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| Risabae, an online influencer and a spokesperson for Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), promotes the bank's financial products. Youtube screen capture |
Korea's major banks are strengthening cooperation with online content creators to expand their customer bases.
Many of them have teamed up with online influencers including YouTubers and those with a huge number of online followers. Bank employees appear in short promotional clips posted on the banks' social media platforms.
KB Kookmin Bank hired Tuatusy, a famous YouTuber with over 710,000 subscribers, to promote its brand following an open competition of 12 "mega-influencers."
The content creator garnered the most votes from users of Liiv, the bank's online platform.
"The channel features two toddlers and is very popular with young mothers and the public at large. Promoting financial products on the channel could help us boost brand recognition," a KB official said.
The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) has recently launched a new debit card featuring Risabae, a YouTuber with a beauty and makeup channel with over 2.2 million subscribers to appeal to young female customers.
The marketing strategy to give card holders discounts at certain beauty stores and hair shops is drawing positive responses from women in their 20s.
Similar joint projects are run by Shinhan Bank. Its workers and over 30 influencers are working together to develop content to help draw more customers.
Woori Bank launched two YouTube channels ― one to introduce various financial products and the other to entertain viewers by having a couple of workers sharing their knowledge about saving money and making post-retirement plans.
In addition to clips featuring famous YouTubers, videos featuring bank workers are becoming popular.
Bank employees also share tips about job interviews and how to write a self-introduction letter, a form of an essay appealing to employers about their plans to contribute to the bank's performance.
"The channels are an effective way to communicate with a broader customer base. We plan to make more content to help customers see us as friendlier which would help boost brand recognition," a Woori official said.
KEB Hana Bank created a series of short clips in which workers discuss ways to save money and recommend financial products including installment savings.
In one such clip, female KEB Hana workers tell viewers about the difficulties of striking a balance between work and life as a working mom.
It is designed to help draw sympathy from many working moms in their 30s and 40s by sharing and acknowledging what they go through in a society where it is the norm for women to be responsible for childrearing.
"These are marketing strategies that could engage more people, the banks' potential customers," an industry official said.
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