Uffindell's blog about all things brand.

FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR MUST DO MORE TO WIN THE AFFECTIONS OF CUSTOMERS, REVEALS NEW RESEARCH FROM BRAND AGENCY UFFINDELL

by Dina on 07/25/2011 | 0

 

New research from brand agency Uffindell has revealed that consumers love brands in the technology, fast food and food retail sectors far more than they do brands in the financial sector. In fact, insurance, investment and pension brands fared worst in the inaugural BrandLove Index, which offers a unique insight into brand loyalty and relationships. The first BrandLove Index concentrated on brands in the financial services (FS) sector – referred to as the BrandLove Financial Services Index.

 

Top 5 performing FS brands
Brand BrandLove FS Index Ranking
First Direct 1
PayPal 2
Nationwide 3
NatWest 4
Tesco 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worst performing FS brands
Brand BrandLove FS Index Ranking
Go Compare 29
Legal & General 28
Admiral 27
XA 26
Barclaycard 25

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winners and losers in the Love stakes

  • Banks perform well despite economic crisis
  • Insurance and pensions sectors fair badly
  • Tesco ranks alongside the banks
  • Brands with high advertising expenditure don’t necessarily achieve brand love

According to BrandLove, the FS brands we love least are Go Compare, Legal & General and Admiral. The FS brands we love the most are First Direct, PayPal and Nationwide. But why is it so important for companies to have brand love? The research shows customers that love their brands are more likely to be loyal and also be good brand advocates.

Retail banks rank surprisingly well

One would have assumed that post-credit crunch and with the phrase ‘banking crisis’ part of our every day vocabulary, banks would have performed badly. However, First Direct, Nationwide, NatWest, Lloyds TSB and HSBC all made the Top 10 of the BrandLove Financial Services Index. Each displayed high intimacy scores,

showing that consumers regard them as an essential part of their everyday lives. Retail banks are performing at the same level as global names such as McDonalds, Sainsbury’s, Shell and British Gas. This suggests that retail brands, such as Tesco, thinking of diversifying into the FS sector will need to build more love with their customers to displace the FS traditionalists.

Insurance and pensions giants are unloved

Familiar names like Legal & General, Admiral, AXA, Standard Life, Aviva and Scottish Widows, sit at the bottom of the index, suggesting the insurance industry needs to work much harder at building stronger customer relationships..

Illustrative Case Studies

1.       Santander is worst performing retail bank in the index – its high-profile advertising campaign and celebrity endorsement has not resulted in brand love. Santander enjoys an extremely high level of brand awareness, reflecting its brand-building drive post-acquisition but the BrandLove research indicates there’s no emotional connection with customers. The result? Of all the FS brands featured in the index it has the highest number of customers in the ‘non-love’ category. These are the customers who are least loyal. Is now the time for Santander to move its advertising message from one of global strength to one focused more on customer service?

2.       NatWest’s customer focus pays dividends – ranked 4th out of 29 FS brands – NatWest is reaping the rewards of its highly focused customer charter initiative, scoring well in the companionate love category (customers who know a brand well and are committed to it). It shows how engaging with a customer and demonstrating commitment to them, is more powerful than a straightforward brand awareness campaign, at building consummate love.

3.       Tesco has achieved the position of the 5th best FS brand in the index. Tesco has clearly managed to leverage its reputation as a retailer and use this to underpin its diversification into the financial sector, achieving a better threescore than  established FS brands like Visa and American Express. It is also more loved than retail banks such as Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Halifax, Barclays and Santander. However, it has more to do to match the best in the category.

4. PayPal proves our trust in online banking is strong – 2nd in the BrandLove Financial Services Index, PayPal scores highly on the passion stakes and although this may be partly due to borrowed associations with brands such as eBay and Amazon, it is seen as a brand that is exciting…

Overall Results

The top three performing brands out of the 53 in the index were Apple, Starbucks and Marks & Spencer, which sheds new light on how we view big brands. Traditional brand valuation studies almost unanimously place giants Microsoft and Google at the top of the league table. However, the fact that these names (ranked 9th and 10th, respectively)have been surpassed by Apple, Starbucks and Marks & Spender highlights how the BrandLove index gives fresh insight into brand value. The highest ranked FS brand, First Direct, appeared 12th in the BrandLove overall index. The worst performing overall brand was BP.

What is BrandLove?

