Feel free to download and share our report on the analysis of Social Media Branding of Credit Suisse, UBS and Julius Baer.

1. Social Media
Branding
in the Financial
Digital Marketing – Prof. Andreina Mandelli
November 2012
By Reka Taskai, Pauliina Beretta, Rachel Quinlan,
Liis Männamaa, Annina Reimann

2. Table of
Contents
Introduction 3
Methodology 4
Credit Suisse 6
UBS 10
Julius Baer 14
Conclusion 18
Appendix 19

3. 2
1
Introduction
Due to the recent changes in technology and brands considered in the report are:
in the post-modern markets, brands’ UBS, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer.
concentration on social media has increased
radically. This is due to the fact that a brand’s The report begins with an insight of the
perception has changed in a way that the methodology of how the research was
conducted. After the methodology, an
Financial customers have an image that exists only in
analysis of each company’s social media
their imagination, while the actual product
Sector exists in the physical world. People tend to be presence is provided. This is based on
more confident towards the product if the seven variables:
image in their mind toward the brand is rather
1. Social Presence
positive.
2. Dialog/Customer Engagement
Brands need to have a high ambition of 3. Sentiment/Advocacy
community creation and eliminate 4. Support
inconsistencies in how they deliver products 5. Innovation
and services. Brands encounter problems 6. Leadership
with social media when they fail to meet the 7. Linking value/Community
expectation and the actual behavior of the
The report will focus on the main social
company. They should consider both positive media channels (Facebook, Twitter,
and negative reactions or comments from YouTube) and links their contribution on
their customers, this way they can find a these platforms based on the
solution to the above-mentioned problems. aforementioned variables. Finally,
recommendations for future actions and
The aim of this report is to analyze three conclusions are included.
3 brands belonging to the financial sector. The

4. 2
1
Methodology
Social Media Mediums Criteria for Analyses
We analyzed the following financial In order to accurately analyze each bank’s
institution’s social media websites: Credit social media presence and customer
Suisse, UBS and Julius Baer. In doing this we interaction we used seven variables. The
looked at three social media mediums in variables were:
Financial particular. These mediums include Facebook,
Sector Twitter and YouTube. As all three mediums 1. Social presence: Social presence
serve a different function in terms of was measured by how many social
communicating with each bank’s customers, media websites each bank was on
we found it valuable to choose them as the and actively using.
focus of our research.
2. Customer engagement: what was
Facebook: It can be considered a social looked at was how many likes,
networking website and it’s aim is to keep followers and views each site had.
people connected at all times. Another factor that was measured
was the response rate of questions
Twitter: It serves as a social networking and customers posted and how fast they
micro-blogging website that allows it’s users received a response. Lastly, the
to read text based messages. types of post topics were analyzed in
YouTube: Is a video-sharing websites where order to gage the intensity of
engagement between each bank and
users can upload, view and share videos.
their customers. For example: if a
high number of users responded to a
particular topic and less to others.
4

5. 4
3
3. Advocacy Management: In order to that each bank is engaging in for
measure advocacy management example giveaways for
positive and negative comments were users/followers.
looked at on each social media page
for each bank. We specifically looked
to see if the comments were about the 6. Leadership: The key aspect we
Methodology specific bank or about another topic. observed when trying to find
leadership among Credit Suisse,
UBS and Julius Baer was searching
4. Support & Value: Support and Value for brand stories.
was measured by reviewing customer
comments on each social media
website and how each bank 7. Community: Community was
considered their customer comments measured by how well each bank
in their future posts. brought together their customers with
a certain topic or subject. In
particular Credit Suisse has done a
5. Innovation: In terms of innovation we good job of bringing together a
looked to see if any of the banks had “Roger Federer” community.
comments from their customers in
regards to improving or changing
something about their approach to
social networking and their company
as a whole. However we also ranked
each bank on their current activities
5

