14,500 POSs, and comprehensive Internet banking, Mobile banking, Phone-
banking, and E-commerce services.
BCR has a two-tier governance structure and conducts its business in accordance with
Romanian and European Union (EU) legal and regulatory requirements, as well as Erste
Group principles and best international practices in the field.
The corporate governance model used at both the BCR Group and individual bank
levels is based on the interaction of the basic components of corporate governance, as
depicted in the image below. According to the corporate governance principles at BCR level,
the overall management structure and especially the supervisory function have the
responsibility to establish, assess and periodically and systemically review: how the bank’s
activity is organized, the collective and individual competencies and responsibilities, how the
implementation and application of the entire set of regulations is monitored, flows and
control keys from the perspective of the undertaken mission and vision, targets’ achievement
as per the business plans, effective risk management.

BCR corporate governance objectives primarily focus on:

 Adapting to most recent changes.
 Strengthening the trust of stakeholders (shareholders, management, clients,
employees, suppliers, and other entities involved).
 Accelerating the decision making and execution process.

 Clearly defined and communicated corporate governance processes and capacities.

 Improved risk management.
 Alignment to legal requirements and Erste Group requirements and stipulations.

BCR Mission
The BCR's mission is to grow Romania's economy and bring prosperity to the
country. The Bank aspires to be the most prestigious provider of financial services to its
clients, whether they are private individuals, businesses, or government agencies. However,
in order to really fulfill the function of Romanian economy catalyst, financial backer of
communities and population, we must evolve and adapt to market demands on a continuous
basis.

The BCR management structure

The BCR management structure is comprised of the Management Board, which
represents the executive/superior management function and is responsible for the bank's
operational management, and the Supervisory Board, which represents the supervisory
function and is responsible for the supervision, management, and coordination of the
Management Board's activity. Their skills and obligations are governed by the Charter, the
Internal Rules of each structure, and the Operational Book of BCR.

Services provided by BCR

Internet Banking - Click 24 Banking, is distinguished by:

 A modern, easy to use design.
 Fees that are 50% lower than those at the desk.
 Permanent access to your transaction history and to the account statement.
 Increased safety for all transactions performed through BCR's Internet Banking
solution.
Mobile Banking - Touch 24
 Monthly subscription provided for free.
 Fingerprint based biometric authentication.
 Simplicity and ease of use, being the easiest method to perform fast banking
transactions.
 Since it is an app installed on your phone, the data consumption is significantly
reduced.
BCR Alert
 With BCR Alert, you are always informed of what is going on in your BCR accounts.
 You can receive SMS or e-mail notifications at an address you specify whenever
specified quantities of money enter or exit your account, within the restrictions you
specify.
Budget and analysis of expenses
  You are aware of your expenses and how much you have left to spend.
 Do you ever wonder, at the end of the month, where did all your money go? What if
we tell you that you can solve this issue for free? If you are already an Internet
Banking customer, activate the BCR Financial Assistant at no extra cost and you will
see what we mean.
 You won't spend more than you have planned
Cash pooling
 The service is dedicated to groups of companies having current accounts open at
BCR.
 The service ensures the aggregation of funds into the account of one of the group
companies, during or at the end of every day.
 Moreover, the service can be configured to allow access to the funds available in an
account (dedicated to collections, for example) by a different account (such as the one
for payments), without requiring the manual transfer of funds from an account to the
other during the day.
 The service is configured in close collaboration with the needs of the companies using
it, therefore we kindly ask you to contact us so we can have a detailed discussion on
the features of the service and propose an adequate solution for your group of
companies.
Cash sweeping
 This service is dedicated to legal persons having multiple current accounts with
differential use, whether geographically, relating to the type of commercial activity
(production, distribution etc.) or type of banking operations (payments, collections
etc.).
 The service ensures the aggregation of funds into a single account of the company,
during or at the end of every day.
 Moreover, the service can be configured to allow access to the funds available in an
account (dedicated to collections, for example) by a different account (such as the one
for payments), without requiring the manual transfer of funds from an account to the
other during the day.
 The service is configured in close collaboration with the needs of the company using
it, therefore we kindly ask you to contact us so we can have a detailed discussion on
the features of the service and propose an adequate solution for your company.
2. The existing competition on the Romanian market
2.1. The top 3 main competitors

