Marketing Plan – Part 1: BankDhofar, Oman Digital Marketing Analysis

This report presents a marketing plan analysis of BankDhofar, a prominent bank in Oman, focusing on its digital marketing strategies. The report begins with an introduction highlighting BankDhofar's growth and its vision to excel in customer experience. It then proceeds with a PESTLE analysis, examining the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors influencing the Omani banking sector. A SWOT analysis identifies the bank's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The discussion section explores BankDhofar's digital marketing approach, including its use of social media and other digital platforms to reach a wider audience and engage with customers. The report concludes by emphasizing the bank's effective use of digital channels to enhance brand loyalty and customer satisfaction, ultimately contributing to its success and growth in the competitive Omani market. The report also includes references to support the analysis.

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Assignment Top sheet
Your Name: Mundhir Abdullah Almaaini Student ID: 1942134
Unit Title: Marketing Management Oman Unit Code: 19-20SEM2OBSHR037-6
Unit coordinator’s name: Caroline Large Submission due date: 29/10/2020
Assignment Title: Marketing Plan – Part 1
Signature: Mundhir Abdullah Almaaini Date: 28/10/2020

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University of Bedfordshire
Master in Business Administration
Marketing Management Oman
Marketing Plan
Part 1
Unit coordinator: Caroline Large
Student Name: Mundhir Almaaini
UOB: 1942134

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Introduction:
This assignment aims at highlighting digital marketing approach in the Omani banking sector,
focusing on BankDhofar as a case study. Started as a small transactional bank in 1990i,
BankDhofar has grown over the past three decades to become the second largest bank in Oman in
assets value, operating as a key financial advisory and strategic investment partner to various key
government and private institutions. Though there is no officially stated mission, the bank has set
all its efforts and resources to realize its vision to be the best bank in the Gulf in terms of customer
experience, focusing on innovative products, outstanding services and financial solutions.
PESTLE Analysis:
Although the banking industry in the Sultanate is still a part of the bigger circle of the dynamic
and continuously changing global macro-economy, the Omani finance sector is unique in its own
way. Politically, Oman is one of the most stable countries in the region, and it is more likely to
stay that way due to the neutrality in foreign policy adopted by the government over the past five
decades. As for laws and regulations, the regulators have set a solid foundation of rules to protect
local banks and mitigate the impact of global crises. Most banks in Oman operate locally and focus
on the market within the Sultanate. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) regularly updates policies
and procedures for local banks and financial institutions in accordance with international
regulatory systems. Looking at the economy side of the equation, Oman’s dependency on oil and
gas revenue has its impact on the government’s spending on national level developmental projects,
thus impacting the market liquidity and financing opportunities for banks. This affects local
businesses who are dependent on government’s projects. As for competition, one can also argue
that the number of banks operating here is way too big for the market needs, considering the small
number of the population and the volume of large-scale projects taking place as we speak.
Additionally, the raise of Islamic banking in the Sultanate since 2013 created more supply than
demand in the local market and pulled a huge volume of customers from conventional banks as
many Omanis prefer to get their financial transactions done “the right way” as stipulated by
Shariahii. The rapidly developing technological infrastructure nationwide made it easier for further
digitization of financial products and services, especially with the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic. All banks here, with no exception have revamped their platforms and channels to be
more inclusive, offering more convenience to the retail and corporate customers. BankDhofar, for

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example, has introduced diverse bundles of self-services that can be easily attained by mobile
banking, including card-less cash, instant international remittance, 24/7 call center, multi-function
kiosks and drive-thru banking services.
SWOT Analysis:
Looking at BankDhofar with SWOT analysis lenses, we could highlight the following:
Strengths: The bank has a fair share of the financial market and it is in a good place in terms of
assets valueiii. The workforce is blended with expertise in the banking industry and young,
ambitious, smart and qualified younger professionals who are looking forward to making a
difference in a technology-driven era. The bank has laid a solid infrastructure for future digitization
and it is moving towards offering almost all services and products digitally. “the Internet is
becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow” Bill Gates. It has a good reputationiv
among all its stakeholders, and it enjoys a sustainable support from its shareholders, regulators and
investors.
Weaknesses: Forced Omanization could be seen as a challenge when the bank has to replace
certain skilled professionals with fresh graduates who need some time to settle in and get into it.
That could also lead to less exchange of knowledge and expertise since the majority of employees
only have a local experience and they are not up to date with the latest and best international
practices in the same industry.
Opportunities: Being a service provider, there are always so many improvements to do and
opportunities to learn. The whole world is going towards further digitization of products and
services. BankDhofar is ready for that and is capable of playing a bigger role in the future. It has
the potential, the willingness, the cadre and the technology. That, aligned with a clear strategic
vision and a good team.
Threats: The financial sector is the most attractive target for fraudsters, spammers and money
launderers. Banks have to be alert 24/7. Any uncalculated risk could lead to a disaster that would
not be easy to recover from.

