As one of the largest banks in the Nordic and Baltic countries, we have great opportunities to influence society in a more sustainable direction. We are not just about making money grow, but also people, good ideas, initiatives and businesses.

Responsible marketing is a natural part of our commitment to sustainability. We are a bank for the many. This should also be reflected in our marketing. 

• We strive for people with different backgrounds, origin and ages to be represented. 
• We avoid showing stereotypical gender roles.
• We do not advertise to children and do not appear in media channels that are specifically aimed at children. When children appear in our marketing, it takes place of their own free will and in a responsible manner.
• The production of our marketing is done in a safe and secure way. We produce marketing in the most sustainable way possible and work with agencies who live up to our requirements.

Diversity and inclusion

We strive to be a leader in gender equality, diversity and inclusion. We apply an absolute zero-tolerance policy for discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and bullying. Swedbank wants to create a climate where gender equality and diversity are self-evident parts of the organisation and where differences are used actively to create business benefits. 

Consequently, agencies and other external partners for our marketing are expected to meet requirements such as zero-tolerance towards discrimination and to demonstrate proactive efforts towards diversity and equality. 

Our marketing should mirror the diversity of our customers and the markets in which we operate. We make sure not to reinforce any negative stereotypes, but rather to break them.

Children

We do not place advertisements in media aimed directly at children. Online, we never target people under 18 years of age, and when possible, we aim for users who are logged in, for example when advertising on news websites. 

When children take part in our campaigns, it is important that they do so of their own free will. If children participate in a film or a photo shoot, we always have a Swedbank representative on set to ensure their safety.

The brand's safety

We put a lot of effort into enabling positive change in society, so it is clear that we do not want to place our advertising on platforms or next to content that is inappropriate.

This is why we take special care to avoid inappropriate context for our marketing, not least online. For programmatic online advertising, we use whitelisting and make direct agreements with publicists to lower the risk of domain spoofing, bot traffic and other types of fraud.  

In social media, we stay away from formats that do not offer opportunities for whitelisting, such as in-stream videos, instant articles and audience network. On YouTube, we use the highest level of brand safety control.

Sustainable events

Meeting customers and partners directly, at networking events, conferences and other types of events, is an important part of our marketing. As a physical manifestation of who we are as a brand and a company, it is important for us to organise and carry out our events in a sustainable way.

Our events should be inclusive and easily accessible; everyone who is invited should be able to participate. 

It is important that we arrange our events sustainably in all aspects, taking into consideration ethical, environmental, financial and social sustainability. For example, we try to support the local community by hiring local event staff and sourcing food and drinks from local suppliers. In addition, to create environmentally sustainable events, we choose digital rather than printed material, avoid single-use items and choose organic food.  

Marketing materials

Despite the shift to digital, some of our marketing still comes in physical form. In these cases, we try to reduce our environmental footprint as far as possible. 

For example, when producing giveaways and point-of-sale material, we choose higher quality that lasts longer, and we make sure the products are made with environmentally friendly materials. 

We are also working on reducing postal volumes dramatically over the next few years. Instead of printed marketing materials, we will use digital channels and keep physical mail to an absolute minimum. The majority of our marketing materials and the material we distribute will be digital in the future.

Transparency

We always try to communicate about our products and services in the easiest and most straightforward way possible. We do not leave out essential information or provide ambiguous or incomprehensible information about an offer, product or service that we are advertising. 

As far as possible, we refrain from using small print. If we include a calculation example, we make it as clear, concise and transparent as possible. We are also open about effective interest rates and mortgage loans, without hidden extras in small print.