Sun, Nov 22 2009

Bulgarian bank uses ICQ to advertise loans

Mon, Oct 24 2005 01:00 CET byBusiness Staff 365 Views

SG Expressbank became the first bank and business entity to advertise in Bulgarian using the ICQ messaging service.


ICQ (for "I seek you") is an instant-messaging computer programme, created by Mirabilis, an Israeli start-up company based in Tel-Aviv. The programme, first released in November 1996, was the earliest instant messaging programme.


In 1998 it was bought by Time Warner's AmericaOnline, one of the largest online service providers. ICQ has more than 150 million users worldwide.


Since the service is mainly used by young people, SG Expressbank's campaign, launched on September 1, aims to communicate the bank's offer for student loans.


The launch of the bank's campaign coincided with the start of the completely Bulgarian version of the software supplied by the local online service provider Netinfo.bg. The abv.icq (named after abv.bg, an e-mail portal operated by Netinfo) was specially created for Bulgarian users.


SG Expressbank advertises through a banner posted on the welcome screen of the messenger, as well as on the contact list and in the message windows. The bank has chosen to apply a different approach to the users depending on the personal information they have submitted when registering to use ICQ.


"As a modern bank we are oriented towards applying new communication tools like ICQ," SG Expressbank said in a press release. The goal is to breathe new social life into a typical banking product, such as the loans, and to deliver it through modern cultural ways of cyberspace communication, the bank said.


Through its partnership with ICQ, SG Expressbank supports the use of Bulgarian language in online communication.


SG Expressbank is the Bulgarian arm of the French banking group Societe Generale.

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment

More in this category

Bulgarian MPs resurrect proposal to raise spirits excise

Strong public opposition to price hikes prompted Prime Minister Boiko Borissov to axe the Finance Ministry proposal to increase the excise duty on spirits, but MPs have put it back on the agenda.

Back to the future

Bulgaria’s Cabinet seeks to reverse recent changes in the telecommunications sector

At a crossroads, again

Kremikovtzi’s prospects for a recovery plan appear increasingly distant

Cash or card?

Bulgarians are getting the hang of debit and credit cards, MasterCard says

Bulgarian telecom Spectrum Net acquires local peer Orbitel

The two telecoms, both set up to challenge former fixed-line state monopoly BTC, will merge operations and expect to report 20 million euro in revenue and a gross profit of five million euro in 2010.

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.