If this year, OTP Bank’s strategy was focused on intra-bank communication, next year the lender will concentrate on promoting the image of the company and its products, especially its credit cards and deposits.

OTP’s marketing budget for 2009 will double compared to this year, as communication is a core factor in the context of financial crisis, said Laszlo Diosi (photo), chairman of OTP Bank.

“We built OTP Bank brand around confidence, confidence towards our clients, and confidence between the members of our team. In 2008 we focused more on improving communication with the staff. We carried out an online poll to find out what are the most important values to OTP employees. We have also organized a teambuilding in Bulgaria where 1,000 employees attended, which is an impressing mobilization,” said Laszlo Diosi.

Before the teambuilding, the staff fluctuation rate at OTP Bank was approximately 20%, and now it nears to 0%, according to OTP’s chairman.

In 2009, OTP Bank Romania will allocate a double communication budget from last year, the main promotion channel remaining television.

“This year we had a lower budget for this segment, as we directed major amounts towards the rebranding process for the company in 2007. After television and flyers, the Internet is another popular promotion channel. We can call ourselves “an Internet bank” as 67% of the transactions are conducted online.

Some of the products that will be highly promoted next year are credit cards and bank deposits.

The creation account of OTP Bank Romania is managed by Brands Talk agency, media and strategic planning account is managed by Cafe Reklam, while Nicola Porter Novelli is in charge with the PR segment. All three agencies mentioned above are part of The Group holding.

In 2007, OTP Bank invested 1 million euros in a rebranding, which consisted in changi