BrandLove is a new approach to assessing a brand’s relationship with its customers. It’s based on the triangular theory of love developed by psychologist Professor Robert Sternberg. The original theory uses a set of questions to determine the degree of passion, intimacy and commitment there is in a relationship – the three components of love that have been empirically shown to predict the stability of a relationship. BrandLove asks customers to rate brands they use along these three same dimensions. The first BrandLove Index focused on the financial services sector and has conducted in June 2011. Further BrandLove studies are planned, covering the property, retails and technology sectors.

How was the BrandLove Index compiled?

BrandLove questioned over 2,000 members of the public, representative of all ages, gender, social economic group and geographic region, about their relationships with brands they use. In total 53 brands were featured in the index. Of those 29 of the brands where from the financial services sector. The remaining brands were selected from other types of business to serve as a benchmark and help validate the research. .

Who is behind BrandLove?

BrandLove has been developed by leading independent brand agency Uffindell in collaboration with research agency Morar Consulting. Uffindell specialises in brand-led transformation. It helps its clients to define a clear point of differentiation and bring that to life through its communications and the overall customer experience. Uffindell’s clients include RBS, Lombard, Cazenove Capital Management, HSBC and John Lewis Partnership.

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Let me in: invested customers are loyal customers

by Dina on 07/13/2011 | 0

Customer loyalty is so important to brands because it forms a kind of guarantee; for a long-term commitment, for support and allegiance. With a loyal customer base, brands gain the confidence to push forwards in the good periods and the security from going under in challenging climates.

Some industries known for consistently rewarding loyalty have been noted in recent research from Mintel Oxygen. They found that customers felt supermarkets were the best industry in rewarding customer loyalty, with 72% of those questioned saying they felt their loyalty was rewarded with financial or service rewards. In second place came mobile phone providers. However, both supermarkets and mobile phone providers don’t actually have loyal customers with the overwhelming majority of shoppers not limiting themselves to a single store or chain and two fifths of customers having switched mobile providers within the last two years.

If rewards are not enough to encourage loyal behaviour, what will motivate a customer to be loyal to your brand?

A San Francisco-based start-up called Loyal3 is pioneering the idea of customer stock ownership plans using social networking. They have based the idea on research that shows “customers who own a company’s stock spend 54% more on that company’s goods than average customers.”

If enabling your customers to invest in your business is a key driver of loyalty, does it have to be a financial investment? Not at all. The success of The People’s Supermarket based in London is one such example. Based on a dedicated system of volunteers, most of who pay for the privilege, they thrive on allowing members to contribute to the success of a shared vision and belief. Another example is the Butcher’s Arms in the Cumbrian village of Crosby Ravensworth, where for £250 you can become a co-owner of the local pub and contribute to the success of the business.

Customers may appreciate the two-way relationship of give and take that most loyalty programs are based on, but it won’t ensure loyal behaviour. What these examples show is the binding strength of investing in shared visions and goals. If participation builds loyalty, then the hard part is letting consumers in to be genuinely involved. Once there, they are likely to stick around.

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Uffindell Creative Director speaks at D and A D

by Joel on 07/13/2011 | 0

As part of D and AD’s annual New Blood Festival aimed at educating the design talent of tomorrow, Uffindell’s Gary Black was invited to chair a session alongside Paul West of Imagination. Over the course of an hour, Gary took questions and gave the audience the benefit of his twenty five years in the business. In his typically outspoken and engaging style, he offered the audience practical insight and inspiration in equal doses and reminded senior designers, teachers and other figures who find themselves in the position to mentor young talent of the important responsibility they have in shaping the careers of tomorrow’s designers. You can read more about the programme here and mark your calendar for next year’s event.

 

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Source London electric vehicle scheme launches, identity designed by Uffindell

by uffindell_andy on 07/01/2011 | 0

On May 26th, Mayor of London Boris Johnshon officially launched Source London – an innovative electric vehicle charging scheme with a fresh creative identity designed by us! The scheme, which is one of Johnson’s long standing promises to help London go greener, launched with 150 charging points across London and a total of 1,300 promised by 2013.

Like the celebrated ‘Boris bikes’, users pay on an annual membership basis (£100 pounds a year) and will be able to charge their vehicle anywhere across the network – frankly, a pretty good deal in these times of booming fuel prices. We’re delighted to be associated with this innovative development for London and we’re already looking at the gorgeous Audi Atron, reading about the tasty tax breaks for low emissions vehicles and getting very excited indeed. You can find out more at www.sourcelondon.net.

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Learning from the president

by uffindell_andy on 11/03/2010 | 0

As widely predicted, the US Public has delivered a harsh verdict on President Obama’s agenda of change. The leader in this week’s Economist got me thinking – are the lessons of managing change whilst in government applicable to those of us managing change and transformation in business?

