Download creative with investment?

CREATIVE WITH
INVESTMENT?
A white paper addressing the need for creative transformation in financial
services marketing.
This paper, published by marketing and communications agency, Dog, draws on a survey
of 200 marketing and communications professionals working within financial
services organisations, as well as a roundtable discussion participated in by leading
industry marketers.
SECTION
1
THE RESEARCH FINDINGS
In many ways, it has never been a better time for financial marketing professionals to consider
using creative marketing strategies. According to the latest CBI industry report, overall optimism
is gathering pace in the financial services (FS) sector and reaching new customers is named as a
primary objective and area of spend in 2015. Add to that the raft of new marketing technologies
and tools for gathering customer insight, and the future starts to look very bright for creative
marketing teams.
On the other hand, some research takes the view that the financial services sector has lost its
mojo, and that the B2B market in particular is struggling to claw back confidence and trust of its
clients. Many remain convinced that differentiation in the FS world is nothing but smoke and
mirrors.
Whatever your viewpoint, Financial services’ marketing is in a state of massive change. As
technology and digital communication increase transparency and democratise the business/client
relationship, marketing professionals must discover new ways to communicate with customers
and garner loyalty as the wave of technology tools and communication methods becomes
omnipotent.
Hoping to shine a light on the issues affecting financial services marketing, Dog commissioned
research among 200 UK marketing, communications and digital professionals working within FS
organisations. Responding to a number of questions exploring the role of creativity in marketing,
the answers revealed key challenges faced by those working in financial services marketing and
exposed a number of preconceptions around creative marketing.
The questions and responses below offer valuable insight into the collective sentiment among
sector marketing and communications professionals.
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The Research Findings
1.
WOULD YOU SAY YOU THINK THE FS (FINANCIAL SERVICES) SECTOR IS A
CREATIVE INDUSTRY?
48% 27%
NO YES
2.
AS A CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL WORKING IN FINANCIAL SERVICES, DO YOU FEEL
YOUR CREATIVE SKILLS ARE BEING FULLY VALUED AND UTILISED BY YOUR
COMPANY?
53% 7%
NO YES
3.
DO YOU FEEL YOUR COMPANY ON A WHOLE VALUES CREATIVE DIGITAL
CONTENT?
39%
53%
NO OCCASIONALLY
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2
9%
YES
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The Research Findings
4.
ON A WHOLE DO YOU FEEL YOUR WORKING ENVIRONMENT IS CONDUCIVE TO
CREATIVITY?
58% 9%
NO YES
5.
IN YOUR CURRENT OR MOST RECENT ROLE, WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE
BIGGEST BARRIERS TO YOUR EFFECTIVENESS AS A CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL ON
A DAY TO DAY BASIS OUT OF THE FOLLOWING?
SELECT UP TO TWO MOST APPLICABLE BARRIERS.
A
28%
B
30%
C
55%
A: Low levels of awareness across the business about the potential role for marketing
B: Lack of support from the boardroom
C: Poor intregration with other units in the business.
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The Research Findings
6.
WHEN PROPOSING AND DELIVERING NEW CREATIVE CONTENT STRATEGIES.
HOW WOULD YOU RANK THE LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT AT BOARDROOM LEVEL IN
YOUR COMPANY ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5?
12%
23%
55%
6%
2%
1
2
3
4
5
7.
THINKING OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR AS A WHOLE, WHICH OF THE
FOLLOWING BEST DESCRIBES THE MOST COMMON MISCONCEPTION ABOUT THE
CREATIVE PROCESS?
SELECT THE SINGLE MOST APPROPRIATE RESPONSE
19%
11%
59%
Creativity is restricted
to marketing gurus and
that only assigned
departments
A creative strategy
is formed without
a logical process
Creativity Is An Add On
Not An Essential
Component Of A
Successful Business
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The Research Findings
8.
THINKING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY, HOW INTEGRATED AND CONNECTED ARE
COMMUNICATION FUNCTIONS (I.E MARKETING, PR, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL) WITHIN THE BUSINESS?
1%
HIGHLY INTREGRATED
AND CONNECTED
9.
THINKING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY, HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE THE
APPROACH WHEN IT COMES TO DEMONSTRATING YOUR COMPANY’S BRAND
IDENTITY THROUGH CREATIVE MARKETING?