Reasons for being a competitor of

Bank/ Logo
BCR

- BT24 – internet and mobile banking

- Products for Small and Medium
Business

- Personalized photo cards first

campaign "A la Carte, create your card
as original as you"
- Internet banking for business: online
banking

- Card - is attached to the current

account card which can be
personalized with a picture gallery
with one bank or personal computer
- First mobile payment solution –
2008

2.2. The main economic-financial indicators held by the first 3 competitors

a) Banca Transilvania
The assets 118 billion RON
Market share 18,4% (assets)
Net profit 1,474 million RON
 The number of the bank’s customers 3.2 million

b) BRD - Groupe Société Générale

The assets 61 million RON
Market share 11.0% (assets)
Net profit 9,472 million RON
The number of the bank’s customers 1.2 million

c) ING Group
The assets 97,379 million RON
Market share 9.61% (assets)
Net profit 18,727 million RON
The number of the bank’s customers -

3. Segmentation and targeting on the Romanian market

3.1. The market segments for BCR
Retail banking, sometimes known as personal banking, has the highest client
segregation in the banking business. Deposits, mortgages, and loans, as well as small
commercial customers, are among the products and services offered in this area.
Prior to implementing the new methodology, BCR divided its corporate clients into
four categories: strategic customers, large customers, municipalities, and SMEs, while the
headquarters divided its development activity business into three categories: large and
strategic municipalities, and SMEs. In terms of the subsidiaries, there was no formal
organizational structure in place, with loan officers responsible for all types of consumers. 
The problems with this old methodology arise from the fact that segmentation exists
only on paper, with only the "new big companies" / strategic companies visible within the
organization (the bank had created a special structure for them: Department of business
development, officers for customer relationship and subsidiary marketing, and was giving
them special treatment through visits and product presentation) and the rest invisible.
 Today, customer segmentation in BCR is separated into two categories: new
customers and existing customers, with the latter further subdivided into large corporation
clients / customers with significant exposure and SMEs.
The new segmentation strategies are being implemented for risk management
purposes, with the goal of dividing all customers into groups with similar needs and a similar
risk profile, allowing the bank to calculate the expected credit exposure profile over the life
of a contract or a portfolio of contracts. As a result of this segmentation strategy, each client
becomes part of the portfolio of a customer relationship manager, who treats him differently
and better understands the category he belongs to and its specific needs. Additionally, items
can be produced expressly for the demands of a specific demographic, and marketing
campaigns can be more focused.
The concept of customer relationship management in BCR derives from the fact that
when the officer forms an agreement, the expected profit must be realistic and predictable,
and clients who bring in negative contributions for an extended period of time are not
allowed. The smaller the customer (retail, SMEs, etc.), the more standardized the procedure,
whereas large customers with large profits are given more time and higher qualified customer
relationship management personnel.

3.2. Target audience

BCR’s target audience is defined by both men and women, aged between 25 and 49
years old, mostly married, but with higher affinity among those who are single or in
concubinage. They have a medium to high education and a medium to high household
income, the average being 3330.51 RON. They live in both urban and rural and are at
least 2 persons in the household, most of them do not have children.
BCR consumers can be divided into two personas, as following:
1. The younger segment, 25 – 35 y.o., which have an active social life and are always
looking or new challenges, trying to learn something new and not staying in the same
place for too long. They are willing to quit more and risk their family to build a
career, as they work hard in order to gain a higher social status. They like to meet
people as it can bring them future opportunities. They are aware of the environment
problems and are very careful at recycling and `buy products and services from
sustainable companies, who pollute less. They are mostly interested in: computer/
software/ IT, Internet, economy/ finance/ bank/ stock exchange and tourism.
 2. The more mature ones, +35 – they are rational and are up to date with news and
information. They enjoy every moment of life and consider that the best fun is in the
family. They are very influencing and try to impose their beliefs to others. they work
in a big company or multinational and consider that they have many things to be
envied for. Are trustful, as people consult them when have problems and ask for
advices. Yet, they are advices by others about how to use new technologies. Also,
they pay attention to sponsor brands at events and buy from them after. Their main
interests are: auto motor, economy/ finance/ bank/ stock exchange, cultural events/
music/ theatre/ cinema, local news & events, fix & repair, social issues and political
problems, tests/ games/ crosswords and science & technique.

