Deutsche Bank

Pitching Strategic Business Expansion

Industry

Banking

Location

Bangkok, Thailand

Thinkergy Strategy Innovation Case

Information

The senior management team of Deutsche Bank approached Thinkergy, to help produce an impactful presentation for the strategic business expansion of its Thai franchise. The bank’s proposed expansion was aimed at reaching out to new, lucrative client segments, that the bank had served in the past, but which they’d withdrawn from during Asia’s economic crisis in 1997. To secure approval for the expansion plan, the Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank in Thailand, would have to pitch it to Deutsche Bank’s board members in Germany.

Before embarking on the actual pitch presentation design, Thinkergy guided Deutsche Bank Thailand’s team to first step back and scrutinize their plan, by going through the whole X-IDEA Method. This would then equip the Chief Country Officer with enough ammunition to be able to defend the plan against any criticism during the pitch.

Among many X-IDEA Tools applied in the project, two proved to be especially helpful. The Xploration Tool, ‘Customer Portraits’, was used to create archetypical portraits for 3 new client types, each with specific needs the bank could serve in a meaningful, revenue-generating way. The insights gained from the exercise were then mapped out in an overview matrix, that visualized the benefits of doing business with each of these client segments, at a glance.

Thinkergy’s X-IDEA Action Tool, ‘Storyboarding’, also proved to be especially useful in the concluding project workshop. During the exercise, the full flow of the pitch presentation was mapped out and rearranged, to make for a more powerful story and more impactful business case.

After the finalization of the pitch presentation’s flow, Thinkergy brought one more X-IDEA Tool into play, to challenge Deutsche Bank’s senior management team on their preparedness and delivery. Using the Evaluation Tool, ‘Thinking Caps’, they were asked many apparently provocative, foolish and even nasty questions, in anticipation of what the Chief Country Officer could possibly have to face in a post-pitch Q&A.

Client
Deutsche Bank Thailand
Category
X-IDEA

“As we wanted to expand in Thailand, it was necessary to come up with a crisp and compelling case. To avoid getting blinded by our own story, a sparring partner was needed that could challenge us, as a coach, trainer and ‘devil’s advocate’. Dr. Reis and Thinkergy perfectly accomplished this using the X-IDEA method, working us through our thoughts to get to a well articulated expansion plan. It particularly helped that Dr. Reis has extensive experience in the banking industry and the Asian region. Personally, I can only say a job well done. The X-IDEA method is a great tool to screen business ideas for viability, in detail, to avoid mistakes that might otherwise cost lots of money.”

Manfred Schmoelz

Chief Country Officer at Deutsche Bank Thailand