HSBC credit card acquisition program

HSBC credit card acquistion offer is on again. If I'm not wrong this is the 3rd or fourth time HSBC launches such an attractive promotion. iPOD Mini, iPOD nano, PSP in the past ... this time you can get a free Samsung DC, or buy Samsung tablet PC or OTO massage chair at almost half price. In conjunction with this acquisition promotion, there is another utilization campaign going on concurrently : up to 50% 全城最紅 restaurant discounts in TST and CWB. Seems that HSBC is determined to wipe out other smaller credit card competitors and in fact there is no way for them to compete directly with it. If you notice too, there is no other credit card investing monies in big campaign nowadays and their acquisition and utilization programs remain at below-the-line level like roadshows and direct mailings. And The smaller players' focus is not on acquisition or the traditional way of utilization. They are working on credit line conversion for existing members. I have received dozens of DMs and phone calls about converting my credit limits into installment loans. A strategy where they can lock you in and enjoy continuous streams of interest incomes.

Comments

Unknown said…
I don't understand why Hong Kong Bank spend such a lot of money on credit card promotion? For me, I have 2-3 cards from diff banks. Hong Kong Bank attracts more people to register doesn't mean it could increase the market share. Some people may even cut the account after they redeem what they want.
5:55 pm
Louis Lau said…
As said its intention is to wipe out all minor cometitors. On the other hand, it may try to use the acquisition to gather database of untapped customers for future cross-selling of its other products and services. No one is too sure how its P&L is calculated.
11:05 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PUMA Agitation watch

Image
This is a new line of sport watches from PUMA called Agitiation. You may fall from the chair like I did when you read the copies. I can understand the thinking behind the ad : when you sell a plastic watch at HK$550, you would just need to think about some catchy selling points for it. The biggest selling point of this watch is the strap. There are holes in the strap (so called cheese cut-out) to make the watch as light as 45 grams so that you can run faster ! What's more, there are so many colours to choose from. It doesn't matter whether you have a fair or tanned skin complexion ... there's one for you ... I bet this watch is produced and marketed under licence granted by the brand owner of PUMA. Too bad that the licence is given to the wrong hands. It's Ok if this watch doesn't sell as it is the business of the licensee after all. However, a BS ad like this may have negative image impact on the PUMA brand in a way.
Read more

Giordano's frog

Image
One student asked me why Giordano re-uses its frog logo from ages ago. I said I know don't know. Really ! Giordano is a value-for-money brand. If it prints its logo onto the T-shirts and jeans, be it the frog or anything that says "Giordano", will sales increase ? Probably not. Giordano is a brand you wear but you don't want to admit. It's not a brand like Nike or LV that can uplift your image after all. So if it puts the frog back onto its product, there may be adverse effect on its sales. I haven't visited its store at the time of writing but according to its website, it hasn't added back the frog to its products. I wouldn't do that either. So what is the point of having the frog back in its print and advertising materials ? To remind us of its good old days ?
Read more

Benefiber ad

Image
Benefiber is quite a new product concept. Fiber powder that you can add to your favourite food, making fiber intake easy. I'm not sure whether such a new concept would be accepted by consumers. But one thing for sure. It's rather inappropriate to use 韜韜 as the endorser. He's a cute old man and I personally quite like him. He loves eating and the more I see him eating in front of the camera, the more I'm worried about his health condition. It looks like he's going to burst ! The question is whether he's a credible one to endorse a diet-realted health food at all. It may be more credible for him to endorse a slimming house when he manages to lose 100 lb.
Read more