6. 2
1
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse, was originally founded in 1856 to fund Credit Suisse has a client-centered focus offering consistent,
reliable, flexible and long-term relationships based on each
railway developments in Switzerland. Currently, it is a global
customer’s unique needs. (Credit Suisse, 2012) (Wikipedia, 2012)
financial service company with 250 branches in Switzerland
while also operating in more than 50 countries worldwide. The
company is organized across three divisions - investment
banking, private banking and asset management. Employing
over 48,400 staff, Credit Suisse is a company that provides
corporate, institutional and high-net-worth clients with advisory
services, comprehensive solutions and excellent products.
6

7. 3
1
2
former employees the opportunity to expand Strategy for customer
their professional network, explore career engagement/participation: The topics of
options, access news, information about their posts on their Facebook page seem to
events, volunteer activities, and special offer grab a substantial amount of engagement.
and most importantly renew old friendships. One in particular, Credit Suisse shared a
link on November 4th that allowed people
2. Dialog/customer engagement to play a game and enter to win a signed
management tennis racket by Roger Federer. In total
How many users the brand has contacted through 291 people liked it, there were 21
social media? Does the brand have a visible
comments and an additional 1,695 shares
strategy for stimulating participation and customer
from those on Credit Suisse’s Facebook
engagement? How active are the users?
page. The Roger Federer giveaway seems
to be a serious of giveaways along with a
51,142 likes. In the month of sponsored Roger Federer “fan wall” where
November 1,399 people liked them on customers can post pictures of them with
Facebook. the athlete etc. Their strategy to engage
Credit Suisse
customers is not about banking, but rather
sports and giveaways.
12,597 followers, following 43, 1,495 They also post about economic matters in
tweets. the world: solar energy, Zurich Film
1. Social presence Festival and projects they are involved
Going through Credit Suisse’s Tweets we can with. These topics get on average 50 likes,
Number of relevant platforms/channels in
which the brand is present. Is the brand see that on average, out of 12,597 followers, which is not much compared to 291 as
present in all the platforms that are relevant about 6 to 8 retweet the post. The company is previously mentioned.
for their business and relationship strategy? more effective on Facebook than Twitter.
How active are the users: 21,176 people
are talking about them on Facebook.
Uploaded videos: 296 videos 3. Sentiment/advocacy management
divided in 8 topics, 1,481 subscriptions, What percentage of users is positive or even
8,441,911 video views. enthusiastic about the brand and spread
! iPhone Application, Podcasts and positive word-of-mouth compared to the
Credit Suisse Alumni Network Users brand responded to: Roger Federer percentage of users who are negative about
is the brand ambassador for Credit Suisse. the brand? Does the brand have a visible
RSS – lets you see the current content From the Roger Federer win a racket post strategy for stimulating positive comments? Do
of your favorite news websites. Credit Suisse responded to questions asked they visibly support positive word of mouth? Do
within 15 minutes. they manage negative conversations, when it
seems that a reply or comment is needed?
7 Credit Suisse Alumni Network - allows