What’s particularly striking is how, within 21 months, the President is no longer seen as a leader with a grip on the big issues troubling his public, and his transformational agenda has run out of steam. Despite an initial focus on economic issues (The TARP programme, The Recovery Act, The Detroit bail-out) the President’s period in office to date has been defined in part by the focus on Health Care reform.

It’s argued that the President’s ability to manage transformation has been questioned because of some of the choices made to get that bill through. Not only has his overwhelming commitment to the cause arguably held up other important initiatives,  he also had to resort to many of the political practices those outside of Washington view with suspicion – and was exactly the sort of stuff he promised never to indulge in. Consequently it’s full of compromises and has drained enthusiasm to the extent that, even amongst Democrats, few seem proud of it and many make a virtue of having voted against it.

Perhaps because of this, somewhere along the line, the public at large have also re-prioritised: the number 1 issue for most Americans remains the state of the economy. On this topic there is no longer real clarity about what Mr Obama has actually done,  or is trying to achieve, which has left himself open to Tea Party accusations of waste and ‘big state’.  Meanwhile supporters have been disappointed about the lack of distinctiveness of other policies – immigration reform, action on global warming, exiting Afghanistan, gay rights and so on. In short – the President is in grave danger of losing connection with the people who elected him, which could well prove to be terminal not just temporary.

There are 3 lessons that I’ve taken from this which I think are relevant to any type of organisational transformation:

1)    Establish your platform of change: This is the big idea, the view of the future and the supporting evidence that shows why change is not only necessary, but indeed, desirable.  It helps to hold various change initiatives together and is a constant presence throughout transformation that reminds people of the bigger purpose. It’s not all about rational proof either: people have to engage emotionally, otherwise there will be little traction. Somehow Mr Obama has lost touch with his platform for change, and has failed to knit his initiatives into a clear programme for broad change, despite the initial promise. As Obama admits, “Given how much stuff was coming at us, we probably spent much more time getting the policy right than trying to get the politics right”.

2)    Focus on the issues that matter most: Transformation is all about prioritisation and its rarely enough to focus on just one problem.  By maintaining progress on a range of programmes, and being pragmatic about specific issues, you keep in sight the overall strategic objectives. Mr Obama’s focus on healthcare might have worked if it was seen to be key to his broader programme – but it wasn’t presented in that fashion. I hope history judges him kindly for being able to achieve what others failed to manage – but I equally hope his broader mandate wasn’t squandered purely for a place in the history books on this initiative alone.

3)    Take your people with you: Transformation is essentially about people’s ability to engage with and feel comfortable about change. The extent to which this can happen is largely dependent on the quality of leadership – its integrity and believability.  Given his election was on a campaign of “Hope and Change” it’s a major surprise how distant and aloof Mr Obama has appeared to be. Mrs Thatcher had up to 5 years to effect change from her 1979 election to prove the medicine was working. She was able to afford massive mid-term unpopularity, whereas Mr Obama faces the rest of his term having to work with a truculent lower House.

 

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Cazenove Capital Management takes new direction in brand strategy

by uffindell_andy on 11/03/2010 | 0

Cazenove Capital Management

<a href=’http://www.uffindellgroup.com/’>Uffindell</a> redesigns one of the world’s oldest and most respected financial brands through a campaign that demonstrates poise and perfection.

Tracing its origins back to 1823, Cazenove Capital Management has an enviable reputation and history as one of the most trusted names in the financial community. The new campaign not only captures their authentic brand story, but also emphasises the importance they place on client relationships and trust.

Building on the brand truth that Cazenove Capital Management is uncompromising in its pursuit of excellence, Uffindell captured the essence of their approach by commissioning and art directing the website’s ‘poise and perfection’ photography in a photo shoot in New Zealand.

Victoria Hayes, Head of Marketing – Investment Funds at Cazenove Capital Management explained; “At Cazenove Capital Management our focus is, and will always remain, the continued prosperity and well-being of our clients. We needed a new creative platform to capture and communicate our unique approach to investment fund and personal wealth management. We chose to work with Uffindell as the team immediately understood the essence of our business.”

“Our distinct yet understated campaign is an eye catching reminder of the wealth of skills, success and heritage behind Cazenove Capital Management”, added Sholto Lindsay-Smith, Managing Director at Uffindell.