3.3. Ways to expand the market for BCR

In order to expand the market and attract more customers, BCR may create two new
strategies for two new target segments. The first one should be addressed two the young
generation, 14 – 25 years old, people who need a bank service for their scholarships, personal
savings or first job. Here, the strategy should be focused on low prices, as this segment has a
low income and attractive benefits, in order to loyalize them and BCR to remain their chosen
bank. for the next steps in their life.
The second strategy should be adapted for people with ages over 49. For them, the
perfect services can be related to life insurance or retirement packages.
Also, BCR should communicate more in order to be visible and increase awareness
and consideration among potential consumers. This should happen to increase the brand
loyalty and lovability among the existing ones together with bringing several personalized
benefits for each customer.

4. Market strategy
4.1. The market strategy of BCR
Banking services are quite similar in the current market context. The clear direction
that is being stressed right now is to increase product transparency. So, the distinction, the
true innovation, comes not from the product itself, but from how banks provide their services.
This is an area that needs to be constantly developed, although it is already at a significantly
better level than in past years in all Romanian banks with a considerable market share.
 All banks are concerned about the marketing budget, strategy, and instruments since
they must decide how much money to spend, how to evaluate marketing activities, and which
instruments are the most effective. In other words, banks must strike a balance between their
capabilities and desires, i.e., between their financial condition and marketing activities. The
banking system in Romania is no exception.
A few years ago, demand was greater than supply, but the situation soon reversed, and
supply is now greater than demand. The criteria for selecting a bank were altered in these
circumstances. Customers today expect more than "stability and reputation," they want a
strengthened relationship, individualized products, unique characteristics, and so on.
Nowadays, things are difficult to distinguish, they are easily imitated, and clients are lot more
informed and smarter; they also know exactly what options they have. Product sales are no
longer sufficient; they must be supplemented by the experience that banks provide to their
clients. Product sales are no longer sufficient; they must be supported by the experience that
banks provide to their consumers, as well as the personalization of services.
Starting with these aspects, BCR has created a customer-focused strategy and
business model, and that they have also invested in their own infrastructure to deliver more
flexible, reliable, and inexpensive services. The strategy's major measures aim to attract local
and foreign capital, as well as to develop Romania's intellectual and entrepreneurial potential.
BCR's goal is not only to provide banking products and services, but also to manage
their customers' relationships in a wider sense, through financial consulting customized to
specific needs, empathy, flexibility, and promptness.
BCR is in a privileged position, in terms of community interaction; the BCR's
strategic directions are as follows:
Supporting and encouraging leaders and role models by contributing to create a
positive and inspiring atmosphere for Romania's development. Entrepreneurship training is
another approach that the bank chooses to include in sustainable development is
entrepreneurship. This instructional project, like the others, is aimed at young people.
"START! Business" is an entrepreneurship education program created in collaboration with
Junior Achievement. Employees who volunteered to provide consulting services made this
initiative possible.
Education for the development of practical skills, with strategic relationships with the
country's largest universities, primarily aimed at creating initiatives to assist students in
developing practical skills for smoother integration into the labor market.
 Social marketing activities of the bank might be compared to cause-related
marketing. Cause-related marketing is when a for-profit organization collaborates with a non-
profit group to promote a cause. Civic leadership is demonstrated by the development of
projects that yearly support hundreds of non-profit organizations, as well as by encouraging
our staff to be responsible citizens, thereby integrating the bank into the fabric of the
community. The goal of the social marketing campaign, and the anticipated behavior change
for consumers, is for them to use BCR as their preferred bank instead of a traditional bank.

4.2. Positioning of BCR (Strategic positioning)

1. Business approach: They provide a broad range of financial products and services
to their clients in a "one-stop-shop" environment, including savings, investments, lending,
consulting and advising, and leasing.

