Bank of Valletta

Extensive engagements with BOV including the development, planning and implementation of their Brand Promise, leading their implementation of Alternate Delivery Channels, including Internet Banking, as well as a comprehensive Business Process Transformation of their key Operating Processes. BOV is a European Financial Services organization offering full service Private Banking, Wealth Management and Retail banking with assets of €12.9 billion and operating revenues of €108.6 million.

Bank of Valletta (BOV) – www.bov.com

Initially engaged by the BOV’s Chairman, Mr. Joseph F. X. Zahra in 2003 to lead the development and implementation of the bank’s Brand Promise. M2’s relationship with the bank extended up until 2012, and our role was instrumental in implementing a structured series of specific engagements as follows:

  1. Development of the Bank’s Brand Promise – including the development of brand territories and metaphorical research
  2. Development of an Integrated Change Plan – incl. development of Segment Strategies, Enabler Strategies and Specific Initiatives
  3. Interim Brand Audit – a thorough review of the Bank’s progress in terms of Brand Promise Initiatives’ implementation
  4. Brand Promise Program Management – development of a Master Plan for the implementation of the Brand Promise Change Initiatives within the Bank and ongoing quality assurance
  5. Process Management Framework – Embedding the Brand Promise elements in the Bank’s Core Operational Processes while re-engineering them for efficiencies
  6. Internet Banking / Alternative Delivery Channels: Facilitating the strategic direction and subsequent implementation of the banks first efforts to move away from a pure bricks and mortar operation. This resulted first in a Telephone Banking offer and then in a full fledged Internet Banking and Mobile Banking offer.

During my years as CEO of Bank of Valletta, amongst other things, M2 led a very wide ranging Process Management Re Engineering Programme where all the bank’s customers’ services and inter-departmental processes were analysed and improved upon.

During the drawing up, execution and implementation of their work, they [M2] always managed to cascade their enthusiasm and commitment on all those directly involved, and further down. The impact of these changes was palpable and completely transformed the operations of the Bank.

Mr. Tonio Depasquale – CEO, Bank of Valletta 2004 – 2011

In 2004, Bank of Valletta plc (BOV) embarked on a process of transformational change, anchored in a Brand Promise and centered around the bank’s customers. The process was developed and designed to fully implement the change throughout the operations of the enterprise, ensuring real alignment of people, process and technology around the customer. The BOV Brand Promise, with Supportiveness and Mutuality as its underlying principles, formed the basis of an Integrated Change Plan that was approved by the Board in 2004, with an implementation time frame of three years.

The process of articulating the brand promise and the creation of a single Integrated Change Plan actively engaged the bank’s executive and management teams, ensuring full ownership of the Promise and the initiatives required to support its implementation. Ultimately, the Integrated Change Team, which had representation from all major customer segments and organizational divisions within the bank, has become a force of change within the bank, championing and challenging to ensure full benefit of the promise to the bank and its customers.

Financial year 2005 saw the beginning of the implementation of BOV’s ‘Brand Promise’ program. The Integrated Change Plan comprises over 50 change initiatives spanning areas that include Product, Organization Structure, Customer Segmentation, Distribution Channels, Technology Support, Operational Processes, HR Policies, and numerous others that are being implemented by the organization. These are the basis of the enterprise-wide process of change directed at aligning the organization to be able to consistently deliver the branded experience.

The process followed for developing the plan ensured that all possible initiatives to support the Promise were considered, evaluated and prioritized on the basis of customer impact as well as their cost benefit. To ensure full scope of implementation, each initiative became part of the Brand Promise Master Plan which enabled the bank to track the overall progress of the program through status of deliverables, issues and milestones.

Today, four years into implementation, the BOV Brand Promise Program is proving to be the basis of change and innovation, spearheading a consistent, intentional, mutually beneficial and memorable customer experience.

The Brand Promise has had a massive impact on the bank’s customer service delivery and its financial results in the past three years. In addition, the Brand Promise has resulted in significant external recognition of the bank’s accomplishments in this area, including being awarded the Best Bank of the Year in Malta Award by The Financial Times of London’s Banker Magazine for 2005, 2006 and 2007 as well as winning a prestigious IFS Financial Innovation Award, 2008 for the most innovative Customer Segmentation Program from the Institute of Financial Services (UK) for its Brand Promise Initiative against stiff international competition.