RBS – which axed 15,000 jobs following the taxpayer bailout – also continues to sponsor Britain’s No1 player, Andy Murray, and the bank backed the British Open Golf Championship at Turnberry last summer. But news of the lavish hospitality at Wimbledon – costing RBS about £20,000 a day – was met with disbelief last night.
Royal Bank of Scotland, The bank bailed out with £20billion of taxpayers’ money faces fresh fury after agreeing to spend up to £800,000 on lavish hospitality for executives at Wimbledon.
RBS staff are enjoying the perks of a new three-year deal under which they have the run of luxury ‘Suite H’ attached to the famous Court One.
They are able to dine on gourmet food and drink at a free bar offering champagne before watching matches played on the Championship’s second show court.
RBS, which was taken to the brink of collapse by former boss Sir Fred Goodwin, was saved by a Treasury bailout in 2008 that left it 70 per cent state-owned.
Taxpayers are also guaranteeing more than £325billion in toxic assets and last year the bank promised to cut its corporate hospitality in a bid to ‘get its house in order’.
During this year’s tournament, it is understood that bankers and their clients have been enjoying a ‘summer luncheon buffet’, which includes Shetland Isles salmon, sweet chilli prawns and crayfish, asparagus and Parma ham.
Tea and coffee, a free bar, pass to Court One and a Wimbledon programme are also offered.
A source at RBS said that up to 42 people a day would use the suite, which is not open to the public.
Corporate hospitality at Wimbledon is regarded as being expensive in relation to other UK events and it is understood that bookings with the All England Club have been down in recent years.
RBS – which axed 15,000 jobs following the taxpayer bailout – also continues to sponsor Britain’s No1 player, Andy Murray, and the bank backed the British Open Golf Championship at Turnberry last summer.
But news of the lavish hospitality at Wimbledon – costing RBS about £20,000 a day – was met with disbelief last night.
A RBS spokesman said: ‘We thought hard before we renewed this contract in the light of our position and the substantial cuts we have made to our hospitality budgets. However, we are still a bank with customers to talk to and events such as this provides the opportunity for us to spend time with key clients.’
Now here's another little gem attesting to the superiority of the British Middle Management class,
“Bank Staff ordered to push risky products and dismiss complaints”! Pressure to meet targets leads to poor customer service. It was revealed the other day that staff are encouraged to sell overpriced and inappropriate financial products, and the tactics used to dismiss legitimate customer complaints.
If staff do not meet specific targets, they do not receive bonus payments and may face disciplinary action, the employee at Santander and a former employee of HSBC suggest.
Critics say the culture at banks encourage staff to prioritise profit over customer service, the way many banks treat their customers is simply unacceptable. We must put an end to the culture where customer service takes a back seat to sales targets. It was established that the system paying sales commissions to staff must be stopped.
Above all else they must handle complaints fairly and to improve the transparency of products.
On telephone customer service it was reported that the average call time has to be no longer than 270 seconds for workers to receive their quarterly bonus, when a customer calls in to complain, staff are under such pressure that they cannot deal with customers quickly so they are unable to resolve matters properly!
One things becomes very obvious, despite the many many millions spent on the marketing and advertising of these services the fact of the matter is, if the Advertising & Marketing Gurus really really cared about their customers they certainly would not allow things of this nature to happen!
These issues negate the millions spent on advertising and marketing these services!
And most certainly they take no notice of what they should be doing and repeated on an almost daily basis in the trade press internationally.
They should be using Shoppers' Voice to create opportunities for their Brands on a much more personal level. They would discover what their customers think about such high handed and dishonest attitudes, what they dream and what they want.
They could then leverage this knowledge to benefit by providing real answers to the needs of their customers.
With Shoppers' Voice online they will add measurement to their marketing for effective budget allocations and marketing mix.
With Shoppers' Voice all their marketing elements work together.
Shoppers' Voice allows them to develop lasting relationships with your customers by listening to their needs.
Shoppers' Voice online allows you to keep your customers close with continuous personalisation...
not dishonesty, trickery and deceit!
If only...or should we say “What if...”?
What if all these highly paid experts in Marketing and Advertising really understood what they were supposed to be doing...because right now they most certainly don't...and that is, to understand the real meaning of the words “Mass Communication”. An understanding of the word communication will give you all a competitive advantage & a Marketing ROI solution!
Traditional functional marketing has reached a dead-end. Interactive Communication has become a catalyst for Companies embracing integrated marketing strategies. Whilst traditional marketing works in functional silos (sales silos vs Marketing silos) Shoppers Voice promotes end-to-end processes,automation, accountability & metrics.
The new paradigm allows the sales & marketing teams to achieve advantages such as :maximise all possible touch points, automatic nurturing and education of prospects to leads, reduce overall cost by streamlining and automatic processes, analyse business intelligence in real time to optimise resource allocation.
Now let us investigate just how the food industry is trying to poison us with the junk they spend a small fortune marketing and advertising to us. Hmmmmmm, let see now just where do we start? Is it wrong to tell children that obesity means ill-health, Well the Marketing and advertising industry obviously don't think so, they spend a fortune, and I mean a fortune, on marketing and advertising junk foods to children, unfortunately what many children (and adults) like is what is worst for them
and, as it happens, usually cheapest and easiest – biscuits, cakes,crisps,fatty snacks, deep fried nuggets,chips and takeaways, all filled with with addictive salt, sugar and trans fats which are sometimes even more addictive in combination. The phrase junk food doesn't begin to describe such stuff, it ought, along with sugary, fizzy drinks and calorific fruit-style juices, to be called poison!
Surely, if advertising and marketing genuinely believed that what they were doing they would refuse to advertising such junk ever again, I really feel that obesity is serious enough to justify Ofsted's recommendations
There is a way forward, a way that has been totally ignored by the Marketing and Advertising world because it threatens their profitability and that is Interactive Communication where one exposure to Shoppers' Voice is substantially more effective than regular advertising, it has been ignored by agencies because of their essential dishonesty....so perhaps we should add robbery to the headline to this article!!
Shoppers Voice finally allows CMOs to engage...
...with their audience. Sad to say despite the fact that Shoppers' Voice offers unique opportunities for total accountability, many Clients still hold onto their analogue mindsets!
Shoppers' Voice allows two-way conversations, with your customers being able to customise the content they receive in line with their personal preferences.
One thing is for sure the age of push marketing is behind us. WHAT COUNTS NOW ARE DIALOGUE, ENGAGEMENT AND RELEVANCE.
Social Media – An epic tulipomania in the making!
The Internet is not an advertising medium, people log onto the Internet to go somewhere, not see advertisements!
Have you heard the one about Super-bowl Ads?
How much longer can Clients go on paying $3 million for a 30-second spot that doesn't wotk?
Rethinking Marketing Strategies: A Call to Chinese Entrepreneurs
In an era where the Chinese economy is making remarkable strides, it's crucial for Chinese entrepreneurs to critically evaluate the effectiveness of traditional advertising methods. The Western world's advertising industry, often perceived as superior, is increasingly being challenged by evidence suggesting that advertising may not be as effective as once believed. This article delves into the pitfalls of conventional advertising and explores the need for innovative communication strategies in the 21st century.