8. 6
4
5
4. Support/value redit Suisse has no collaboration in the
Does the brand offer free and valuable content to meaning of proposing new ideas on
The comments are generally customers? Does the company offer help through Facebook or Twitter – the posts are about
neutral or very enthusiastic about Roger social media? What percentage of users received the company and news about the general
Federer. Credit Suisse’s strategy to any kind of information, reply or service (e.g. situation in banking. An iPhone game is
simulate comments is through asking customer care) through answers, comments or also offered where customers can play to
what the people think about the topic posts from the company? win a Roger Federer tennis racket.
posted. In addition, Credit Suisse
answers the questions asked quickly Credit Suisse Careers Facebook page
and replies to the few negative On the Credit Suisse page they offer offers possibilities where students can
comments. prizes to the followers and tend to respond to involve in Credit Suisse events. It is a place
their questions. The Credit Suisse Careers where they can ask questions and give
page contains information about career and their suggestions and any input to the
internship possibilities. Despite the fact that company leaders.
Most of the retweets are about there are very few comments from the
Roger Federer and therefore neutral customers, the questions are always 6. Leadership
regarding the brand image. Credit answered. Are brand stories appreciate and shared by
Suisse has no visible strategy to foster people in social media? Does the brand actively
positive or negative comments. participate to conversations, giving leads for
new directions and discussions? Are there link
No help offered and no replies on this back to brand sites and conversations posted
platform. by advocates? Is the brand connected to
Users comments are neither relevant influencers (e.g. bloggers) in social
enthusiastic nor negative about the media? How trustworthy, honest, transparent
brand. Most comments refer to the and authoritative is the brand communication
topic, to the making of the video or the On their YouTube channel they post perceived by people who report their
person in the video like Roger Federer. videos about E-learning, sponsorship, impressions in social media conversations?
He generates a lot of comments and corporate responsibility, and careers. Credit Suisse is not really writing any brand
especially likes of the videos. Therefore, However, customer service on this platform stories – focus is on general news and on
the most popular videos are connected doesn’t exist. Roger Federer. People are responding
to Roger Federer or corporate social their ideas on those topics, but there’s not
responsibility in developing countries.
5. Innovation much of an interaction from both sides.
Does the company ask for collaboration? What
Credit Suisse has no clear strategy of
percentage of users proposed new ideas for 7. Linking value/community
managing positive or negative
products, solutions to problems, or Has the brand become a social connector?
comments and has no clear strategy service/product improvements within a co-creation What is the percentage of users who
how to deal with questions. The few perspective? Does the company communicate connect/relate to their peers using the brand-
questions asked were sometimes what contributions they are going to use and related social media spaces. Does the brand
answered and sometimes not. reward co-production efforts? directly manage proprietary brand communities

9. Overall Evaluation for Credit Suisse
25
20
15
10
Youtube
5 Twitter
Facebook
Observations 0
The social presence of Credit Suisse is
quite strong in the financial sector, as
they are present on many social media
platforms. In addition to Facebook,
YouTube and Twitter, Credit Suisse has
created their own company media
channels such as the Credit Suisse
Alumni Network and RSS. Their brand
engagement is very effective, by using Credit Suisse Facebook Twitter YouTube Total
their brand ambassador Roger Federer. Average
Credit Suisse goes beyond banking and Dialog/customer engagement 8 7 7 7.3
uses sports and sustainability to help management
develop and sustain a relationship with Sentiment/advocacy 8 7 6 7.0
their customers. Credit Suisse has the Support 8 2 2 4.0
strongest presence on Facebook. Innovation 7 7 8 7.3
Overall, the company dialog is good for Leadership 7 5 7 6.3
Facebook as they respond quickly to
Community 8 6 8 7.3
comments, however is lacking or
inexistent on the other media channels. Total Average 7.7 5.7 6.3 6.5
9 Grading scale: 1 = the worst; 10 = the best

10. 2
1
UBS
UBS, the bank of banks, is a global Swiss financial service The operational structure of UBS is made up of five divisions:
wealth management, wealth management Americas,
company dating back to 1854. Headquartered in both Zurich
Investment Banks, Global Asset Management and Retail as
and Basel, UBS has over 63,500 employees worldwide. The
well as Corporate banking services. With over CHF2.2 trillion
company prides themselves for their client-based “single point
in invested assets, UBS is the 2nd largest manager of assets
of contact” focus, making it as easy as possible to work with
globally. (UBS, 2012) (Wikipedia, 2012)
them. They serve retail clients in Switzerland as well as
private, institutional and corporate clients in over 50 countries.
10