 

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Uffindell wins ‘Best use of web/digital’ for BCS

by uffindell_andy on 03/12/2010 | 0

Uffindell won the Transform 2010: The UK’s Branding Award for the design of the new website for BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

BCS website

With entries from a wide cross-section of organisations from Aviva, The Co-operative Group, Morrisons and Holiday Inn, through to Grant Thornton, DirectGov and Action for Children, this was the inaugural awards from Communicate magazine, and was hosted by Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor.

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What can we learn from the best performing bank brands? And how can banks position themselves for future success?

by uffindell_andy on 03/10/2010 | 0

The new Brand Finance Bank 500 league table reveals that two of the top three performing bank brands are HSBC and Santander. They both have a conservative outlook that has helped them to weather the financial storm better than most.

From a brand standpoint, the comparison goes further.

They are both global citizens – Santander has a strong Latin-American dimension, HSBC a strong Asian base.

Both HSBC and Santander have embraced a unified brand strategy – with a clear process for assimilating new acquisitions.  The migration of the Abbey brand to Santander follows a similar path to that of Midland Bank to HSBC.  Any risk of sacrificing brand equity has been managed through good communications and a staged approach to introducing the new brand.  Inertia means few customers are lost along the way.

Pursuing a unified brand strategy and focusing their resources on building a single brand has, over time, proven to deliver a better return on investment than spreading resource across a portfolio of brands.

Interestingly, in an era of fragmentation, both brands have pursued broadcast media strategies, to build their brands – notably Santander through Formula 1 sponsorship and HSBC through clever advertising at airport gates and heavy use of outdoor and press advertising. This strategy of course makes sense if you are building a single, global brand, as there is little wastage in the media spend.

Both banks have a simple but strong brand identity. And they manage the execution of their brands ruthlessly. It is this consistency, which builds familiarity and recognition – from highstreet, to billboard, to boarding gate.

The strong use and ownership of the colour red is also common to both brands. Infact the colour red is common to all the top 5 performing brands in the league table.  Perhaps this reflects a bigger powershift in the global economy from West to East.  In China the colour red is associated with courage, success, fortune and happiness.  From an eastern perspective, red is also the colour of the root chakra, which represents security and growth. This stands in contrast to the once dominant use of corporate blue.

Having weathered the storm successfully, these brands offer a port in the storm to nervous consumers. But trust and resilience will not be enough to sustain a leading position.

In the post-crisis world we are likely to see three trends shape the winning bank brands of the future:

1. A move to place the customer’s agenda ahead of the bank’s agenda

Traditional banks have focused on operational efficiency, delivering value through convenience and tight management of costs.

The entry of the highstreet grocery retailers into the market, is likely to bring the introduction of a whole new approach to banking – driven by a relentless focus on satisfying their customer needs.

The traditional bank brands which have a job to rebuild trust will have to demonstrate that they will do what is right for the customer – in other words, put the customer’s agenda ahead of the bank’s agenda.

If the traditional banks expertise is operational efficiency, the retailers’ strength is customer intimacy.  Traditional banks will have to transform if they want to compete on this brand front.

2. A trend towards simplification, driven by innovation

Other new entrants will introduce innovation to the market. With the granting of its new Banking License, Virgin has already stated its intent to focus on simplification.

Simplification in financial services has long been a consumer plea. It is arguably the antidote to complexity, which lies at the root of the current crisis. Simplification will not only deliver greater convenience and ease of doing business, it will also empower the consumer to make more informed financial decisions.

This will play strongly to the post-crisis consumer who will adopt a more conscious and informed approach to risk. This does not mean consumers will all be risk averse. But they will scrutinize the trade off between risk and reward and be more discerning about the value they receive.

3. The adotion of a new tone of voice and communication style, based on realism

Photolibraries, such as Getty, are already reporting a shift in the type of imagery banks and other corporates are using in their marketing communications. It is best expressed as a shift towards realism. Staged pictures, using perfect models and scenes of unattainable lifestyles are being rejected in favour of more realistic and intimate images that capture real moments of human emotion. This reflects the end of an era of indulgence and wreckless spending, and a new focus on humanity. It is the sign of the new consumer zeitgeist.

2010-2020 is likely to witness a radical transformation of the banking brandscape.

The winning brand of the future is likely to be one that puts the customers’ agenda first. An institution that is concerned not with what they can sell you, but rather what they can do for you. It will invest in a lifelong relationship that starts with understanding your needs rather than a pitch.  It will offer a service driven by a genuine desire to arm you with the plain facts so you can make an informed choice about the best place to put your money.  It will offer a range of products so straightforward you can manage your money yourself, without the need of expert help. And it will provide you with the confidence that you have total capital security and can access your money and move it around, when you want – without any penalties.

 

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