80%
ORGANISATIONS EITHER DON’T HAVE BRAND
GUIDELINES, ARE UNSURE AS TO WHETHER BRAND
GUIDELINES EXIST, OR WHERE GUIDELINES EXIST,
THEY ARE OUTDATED
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The Research Findings
10.
THINKING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY, HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE THE
CURRENT STATUS WHEN IT COMES TO DELIVERING NEW AND INNOVATIVE
CREATIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES?
78%
PLANS HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED BUT NOT
COMMITTED TO, OR A PLAN IS IN PLACE BUT NOT
YET BEING IMPLEMENTED
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SECTION
2
SO WHY HAS THE INDUSTRY
LOST ITS CREATIVE MOJO?
A roundtable discussion with industry marketing experts from global financial
organisations.
It’s all well and good uncovering statements and trends, but it’s also important to understand why
they’re surfacing, asking ourselves why did marketers and communications professionals respond
in the way that they did?
The study supports the notion that FS marketing is undergoing a huge amount of change, which
centre around: The issue of boardroom engagement; organisational culture and business
integration; and preconceived ideas of the value of marketing both organisationally and industry
wide.
To identify the exact nature of these challenges and better understand the fundamental principles
holding back financial services firms from embracing creative marketing, Dog hosted a roundtable
discussion attended by the following members of the Dog team, and industry experts:
• James Cardew - Global Head of Marketing at Schroders
• Stewart Conway - Head of Digital Marketing at Jupiter
• Paul Fletcher - Managing Partner at Enabling Innovation Partners (Chairperson)
• David Hamilton - Commericial Director at Dog
• Mark House - Former Executive Director at Coutts now independent Client Service,
Business Development and Digital Consultant
• Adrian Jeffery - Head of Advertising at Dog
• Gerry McCusker - CEO at Dog
• Rob Sanders - Group Head of Marketing at Aberdeen Asset Management
The issues discussed centred on:
•
•
•
Why do so few believe they have boardroom engagement?
Why do marketers feel disconnected from other departments?
Why do financial services marketing and communications professionals feel that their
industry is not creative?
So let’s look at the issues behind the research responses, and decipher the barriers that
marketers in financial services must overcome.
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So why has the industry lost its creative mojo?
Q.
WHY DO DO FEW FINANCIAL SERVICES MARKETERS BELIEVE THEY HAVE
BOARDROOM ENGAGEMENT?
With a growing number of touch points available for customers to research and interact with
brands – including B2B brands – creative marketing requires investment and alignment with wider business, digital and sales strategies. Necessary investment and full integration can only be
achieved if marketers have the backing of the board.
So why do so few financial services marketers believe they have an excellent level of engagement
for strategies at board level? The panel discussion revealed that one of the main causes is the
disparity of language that exists between those seated at the boardroom table, and marketing departments. It’s neither side’s fault exclusively - and heightened by the legacy culture - but definitely
something both need to invest in to rectify the situation.
Gobbledygook doesn’t help
The Board holding the purse strings, so it’s vital for marketers to gain credibility. With members
of the board likely to hold finance backgrounds, it is the language of finance and business that will
matter. The technical marketing jargon so often used by marketers deeply involved in their own
work will simply not resonate.
A recent Econsultancy Value of Marketing report surveyed more than 250 senior marketers and
finance directors. The research supports the notion that there is a disconnection between the
language of the CMO and CFO - and indeed personalities - which impacts marketers’ ability to gain
support for and prove the value of creative marketing strategies at board level.
Stewart Conway shared the opinion that in order to gain the credibility necessary to drive innovation
in marketing, financial services marketers must address the language issue: “We as marketers
tend to talk another language. We talk about brand, tone of voice or click through rates, we need to
adopt the language of the boardroom if we are to get buy in. This means quantifying contribution to
sales and retention”
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So why has the industry lost its creative mojo?
Creativity and the fear factor
The perception of the term ‘creative’ and ‘creativity’ in marketing presents marketers with a
challenge when pitching creative marketing strategies to members of the Board. It is often seen as
something fluffy, an indulgence, or as the survey uncovered, an “add on”, completely separate from
sales and business strategies and processes. By using terminology that members of the board are
not comfortable with, it is no surprise then, that creative marketing strategies fail to drum up
support from the top levels of organisations.