2. Geographical focus: BCR concentrates on the Romanian and Moldavian markets

(via fully owned BCR Chisinau), while giving clients active abroad financial services and
consulting through Erste Group businesses throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

3. Client-centered approach: BCR cultivates long-term relationships with clients across

all segments by providing accessible and transparent goods as well as individualized
consulting services.

5. Service Price
In general, financial organizations use several pricing setting strategies for a product,
which are as follows:
The "cost plus profit" strategy. The price of the BCR credit card "Bun de plata"
includes fixed and variable costs associated with the creation of the electronic card,
promotion expenses, a profit margin, and so on. The bank's expenses and earnings are
covered by the costs imposed with the advancement of credit card operations, which include
card initial issuing commissions, card renewal commissions, additional cards issuing
commissions for users authorized by the account holder, PIN ode regenerating commissions,
yearly card account maintenance commissions, card account opening commissions, and cash
withdrawal commissions.
The price setting strategy is based on the competition, and the price of the banking
service is practically identical to the price of the competition, allowing for the coverage of all
expenses while also ensuring a profit. Within the program "First House," BCR offers a credit
of up to 160.000 RON over a maximum of 30 years, with a variable interest rate of 4.44
percent per year and an evaluation cost of 300.01 RON + VAT. BRD offers credits for the
same program "First House" at an average value of 145 000 RON over a period of 30 years,
with a nominal standard interest rate of 4.94 percent /year and an evaluation cost of 50 euro.
Price setting strategy based on market – the price of a new product may be similar to
the price of a product currently on the market, but there is a danger that the expenses
associated with its production will not be paid. For example, BCR's "Entrepreneur Account"
service provides several banking benefits, including money and time savings by exempting
from payment of commissions linked to business activities, as well as reductions for transfers
made over the internet and mobile banking services.
Setting the price for  penetration. Financial banking institutions use low prices for
specific banking services to quickly attract certain segments of clients in order to increase
income and market share. For example, BCR has made the package "Xteen BCR" available
to physical person clients. The service is aimed towards two age groups: children aged 0-14
years and young people aged 14-19 years. The following goods are included in the package: a
current account, a debit card, and SMS/e-mail notifications. Because the package costs 0
RON, the bank does not require interest or commissions.

6. Service delivery
According to the information provided by BCR, the bank currently has 164 cashless
branches out of a total of 428 branches of all kinds, nationwide. Still, their focus is on digital
service delivery, as it is a required function in the last years.
Some BCR branches closed in 2020 and were relocated, others were modified and
transformed into cashless agencies, and others were transformed into a new concept of
banking unit that offers state-of-the-art equipment and customer advice. According to the
bank, over 38% of the branches are already cashless. BCR officials say that the three
directions of development of the bank's territorial network are also dictated by a 40%
increase in the services and products purchased digitally from BCR.
 In this context, BCR announces that it is pursuing three directions of network
development. The first of these is the extension of a new concept of banking unit throughout
the country, a model that offers a modern space and state-of-the-art equipment and that
allows a different better relationship with customers, more applied, more dedicated, starting
from the premises financial advice and education.
The second envisages the development of the cashless agency model, which allows a
significant number of current operations to be performed in the self-banking area. This
improves the waiting time and the time allotted to client advisors. The bank states that these
cashless agencies are not staff less agencies, only that the respective branches no longer work
with cash at the counter, being equipped with multifunctionals.
The third direction is to work constantly to make the territorial presence more
efficient, both demographically and economically, by consolidating and relocating certain
units, but also by increasing the number of mobile teams that can ensure customer requests,
either individuals or companies.
The bank's analysis shows that today, more than ever, customers have high
expectations of the bank's availability on multiple channels, in addition to the traditional
ones. That's why they decided to invest heavily in digital banking and video counseling and
have recently operationalized even virtual mobile offices. In addition, they have significantly
expanded the capacity of the Contact Center, by opening 4 more regional centers and, at the
same time, increased the share of operations that can be authorized by telephone.
Currently, almost all daily banking operations, available in a BCR branch, can be
done in George: 100% online bank account opening and card issuance, 100% online
consumer credit, and 100% online refinancing of other loans, insurance, savings and deposit
accounts or cashback programs, such as, more recently, George Moneyback, the newest
feature in George that offers cash back, as a discount, to customers who use card payment at
more than 100 partner stores.

