Asia-Pacific Power List 2021: Chitravinee Vannakorn, Kasikornbank

Chitravinee Vannakorn

Senior vice president; head of integrated marketing communications and customer relations
Kasikornbank
Thailand
Member since 2020

Chitravinee Vannakorn made her way onto the Power List in 2020 due to her key role in Kasikornbank's transformation from an old-school institution into a digital powerhouse; she drove a series of quirky, can’t-look-away advertising campaigns that raised the bank's visibility and helped it capture young mobile users. Vannakorn stays on the list this year for a sensitive approach to promoting the bank's offerings during the pandemic and for weaving diversity and inclusion deeper into the company's internal and external communications.  

In the early months of the pandemic, Kasikornbank and longtime creative partner GreyNJ United released a pair of "docovidtary" films. The first, produced in a week, focused on the importance of giving by telling the story of a guy who ventured out of his flat desperate for something to eat and ended up feeding his soul by helping others. The second film spotlighted the bank's participation in a government loan program for small businesses, but focused partly on a family-owned bakery that turned down a 10-year, interest free loan because the founders reasoned that others might need the money more. Framed as a "thank you" from the bank to such entrepreneurs, the film proved a gentle way of showing the bank's involvement in a vital program to help SMEs—without hard-selling it and without bragging.

Use of the bank's KPlus app increased 71% during 2020, reaching over 5 million transactions daily. A major campaign, launched in November, reinforced the app's ease of use, positioning it as a lifestyle app while also taking an inclusive approach. The centrepiece film showed people across a range of ages, socioeconomic levels and situations, including a gay couple with a baby—but without making a big thing about it. This is important, because in our book, matter-of-fact inclusion is the best kind of inclusion.

Internally too, Vannakorn has been a driver of diversity and inclusion. She’s credited with using her communication expertise to embed the importance of diversity—across genders, ages, races, ethnicities and social backgrounds—into the core of all internal communications. This has led to more international recognition, as KBank has been listed in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the third consecutive year. This award marks KBank as the first and only Thai financial institution to be recognised for its commitment to diversity and the promotion of equal opportunities.