Fundamental Issues in Marketing that Relate to Westpac Banking Corporation

Fundamental Issues in Marketing that Relate to Westpac Banking Corporation

Background of Westpac Bank

Westpac (short for Western-Pacific) is one of the largest banks in Australia, along with NAB, ANZ and Commonwealth Bank. Westpac was founded April 8, 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales. In 1982, after the acquisition of Commercial Bank of Australia, the bank changed its name to Westpac Banking Corporation and in 2002 the bank's shares are in free float. In 2008 a merger with Bank of St. George Bank, Westpac Bank of Australia became the largest by market capitalization and number of branches. The bank serves more than 10 million customers through 1200 branches and 2800 ATMs throughout the continent. Westpac is also one of the leading banks in New Zealand, and has branches in neighboring Pacific islands (Fiji, Cook Islands, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu) and in major financial centers around the world, including London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Concept of Marketing in Westpac Banking Corporation

In a marketing system, the main goal of any business is the sale of goods and services and making a profit. This is the purpose and worth to the management of a commercial bank, so to accomplish it all of the services of the bank seeking to attract customers, expand the scope of marketing their services, gain market share and, therefore, to make a profit. Hence, the importance of marketing in the formation and development of the financial market is crucial for the effective operation of commercial banks (Aycan, 2000).

Marketing activities in the banking sector is directed primarily to the study of credit resources, the analysis of financial condition of customers, attracting deposits in banks, etc. It involves an orientation to the real needs of the customer to meet its demand. The subject of bank marketing is processes that take place inside and outside the bank - at the micro level in relation to the financial market. The subjects of banking, commercial banks are the marketing, marketing departments and firms, marketers, customers of the bank (legal and natural persons), and objects - range of products, competitors, consumers of banking services, the types of communication and delivery systems, the dynamics of consumer demand and the level of market risk.

As the Westpac Banking Corporation is a lending commercial bank and financial organization with a specific commodity (monetary resources), and acts only on the financial market with strict regulation of its activities by the Central Bank, there are fundamental differences from the main bank marketing concepts and principles developed for the marketing of industrial firms (Aycan & Kanungo, 2000).

These specific features of bank marketing make it difficult to conduct in a commercial bank. However, the high level of automation in banking at present is a good base for implementation of this techniques and methods of marketing. The main functions of Westpac bank marketing are the environmental analysis and the collection of information on capital markets and segments, study and planning ...