There is the need to redefine the notion of creativity and creative marketing itself. As Adrian Jeffery,
put it plainly: “I think if it doesn’t affect the bottom line in some way, it isn’t creative, it’s irrelevant.”
Creative marketing, rather than being seen as the most powerful way to communicate a message
to a target audience, is perceived to be frivilous, and without value. Without the connection between
impact and communication – marketing that is driven entirely by the aim of benefitting the
business - the communication problem between marketing departments and the Board will
prevail.
In order to gain buy-in and avoid losing the board’s interest as soon as creative marketing is seen
as a talking point on the agenda, the issue of understanding language must be overcome. Not only
to enable marketers to secure buy-in, resource and necessary investment for campaigns, but to
ensure marketing is seen by all internal stakeholders and departments as a valuable endeavour
that delivers a positive impact on the business.
Exploring the apparent lack of understanding of marketing by the boardroom and by other areas of
the business highlighted in the research, uncovers the existence of silos and a lack of clear brand,
and indeed a continuing widespread disregard for the importance of brand in today’s digitally
connected financial services landscape.
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So why has the industry lost its creative mojo?
Q.
WHY DO MARKETERS FEEL DISCONNECTED FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS?
The research uncovered the feeling among marketing and communications professionals that
creative marketing is perceived to have little commercial value and as a result is disconnected
from other areas of the business. As discussed, the issue of boardroom engagement plays a huge
part in this, but panel members attributed this lack of integration across the business to, in part,
there being a lack of clear brand proposition that the organisation in its entirety can get behind and
drive forward.
Financial Services industry has forgotten - or at least not updated – what defines marketing in the
digital era. Modern marketing is about people. Without a clear identity – or brand – marketers will
struggle to connect with target customers in meaningful ways. Rightly so, emphasis is shifting
from putting products at the forefront of marketing strategies to championing the people and the
story behind them, but there still remains the tendency to revert to product focused campaigns
across the financial services industry.
This outdated outlook leaves marketers without the integration necessary in today’s market where
business, sales and marketing strategies require full alignment to be truly effective. Everyone
needs to be working from the same page, toward the same goal. And hopefully with the customer
at the centre. Yet our research illustrates that this is not happening just yet among financial
services organisations.
In 2007, the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) redefined its definition of Marketing for the
first time in 30 years. It signified that, according to CIM, marketing was not what it used to be. To
support this change, it created a 3000-word treatise ‘Tomorrow’s Word: Re-evaluating the Role of
Marketing’. On the first page it claims that although marketing has become more sophisticated, ‘its
status with the customer and the rest of the business has never been lower’. The research
suggests this statement will resonate with a number of financial services marketers today, and
stems from a lack of strong and meaningful branding.
‘The strategic business function that creates value by stimulating, facilitating and
fulfilling customer demand. It does this by building brands, nurturing innovation,
developing relationships, creating good customer service and communicating
benefits. By operating customer-centrically, marketing brings positive return on
investment, satisfies shareholders and stake-holders from business and the
community, and contributes to positive behavioural change and a sustainable
business future. ‘
The 2007 CIM definition of marketing
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So why has the industry lost its creative mojo?
Our panel of experts agreed that the importance of brands, and particularly the importance of
differentiation between companies and brands within financial services is often something that is
underestimated. The challenge for B2B financial services organisations is combating the struggle
to build up brand equity capable of differentiating them from competitors.
Rob Sanders stated to other panel members that: “I think it takes time for people to understand
that they can force through a couple of initiatives and go and do something, have the freedom to
spend money and do something that might take a little risk and I think that’s culture rather than
process.”
The CIM aimed to address the issue of marketing’s role in a business back in 2007 for the wider
marketing discipline. It is becoming increasingly important that the Asset Management sector
within financial services now looks to redefine what marketing and creative communication is
striving to achieve for their business. Without the right environment in which to identify core values,
define a clear brand proposition and filter the brand across the entire business, it is difficult for
creative marketing to reach its potential in impacting the bottom line.
Our panel agreed that the business and the marketing department need to form a much better
connection, James Cardew said: “What makes marketing successful is getting under the skin
of the who and the why. We work hard to talk to other areas of our business and grasp how they
operate so we are able to talk in their language.”
