ING Direct expects to launch operations in Japan later this year

May 17, 2007
By Ken Worsley

A move into the Japanese market for Dutch banking giant ING would expand its presence to countries representing approximately 70% of the global savings market. And guess what? That move is about to happen. From ING’s website:

ING Group announced today that it has initiated the process of obtaining a banking license from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) for ING Direct, ING’s direct banking arm. Subject to regulatory approval, ING Direct expects to launch its operation in the Japanese market in the second half of 2007.

This step is in line with ING Direct’s global strategy to enter large and mature markets with a developed infrastructure for direct banking. Japan is of key strategic importance and represents a large business potential with its €5.6 trillion savings market, a middle class of approximately 90 million people, and one of the world’s most advanced internet and telephone infrastructures.

ING launched their first global marketing campaign on March 15 of this year, just in time for the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia, for which they were the title sponsor. ING has also experimented with viral marketing, including this bit:

The video was released in August of 2006. An employee of an IGN subsidiary wrote on his blog:

With reputation risk and compliance at the forefront of every bankers mind these days, the step to start a campaign like this is very brave…[American consumers] might even have been waiting for something like this, given ING Direct’s reputation of challenging and non-traditional campaigns…As of this moment the video’s have been watched around 100 – 200 times each. I wonder what it will be in a week’s time? Keeping a tight watch on “ING Direct on Technorati.”

I don’t know what the play count was a week later, but eight or nine months later it’s…umm…799. Ouch. I’d say make it 800, but actually, you’d ask me for the 28 seconds of your life back.

Filed Under Banking, Barbarians at the Gate, Japan, Marketing

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