7. BCR marketing communication

In the vision of the BCR Group, communication is the activity through which the
institution interacts with the environment in which it operates. BCR it is a dynamic,
successful and responsible society. On these attributes it’s build the communication strategy,
which aims to constantly and in real time inform all those with whom it interacts: customers,
business partners, employees, community. The communication strategy is based on the
functional structure of communication based on PR people. They implement modern and
efficient procedures communication. Therefore, the internal communication within the BCR
Group aims at implementing the company's values among the employees.
BCR ERSTE decided to allocate about 50-60% of the promotion budget for 2008 for
TV campaigns. In 2007, according to Alfacont, BCR had a rate card promotion budget of
almost 77 million euros. In general, in the banking environment, universal banks allocate
over 50% of the budget for TV, because this way they cover the whole range of clients, both
individual and corporate.
In second place in the top of the media channels used by BCR are the publications,
which allocated about 20% of the budget. In the publications, BCR generally focuses on local
newspapers, because they are more read than the national ones, better covering the
information area that interests the reader in the province more. The advantage of the press is
its persistence, having a high degree of repeatability, while the disadvantage is relatively
small segment of readers. Publications are more targeted, with a clearer target audience than
TV.
The third environment as use is the OOH, BCR using almost 15% of the budget for
this media channel.
The Internet occupies a special place in the bank's promotion strategy. It clearly has
the greatest potential for development among all media channels, because it starts from the
bottom. The advantages of the online environment compared to the classic one are the speed
with which the information circulates, the convenience and simplicity of accessing it, as well
as the very low costs. In the classic media, advertising comes to you, while on the Internet, in
general, the user goes to advertising, to information. BCR uses two channels in the online
segment: the electronic channels used for transfers and payments and the promotion area.

8. Employees’ role in service delivery

Within the BCR Group, the employment of staff comprises a series of activities which
aim to attract and select individuals for vacancies, including a way to facilitate the
achievement of objectives. The recruitment of human resources is done on the basis of an
interview and a competition, either from inside or outside the bank. Candidates for the
position are registered on the basis of their CV and cover letter, and the vacancy is announced
at least 7 days before the CV selection date. It establishes the topic corresponding to the
position and makes it available to candidates on the date of the announcement of the position.
Employees are the main strength of BCR. Thus, it is considered hiring and retaining
the best professionals on the market to continuously improve work and to create added value
for the company, BCR customers and the community. Having the most professionals
employees on the market, any company has an added value through them.
Employees’ role in service delivery is to convince consumers that BCR is the best
choice they can get and to gain the customer's trust. These are not going to happen only
thorough the service itself, but also by the attitude and the level of professionalism the
employee has. Another role is to promote their services not only through the communications
channels and strategies, but also through word of mouth, to family, friends or acquittances.
Who else can talk more and better about what they do, what they sell or what they work than
an employee?
And last but not least, the most important task the employees have in service delivery
is to maintain a good relationship with their customers, to keep them loyal and give them the
feeling of safe and of being part of a community.
The general impression of the customers towards the quality of the services received
is closely related to the climate in which the employees carry out their activity within the
company, thus creating a strong interdependence between the negative reaction of the
customers and the tension between the employees or the place of service.

9. Conclusion
The formulation of marketing mix for the banking services is the prime responsibility
of the bank professional who based on their expertise and excellence attempt to market the
services and schemes profitably.
Through its image policy, Banca Comerciala Romana tries to forge an identity that
differentiates it from its competitors, and the recognition of this differentiation is a proof. The
marketing strategy is achieved through marketing-mix, the set of marketing tools that the
bank uses to achieve its marketing objectives on the market.

REFERENCES:
https://www.economica.net/bcr-a-inceput-sa-inchidasi-sa-relocheze-sucursale-banca-anunta-
ca-are-trei-directii-de-dezvoltare_189047.html
SNA FOCUS CAPI JUL ’19 – DEC ’20
https://www.academia.edu/7261405/
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%C4%82_ROM%C3%82N%C4%82
https://www.scribd.com/document/81090540/a-BCR-Element-Al-Mixului-de-Marketing