“There has to be some kind of continuity”: experts assessed T-Bank’s ad with the Tinkoff beer slogan

T-Bank, which decided to change the name Tinkoff to move away from the surname associated with the previous owner, foreign agent Oleg Tinkov, launched an online advertising campaign under the slogan of a beer advertisement: “He is the only one. “RB.RU drew attention to contextual advertising that appeared online.

This slogan was first heard in 2003 in a series of television advertisements promoting Tinkoff beer, three years before the appearance of the bank of the same name. The announcement surprised viewers with its audacity. For example, in one of the videos, a young man drinking Tinkoff beer was relaxing on a yacht with two naked women at the same time. The voiceover announced that the hero of the video is unique in his desires because he drinks the right beer. The ad ended with the phrase: “Tinkoff.” He is the only one.” At that time, the broadcast of such content on television was not prohibited and the slogan quickly became popular. But already in 2009 they stopped producing beer and the slogan began to be forgotten.

As reported by the Emotional Design Telegram channel, in 2021, when the bank was recognized as systemically important, the slogan returned to the Tinkoff application for individuals on the loading screen. The phrase also appeared in the advertisement for the bank, which at the time was owned by its founder. After a change of ownership and a redesign, they decided to keep the attractive phrase, although

T-Bank RB.RU did not comment on the decision to keep the slogan.

The experts interviewed supported Tinkoff’s decision to use the slogan previously used to promote the beer, to give customers time to get used to the changes.

“”T-Bank”. It’s the only one” – in my opinion, everything is logical here. In this context, the slogan is associated with the bank and not its founder. Well, there has to be some kind of continuity: the name is new, although the slogan remains the same,” says the creative. Director of the Names Bureau and presenter of the Telegram channel of the same name, Vadim Dunaev.

According to Dunaev, to do this, to underline continuity, the bank uses this slogan: to show that, despite the name change, it is the same bank, “the only one.”

Senior Managing partner of the law firm PG Partners Polina Gusyatnikova believes that, at least for the first time, the bank decided to abandon the usual slogan to reinforce the connection with the new name.

“Perhaps in a while T-Bank will change its usual slogan, but this will not happen too quickly, because the population needs to get used to it and consolidate the partnership,” Gusyatnikova believes.

At the same time, taking into account Tinkov’s status (foreign agent), it makes no sense to continue associating the structure with him, the lawyer believes.

“We took the best from previous advertising campaigns, saving, of course, so as not to invent something new. But we took something that obviously already works,” he explained. RB.RU Head of the Property Management Department of the International Research Institute of Management Problems (MNIIPU) Raisa Donskaya.

The expert believes that although the slogan has proven effective, it is already obsolete.

“The slogan “He is the only one” has been around since the 2000s, when every brand was trying to come up with something like “First among the first.” It seems to us that this slogan has also lost its relevance; in fact, it has no semantic meaning, it is the same as “The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea”. It is clear that there is only one T-Bank. Like Sber and Alfa,” said the head of the department.

Donskaya suggested that it would be better for T-Bank to continue what it started and change the old slogan.

“You can also try to predict the movements of T-Bank: the slogan “Solid Bank” or even stronger “T is Solid”. The secret of the motto is that in naval and international signal codes the flag “T – firmly” means: “Do not cross my course (do not pass in front of my nose),” Donskaya clarified. According to the expert. In this sense, this is what the creator of the Tinkoff brand thought, since the signal flag of the Russian Navy with the letter “T” is made in black and yellow colors, like the bank’s logo.