The two advertisements on pages 22/23 in the AZ from Wednesday immediately catch the eye. On the left in red, the Schwyzer Kantonalbank (SZKB) advertises: “Also for Aargauerynnen: Consultants who speak your language, not your dialect.” On the right opposite in blue it says: “Because you speak Schwiizerdütsch and not Schwyzerdütsch in Aargau, I am in the right place here.” Sender: Aargauische Kantonalbank.
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—-Advertising duel: Schwyzer on the left, Aargauische Kantonalbank on the right. (AZ 13.5.2020)
© Aargauer Zeitung
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There is no sophisticated joint campaign between the two cantonal banks behind the double advertisement. The AKB advertisement is rather a reaction to the Aargau offensive by the competition from Schwyz. “Our advertisement is supposed to be a funny answer to the pun of Schwyzers in their advertisements in our area,” says AKB Head of Communication Christine Honegger on request.
What the Schwyzers are up to is not exactly known at AKB. President Dieter Widmer personally inquired about his CEO counterpart Peter Hilfiker in Schwyz, but apparently did not get a satisfactory answer. The two know each other well, since they worked together for years. Hilfiker was with AKB from 1997 to 2010 and, as a member of the executive board, was responsible for the private and corporate customer division before moving to the competition in Central Switzerland.
Order of the bank council to extend the feelers
An interview with Hilfikers in «Bote der
Primitive Switzerland »from last November. “The bank council asked us to extend our feelers beyond the canton of Schwyz,” he said, adding confidently: “I can say that we are doing quite well.”
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—-Peter Hilfiker, CEO of the Schwyzer Kantonalbank and former AKB manager.
© Neue Schwyzer Zeitung / Andrea Schelbert
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Peter Hilfiker is ambitious. In 2019, his bank was named the best cantonal bank in Switzerland and the second best bank in the country by the Institute for Financial Services Zug for the fifth time. This award is an incentive, says Hilfiker.
Aargau is not the only canton in which Schwyz is targeting new customers. SZKB is active in several cantons in German-speaking Switzerland, from investment to e-hypo business, says Peter Geisser, Head of Communications at the bank. The bank spokesman denies that CEO Peter Hilfiker pays special attention to Aargau because of his AKB past.
The Aargauische Kantonalbank is less offensive. Customers outside the canton are predominantly those who have moved and stayed loyal to our bank, says spokeswoman Honegger. “We are not actively acquiring customers outside of our market area.”
Historically, the cantonal banks were tied to their canton’s borders. In the golden 90s, however, the desire to expand grew. The Zurich banking center in particular attracted. Various cantonal banks tried to gain a foothold outside the cantonal border.
Cantonal bank expert finds “borderline”
Now the appetite of the cantonal banks is increasing again in the course of digitization. The mortgage business is particularly interesting, says Christoph Lengwiler, a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and a member of the board of directors at the Berner Kantonalbank. A cantonal bank could use new mortgages or brokerage platforms to attract new customers in other cantons.
Lengwiler sees no contradiction to the state guarantee (the AKB has the same as the SZKB): “On the contrary, business outside of the traditional market area can be diversified and reduce the risk of clustering in one’s own canton if it is concluded with the necessary caution.” The Schwyzer campaign, which directly addresses potential Aargau customers, also goes a little far for the cantonal bank experts: “To do comparative advertising in this way is rather special and borderline in terms of market behavior.
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