UBS unveils pricey branding campaign after Credit Suisse takeover

Zurich — UBS unveiled its biggest branding campaign since 2016 on Tuesday to drive growth, spending tens of millions of dollars to freshen its image after the takeover of Credit Suisse.

Switzerland’s biggest lender will use the slogan “Banking is our craft” as it seeks to attract new customers to its wealth management, asset management and investment banking franchises.

UBS declined to disclose the exact cost of the campaign, which will include online and printed advertisements, sponsorship, events, social media and billboards.

“This is the most we’re investing in the brand since 2016,” UBS group chief marketing officer John McDonald said. “This is about driving the business towards its growth ambitions.”

“We want to make sure prospective customers become more familiar with UBS so they're more likely to consider us when it's time to choose a wealth manager, for instance.”

The decision to come up with a new tagline goes back to April 2023, after the rescue of Credit Suisse was arranged by Swiss authorities to stave off a broader banking crisis and former CEO Sergio Ermotti returned to UBS.

In the past UBS has used the slogans “We will not rest” and “For some of life’s questions you are not alone. Together we can find an answer,” in previous campaigns.

The new campaign was developed together with advertising firm Publicis and brand strategy company Prophet.

“This campaign portrays UBS as a strengthened, global firm and helps reshape how our clients, prospects and investors perceive us,” Ermotti said.

The bank, which oversees more than $5-trillion in assets and is currently integrating Credit Suisse, has already agreed to continue the fallen bank’s long-standing sponsorship of the Swiss national football team and tennis legend Roger Federer.

The global campaign will go live first in Britain and the US from Tuesday before being rolled out to 10 other countries, including Singapore, Australia, Germany and Japan.

The concept of “craft” evokes the best attributes of Swissness, McDonald said, and would help raise awareness of UBS particularly in the US and the Asia-Pacific region.

“Craft signals personal attention, care, expertise, precision, passion ...in a sense of a carefully curated expertise that’s deployed for an individual customer,” McDonald said.

Reuters