BankWest breaks through a cluttered brand market

“I am not surprised that several of WA’s most recognised brands are clients of ours,” The Brand Agency’s chairman and chief executive, Ken James, said.

“That is why we are called The Brand Agency, we are the kings of branding.”

Mr James said The Brand Agency, which this year has three of the top 10 most recognised brands as clients, created successful, strong brands by: consistency of advertising; consistency and credibility of message; type of advertising; communication technique used; and follow through.

Mr James said this year’s most recognised Western Australian brand, BankWest, had used its branding success to push its products and services into new markets, while also increasing recognition at home in WA.

“It is simple. They have shown to the marketplace that they are a major player in the financial field,” he said.

“You do need to spend substantial money to get a good brand and BankWest have done a mighty job in the past 12 months to two years.

“Part of that has been continuing branding within WA but also its movement into the eastern states.”

Bunnings, which finished second, is also a great brand according to Mr James, because of its strength, consistency and brand message – ‘biggest range, lowest prices’.

But it is not all good news for branding in WA, according to one survey participant who wished to remain anonymous, who said he was “staggered” at how “rife lazy marketing” was in this state.

His advice was that WA needed to unlearn some of what it had learned.

“There is a very sophisticated market here, growing larger by the year, that no-one seems a blind bit interested in servicing,” he said.

“Never before was a tired-out fraternity in need of a right royal kick where it hurts.”

Or as The Right Group’s managing director David Kemp put it, the problem with branding in WA at the moment was its insular nature and lack of sophistication compared with the eastern states.

“The biggest branding challenges here is that there is too much clutter. There are too many brands competing on the same level with no differentiation,” Mr Kemp told WA Business News.

“In an age of multidimensional communication methods, companies’ branding has to rise above the rest.”

Despite the clutter, however, stand-out performers from previous years rose to the occasion in 2005. There was some shuffling of places among positions one to five, and a few companies fell out of the top 10, while Rick Hart replaced Retravision and Western Power.

Lotterywest achieved the most significant result, climbing two places from last year to finish third ahead of RAC and HBF, something Lotterywest corporate communication manager Andrew Walton attributed to 12 months of working on its retail network.

“We have just rolled out our 200th shop-fit, which has given our brand a strong presence in the community,” Mr Walton said.

“Our creative campaigns including our circle of dreams advertising campaign has reinforced what the Lotterywest brand values are [rewarding, inspiring, trusted and engaging and shows how we give back to the community.”