"Catch the MZ Generation"... Commercial Banks Target Instagram Beyond YouTube

5 Major Banks Instagram Followers Exceed 1.28 Million
Effect of Shedding Conservative Image in Brand Exposure

Shinhan Bank's Instagram account has recently surpassed 200,000 followers. Photo by Shinhan Bank Instagram

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] To capture the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), commercial banks are fiercely competing in marketing on Instagram as well. As the main customer base has emerged due to digital and mobile innovation across the financial industry, it appears to be an effort to approach people in their 20s and 30s with a friendly image.

According to the financial sector on the 15th, NH Nonghyup Bank secured 765,000 followers, the highest among the five major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup). NH Nonghyup Bank calls its SNS operator ‘Nongdaejang,’ meaning ‘Nonghyup Bank Captain,’ and its followers ‘Nongatti,’ derived from the pure Korean word for close friends, ‘atti,’ to give a friendly image. The names were selected directly by customers through a contest event. The bank also directly follows and communicates with 6,600 customers.

NH Nonghyup Bank recently published the content titled 'Choosing Tomorrow's Outfit for Nongatti'. Photo by NH Nonghyup Bank Instagram

An NH Nonghyup Bank official explained, “This is part of marketing targeting Instagram users, including the MZ generation,” adding, “It consists of financial content that can be useful information, snackable content, and easy-to-participate events.” The purpose of operating Instagram is “communication and promotion with followers, and expanding SNS channels,” according to the official.

The growth rate of followers is also considered very steep. NH Nonghyup Bank increased its followers by 200,000 from 550,000 a year ago by holding SNS-exclusive events twice a week. For example, if you follow the account on your way to work, the winner is announced within 30 minutes and given a coffee coupon, or participants in a simple survey receive prizes.

Shinhan Bank also increased its followers from about 70,000 to 220,000 during the same period. Shinhan Bank created its Instagram account in 2016 and completely revamped the page early last year. It is known that the bank significantly revised the operation purpose, content direction, and concept to differentiate itself from other banks.

Recently, Shinhan Bank has been using its AI banker character ‘Molly.’ The bank announced its digital talent recruitment for the first half of the year through ‘IGTV’ on Instagram and promoted its character using internal short-form video content called ‘Reels.’

Major Commercial Banks’ Instagram Followers Surge: “A New Means to Communicate with the MZ Generation”

'Don't Worry' content recently posted by KB Kookmin Bank on Instagram. Photo by KB Kookmin Bank

Kookmin Bank also opened its Instagram page in 2016 and currently has about 164,000 followers. It consistently posts various series and webtoons. It also shares everyday stories not directly related to finance. A representative example is the ‘Stay Strong, Manager Kim’ series, which depicts the daily life of office workers. Recently, the webtoon ‘Don’t Worry’ addressed topics such as spring shopping and imposter syndrome.

Currently, the five major banks’ Instagram accounts have approximately 1,279,000 followers combined. This surpasses the 1,167,700 YouTube subscribers. There are a total of 3,597 posts, with 3 to 4 posts uploaded weekly. Woori Bank and Hana Bank have 76,000 and 54,000 subscribers respectively. SC First Bank and IBK Industrial Bank have 55,000 and 45,000 followers respectively. Riding the Instagram wave, KDB Industrial Bank also started operating a page last year.

Banks are putting effort into Instagram because it has a great brand exposure effect and allows them to break away from the heavy and stale image of commercial banks. According to research by KT Economic Management Research Institute and Digital Lab DMC Media, Korea ranks third worldwide in SNS usage rate. Especially, the average monthly Instagram users in their 20s and 30s number 9.33 million, the highest among SNS platforms.

Data released by WiseApp, an app and retail analytics service, in November last year showed that both the number of Instagram users and usage time in Korea surpassed Facebook. At that time, Instagram had 14.24 million users, while Facebook had 10.16 million. Instagram also recorded 4.7 billion minutes of usage, ahead of Facebook’s 3.9 billion minutes.

An official from a commercial bank emphasized, “Instagram makes it easy to show the side of commercial banks that regular advertisements could not,” adding, “It is a means to communicate warmly with the younger generation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.