11. 1
3
2
Twitter: On average UBS posts were re-
tweeted about 13 times per post.
Page 1: UBS Athletics: 841 likes, 48
talking about them Strategy for customer
engagement/participation:
The purpose of USB Athletics is to give
insight about the various athletic teams and UBS Athletics strategy for encouraging
sporting events they are involved in participation is posting about events that
sponsoring. The events focus on local benefit local communities that they are
communities. In the month of November a apart of. This way they can relate to their
total of 20 people liked their page. audience on a deeper more charitable
level.
Page 2: UBS Careers: 1,392 likes, 83 talking
about them UBS Careers: The strategy from this
Facebook page is to promote UBS as a
This Facebook page focuses on the what company that has rewarding training
UBS is about in terms of working for their programs, treats their employees with
UBS company. In the month of November a total
of 26 people liked them.
respect and gives back to the community.
Customers of UBS visiting this site would
probably develop a good or better
impression of UBS. However, there should
be another strategy to gain interaction. A
1. Social presence UBS Global: 4,328 followers,
Number of relevant platforms/channels in
more practical suggestion would be to have
following 4, 27 tweets.
which the brand is present. Is the brand a general UBS Facebook page.
present in all the platforms that are relevant
Twitter: Their strategy on Twitter is poor,
for their business and relationship strategy?
there are about a page of Tweets between
Uploaded Videos: 87 videos divided
May and November. If they want to be
in 11 topics, 92 subscriptions and 11,281
relevant to their customers they need to
video views.
Tweet more often in order to be more
Users brand responded to: visible.
UBS Athletics: Although there are few posts
2. Dialog/customer engagement How active are the users?:
by users who ‘like’ UBS both posting on their
management page were responded to with in a day. USB Athletics: 43 people are talking about
How many users the brand has contacted UBS Athletics.
through social media? Does the brand have UBS Careers: Going through their Facebook
a visible strategy for stimulating participation page there was not any brand user UBS Careers: UBS Careers have the most
and customer engagement? How active are interaction. active users, this can be said because 83
the users?
people are “talking about” UBS Careers.
11

12. 4
6
5
Twitter: UBS users are the least active service/product improvements within a co-
via Twitter. This could be so because creation perspective? Does the company
the topics are not as interesting as UBS has deactivated the possibility communicate what contributions they are going
athletics and careers. They mainly to comment videos. It seems that UBS does to use and reward co-production efforts?
Tweet about what is going on in their not want to simulate or manage interaction In case of UBS, social media is more for
company. with their clients. letting the followers know the news about
the company and the sports events they
3. Sentiment/advocacy 4. Support/value are sponsoring. There is not any major
management Does the brand offer free and valuable content to interaction between the company and
What percentage of users is positive or even customers? Does the company offer help through customers nor any collaboration.
enthusiastic about the brand and spread social media? What percentage of users received
positive word-of-mouth compared to the any kind of information, reply or service (e.g. 6. Leadership
percentage of users who are negative about customer care) through answers, comments or Are brand stories appreciate and shared by
the brand? Does the brand have a visible posts from the company? people in social media? Does the brand actively
strategy for stimulating positive comments? participate to conversations, giving leads for
Do they visibly support positive word of new directions and discussions? Are there link
On their page UBS Careers they post back to brand sites and conversations posted
mouth? Do they manage negative
conversations, when it seems that a reply or about events, career opportunities and useful by advocates? Is the brand connected to
comment is needed? tips for applications. There are not many relevant influencers (e.g. bloggers) in social
comments or questions but they tend to media? How trustworthy, honest, transparent
answer when there are. and authoritative is the brand communication
UBS has different official pages perceived by people who report their
but a low interaction with the users. Only impressions in social media conversations?
few comments are posted mostly not UBS careers is trying to build some contact
about the brand rather commenting the Followers are not taken into with posts like the following: “A couple of
topic of the post. The company has no consideration therefore no support is offered weeks ago Formula 1 legend David
on this platform.
visible strategy to stimulate positive Coulthard addressed more than 100
word-of-mouth and rarely interact undergraduates at a campus networking
namely answer questions. event organized by UBS for the 2012
UBS offers information about the FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE
internship possibilities, but they post mainly GRAND PRIX“. He gave his advice about
videos about advertising campaigns and their career success based on six key points.
The most re-tweets are events. They disabled commenting on the Overall, UBS Careers is responding to the
responding to financial issues and not videos posted by UBS therefore there is no
questions and giving useful links to solve
the bank itself or their brand. UBS has a direct participation from the customers.
the specific problems people have, which
poor strategy on Twitter and no visible
5. Innovation are usually related to some workshop,
strategy to simulate conversations.
Does the company ask for collaboration? What event, etc.
percentage of users proposed new ideas for 7. Linking value/community
products, solutions to problems, or Has the brand become a social connector?
12