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Discussion:
Keeping up with the rapid advancement of technology, banks are pushing for further digitization
of products and services, as well as digital marketing platforms. Research shows that “17% of
organizations are now committing more than 50% of the marketing budget to online media,
compared to 14% in 2017.v” BankDhofar has adopted digital marketing and communication even
before it was trendy. As part of its Know-your-customer (KYC) module, the bank intensified its
campaigns on social media, increasing its followers to 62,900 on Instagram, 11,400 on Twitter,
164,697 on Facebook and 15,218 on Linkedin in addition to daily traffic to the official website
www.BankDhofar.com and mobile app.
The bank organizes ongoing promotional and awareness targeted campaigns to cover its wide base
of customers nationwide. Though it has not neglected traditional forms of marketing (newspapers,
billboard, radio & TV, etc.), the bank has intensified its digital marketing to reach out to a wider
audience beyond its registered customers. The idea is to build a positive image for the organization,
enhance its reputation among all stakeholders and increase awareness of world-class banking
services.
An interesting take on how digital marketing in Oman is taking shape is the demography of users
and the kind of platforms used. This could be seen as an opportunity or as a challenge. The majority
of digital platforms users are younger population. A larger share of banks’ assets comes from
government or institutional investors who do not necessarily use these platforms. That leads us to
the next question: Why do companies spend resources, time and energy to be on social media and
other digital platforms?
To answer this question, I had the chance to interview Abdullah Al Rashdi, from BankDhofar’s
Marketing & Corporate Communications, who noted: “In our marketing approach, regardless of
the medium, we aim at reaching out to the largest audience possible. We still use traditional
marketing methods to reach to a certain segment of stakeholders, and we are also increasingly
focusing on digital channels to leave nobody behind. We believe that in order to sustain a good
brand, we have to offer the best customer experience through best products and service in tandem
with suitable promotion of success stories and authentic packaging of these services we offer.”
More than sharing information and details of products and services, BankDhofar has to utilizing
digital platforms to communicate with its customers, listen to their suggestions and attend to their
concerns. This going to create a bond between the service provider and receivers. This will not

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only lead to increase in sales; it also going to strengthen the brand loyalty and led to retaining
existing customers and attracting new ones. With help of speed of sharing the videos or pictures
among the social media users making different, controversial and unique advertising or knowing
as viral marketing is one of the success method now days. vi
Conclusion:
BankDhofar is offering customized products and tailored services that meet their customer
requirements and needs. The bank has made the most of digital marketing platforms and techniques
to reach out to a wider base of audience and it packaged its financial solutions in a way that appeals
to customers. Additionally, the bank has created an attractive environment for their customers to
share their thoughts and express their requirements, which are processed and reconsidered when
designing new products or enhancing the existing ones. Furthermore, better communication with
customers via digital channels enhances the brand loyalty and indirectly recruits customers to
become unofficial brand ambassador. This does not only contribute to the bank’s profit, but it also
pushes the bank to work harder to attain higher customer satisfaction rate and to offer the best
customer experience.

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References:
i Oman Economic Review, page14, September 2020, BusinessLiveME.com
ii https://www.maisarah-oman.com/Default/IslamicBanking.aspx
iii https://www.msm.gov.om/snapshot.aspx?s=BKDB
iv https://www.bankdhofar.com/en-GB/BankDhofar_Achievements.aspx
v Sudha,B. March 2019. digital marketing for digital banks. Research Guru, online journal of
multidisciplinary subjects. vol-12, issue-4.
vi Alba Fraile. Jul 13/2020. viral marketing, cyberclick.net, Numerical blog.
.