Banks are competing in marketing by featuring top stars, but there has been no noticeable effect on product sales following celebrity advertisements. Internally, there are doubts about whether using celebrities can garner fleeting interest and yield meaningful results. Experts explained that star marketing is more beneficial for building a long-term image rather than directly translating into short-term performance for banks.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service statistics information system on the 10th, the advertising expenses of the five major banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup) totaled 781.4 billion won last year. This figure represents an increase of 43.5 billion won compared to the previous year. Recently, banks have been increasing their advertising budgets and are adopting a multi-casting strategy, employing multiple celebrities at the same time rather than sticking to a single model per company. Hana Bank appointed soccer national team member Son Heung-min and idol Ahn Yu-jin as models and newly recruited singer G-Dragon earlier this year. Woori Bank also added idol Ive's Jang Won-young to their existing models, which include singer IU and the idol group Rise.
Despite banks pouring large sums into star marketing, this strategy does not always yield noticeable results. Woori Bank revealed an advertisement for its retirement pension product featuring IU in the fourth quarter of last year. This was during a period when all financial firms were putting significant effort into attracting retirement pension customers, as the first physical transfer of retirement pensions was set to be implemented. Woori Bank succeeded in increasing its retirement pension reserves by 2 trillion won during the fourth quarter last year. However, it is difficult to assess that they benefitted significantly from IU's presence. During the same period, IBK Industrial Bank increased its reserves by 2.1 trillion won without star marketing. Comparing the results of the two banks, the IU advertisement was not a significantly effective marketing strategy relative to the expenses.
Hana Bank conducted extensive advertising featuring singer Lim Young-woong with the phrase, "There's only one friend for asset management," starting in February last year. While merchandise featuring Lim Young-woong saw an "open run" at Hana Bank branches, the revenue from asset management product sales did not significantly increase after his appointment. In the year Lim Young-woong's advertisement was first introduced, Hana Bank's asset management fee revenue was 339.6 billion won, an increase of 7.7 billion won compared to 2023. Considering that the annual increase for 2023 was 37.8 billion won, this indicates that the growth rate actually declined despite Lim Young-woong's involvement.
Evaluations of the effectiveness of star marketing are mixed within the banking sector. A representative from a commercial bank noted, "It's difficult to precisely distinguish whether new product sales performances are due to the advertisement model or the quality of the product benefits." This representative added, "Sales of financial products are influenced simultaneously by multiple factors such as market conditions, financial technology trends, and each bank's business promotion." On the other hand, another representative from a different commercial bank stated, "The advertising effectiveness associated with promotional celebrities is significant, leading to increased advertising expenses for banks."
Experts explain that due to the nature of the banking industry, the effects of star marketing are not immediately visible. Choi Cheol, a professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women's University, said, "Star marketing is highly effective in industries where new types of products are frequently launched," and emphasized that, "Because the types of products in finance are limited, the effects of star marketing are not substantial." Professor Choi added, "Trust is crucial in the financial industry, so banks employ celebrities as models with long-term image building in mind rather than focusing on short-term performance."