13. 7
8
What is the percentage of users who
connect/relate to their peers using the
brand-related social media spaces. Does
the brand directly manage proprietary brand Overall Evaluation for UBS
communities in social media or actively
support independent brand communities?
UBS does not act as a social connector
18
in social media. They are really not
creating a community – seems that their 16
goal is more to “exist” in social media 14
more than to involve their customers in 12
some discussions or use their 10
customers to get some new and
8
innovative ideas.
6
Youtube
4
Twitter
Observations 2
Facebook
0
The social presence of UBS can be
graded as overall positive – they are
existing on major social media sites as
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube,
keeping their customers updated with
news about the finance sector and their
business. They are also letting their fans
know which sport's events they are
supporting and calling people to know
more about them. The overall dialog UBS Facebook Twitter YouTube Total
building is pretty low – there is not much Average
of a conversation between the company Dialog/customer 4 3 3 3.3
and the followers and they are not using
engagement management
their customers to collect new innovative
Sentiment/advocacy 6 2 2 3.3
ideas or involve them in creating new Support 7 3 3 4.3
products. Innovation 5 5 5 5.0
Leadership 5 5 6 5.3
Community 5 5 5 5.0
Total Average 5.3 3.8 4.0 4.4
13 Grading scale: 1 = the worst; 10 = the best

14. 2
1
Julius Baer
Julius Baer, established in 1890, is a leading premium holding its Swiss heritage, basing their services upon
trustworthiness, accountability, discretion and expertise. Their
Swiss Private banking group. The company has over 40
business model is highly client focused with the aim of
locations in 20 countries and employs over 3,600 staff.
creating long-term relationships with sophisticated clients
Headquartered in Zurich, Julius Baer is focused on private
around the world. (Julius Baer, 2012) (Wiki, 2012)
clients, family offices and external asset managers assisting
them with wealth management, investment consultancy and
advice. Julius Baer is a forward-looking company while still
14

15. 1
3
2
No official Facebook page - 166 likes The interaction of Julius Baer and
on a page connected to Wikipedia. therefore the user’s participation is very
little on YouTube. No positive or negative
comments about the brand were made.
Julius Baer has not encouraged their
No Twitter account.
clients to participate on the channel yet.
4. Support/value
Does the brand offer free and valuable content
Uploaded videos: 14, 22
to customers? Does the company offer help
subscriptions, 5.669 video views.
through social media? What percentage of
users received any kind of information, reply or
3. Sentiment/advocacy management service (e.g. customer care) through answers,
What percentage of users is positive or even comments or posts from the company?
enthusiastic about the brand and spread positive
word-of-mouth compared to the percentage of
Julius Baer users who are negative about the brand? Does
the brand have a visible strategy for stimulating
There is only one page about
Julius Baer, however it is not created by
positive comments? Do they visibly support
positive word of mouth? Do they manage negative the bank, but it is a text of Wikipedia,
conversations, when it seems that a reply or therefore customer support is not available.
1. Social presence comment is needed?
Number of relevant platforms/channels in
which the brand is present. Is the brand
present in all the platforms that are relevant Julius Baer has no official Facebook Julius Bar does not own a Twitter
for their business and relationship strategy?
page. The company seems not to be profile and following their recent updates is
interested in this social media channel or not possible, therefore no support is offered
rather to support positive word-of-mouth. by the Bank.
...Podcasts
Since Julius Baer has no Twitter On Julius Baer’s YouTube channel
2. Dialog/customer engagement only two user comments were made, one
account neither enthusiastic nor negative
management comment was about the video and the
comments about the brand are possible to
How many users the brand has contacted other one was a question that was not
through social media? Does the brand have spread.
answered.
a visible strategy for stimulating participation
and customer engagement? How active are
15 users?
the

16. 4
5
5. Innovation the brand directly manage proprietary brand
Does the company ask for collaboration? communities in social media or actively support
What percentage of users proposed new independent brand communities?
ideas for products, solutions to problems, or Julius Baer does not act as a social
service/product improvements within a co- connector in social media. They are not really
creation perspective? Does the company creating a community especially since the
communicate what contributions they are social media presence of the bank is very
going to use and reward co-production low. In order to involve their customers in
efforts? some discussions or use their customers to
Julius Baer is not innovative regarding get some new and innovative ideas Julius
social media presence since the bank is Baer should first increase their social media
only present on YouTube. It doesn’t channels.
seem that Julius Baer is interested in an
interaction with their customers and
therefore no innovations could be found.
Observations
6. Leadership
Are brand stories appreciate and shared by The social media presence of Julius Baer is
people in social media? Does the brand very poor and limited to few channels.
actively participate to conversations, giving Therefore, the overall grade is negative or
leads for new directions and discussions? rather insufficient. The little channels used
Are there link back to brand sites and
are not run in an active way and the Bank
conversations posted by advocates? Is the
does not seem to have an active strategy to
brand connected to relevant influencers
(e.g. bloggers) in social media? How
engage their customers in conversations or
trustworthy, honest, transparent and discussions. There is to say that Julius Baer
authoritative is the brand communication has no innovations in this field. The only
perceived by people who report their social media channel they are performing well
impressions in social media conversations? is LinkedIn but there is no interaction
As already mentioned many times, between the users possible. In addition, some
Julius Baer is not very active on social selected information are stored in a password
media and therefore the bank is not protected area on their website.
perceived as a leader in terms of
actively participate in branding.
7. Linking value/community
Has the brand become a social connector?
What is the percentage of users who
connect/relate to their peers using the
brand-related social media spaces. Does
16

17. Overall Evaluation for Julius Baer
9
8
7
6
5
4
3 Youtube
2 Twitter
1 Facebook
0
Julius Bar Facebook Twitter YouTube Total
Average
Dialog/customer engagement 1 1 1 1.0
management
Sentiment/advocacy 1 1 2 1.3
Support 1 1 2 1.3
Innovation 1 1 5 2.3
Leadership 2 1 5 2.7
Community 1 1 5 2.3
Total Average 1.2 1.0 3.3 1.8
17 Grading scale: 1 = the worst; 10 = the best

18. 2
1
Conclusion
Overall very telling information about Credit order for Julius Baer to be considered
Suisse, UBS and Julius Baer was found when competitive it would be wise of them to
it comes to their social media presence and invest in the world of social media as Credit
engagement. As mentioned above, Credit Suisse and UBS have done.
Financial Suisse is performing the most efficiently and
Sector effectively in compared with its competitors.
The main reason for this is their engagement
tactics especially on Facebook; by attracting
tennis/sports and sustainable communities
Credit Suisse is strategically setting
themselves apart in order to gain brand
recognition. Although UBS does have a
social media presence their customer
engagement on social media is low. In order
for UBS to improve their level of interaction
they must come up with a strategy that will
attract their customers based on common
interests. Finally, Julius Baer has a very
poor and almost a non-existent social media
presence. There is a Facebook page
dedicated to them, but via Wikipedia, which is
not considered a website that they update. In
18

19. Appendix
How sociable
19

20. Appendix
Credit Suisse
UBS
Julius Baer
Social Mention
20

21. Università della Svizzera italiana
Via Giuseppe Buffi 13
CH – 6900 Lugano
www.usi.ch