By not getting under the skin of the organisation, marketers cannot truly identify and drive a
powerful brand, reverting to product marketing. And without collaboration or a brand to identify
with, the organisation will be hard pushed to fully understand and buy-in to the value of a strong
brand and marketing efforts.
Without cross-department collaboration, it’s difficult to see how marketing can possibly be held
in the esteem with which it must in order to make a real impact on the business. And likewise, if
organisations exist in silos where sales, client services, marketing and digital departments operate
independently, marketers will fail to fully understand the business to the point that they are able to
come up with creative marketing solutions of value.
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So why has the industry lost its creative mojo?
Q.
WHY DO FINANCIAL SERVICES MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
PROFESSIONALS FEEL THAT THEIR INDUSTRY IS NOT CREATIVE?
The research uncovered underlying feelings of frustration and lack of confidence among creative
marketing and communications professionals working in the financial services industry.
Exploring the topic further with panel members, the issue of compliance and risk was raised as
having a huge impact on the impetus and ability of marketers to push through more creative
marketing strategies.
For a number of reasons, people don’t want to step outside of their remit and remain risk averse.
This can be attributed in part to the tight regulation within the FS as a whole, but perhaps more
notably to the culture within the organisation, which appears to often leave marketers fearful of
raising their heads above the parapet and following through with creative marketing ideas.
The raison d’etre of compliance officers is focused on stopping marketers doing creative things or
experimenting with new channels. Or at least that’s what many marketers may have perceived to
be the case.
As content marketing and digital communications grow in their importance when it comes to
connecting with target customers, this is an issue that must be addressed. Organisations are
avoiding rolling out – or even pitching - truly creative strategies for brand, marketing and
advertising because they simply don’t want to bear the execution risk of stand-out campaigns.
The shackles – real or perceived – placed by compliance on marketers is certainly a real threat to
innovation. In fact, Conway explained to our panel that: “because many are afraid to be overstepping the mark, we [as an industry] don’t innovate, we nudge. We come up with a slightly new product twist and put it out there, but I don’t think we genuinely innovate.”
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So why has the industry lost its creative mojo?
Lack of communication with compliance = coasting behind regulation
Of course regulation of financial services is necessary and complex. However, considering the
FCA’s general statement of the fundamental obligations of firms under the regulatory system
centres around businesses communicating clearly, fairly and acting with integrity, creative
marketing campaigns – or at least the ideas behind them – should not pose a substantial risk. Yet
marketers continue to shy away from innovating, while organisations press ahead with bland
product marketing that coasts along behind regulation.
The direct connection between a failure to market financial services firms creatively, the challenge
of compliance, and the prevalence of silo mentality point to the underlying issue: a fundamental
lack of communication and understanding between the compliance and marketing departments.
Collaboration between different departments is critical, and never easy to engender when
organisations are large and dispersed. However if compliance truly understood the value of
creative marketing and could see the strategy behind campaigns designed to deliver specific
positive business impact, and marketing worked with compliance from the very beginning to
develop a strategy that worked within the confines of regulation, then creative marketing would be
a much easier journey for all.
A key component of this challenge is creating an organisational culture of collaboration. A change
in culture or strategic approach (and investment) must come from the top to permeate all silos and
unite a business to empower change through the individuals within its ranks that are required to
enact that transformation.
Dog’s Commercial Director, David Hamilton, argued the case that: “It really depends on the organisation’s attitude towards the risk when planning and implementing more creative ways to engage
and increase your customer base. With some companies, there’s a silo of trying to paint a new
external façade to the organisation and the rest of the organisation is not ready to go.”
A creative transformation is necessary, across the organisation. Yet, there is hope. With the right
attitude, collaboration and buy-in from the right people, we can seek to cultivate creativity within
financial services marketing, and develop campaigns that deliver truly valuable rewards. Powerful
and meaningful communication with target audiences across relevant channels that compliance
teams are happy with. Now that is creative.
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THE FUTURE IS IN ALL OF
OUR HANDS
Technology will be the real driver for creative transformation.
Marketers are being forced to change, but by what? The impact of digitalisation and technology on
customer and colleague behaviour has led to a lot of industry change already, forcing FS
businesses to respond. With the rapid uptake of mobile devices customers have more information
in the palm of their hand than ever before, making them more powerful decision makers.
Rob Sanders recalled that from his experience: “People are much more aware of asset management firms than they ever used to be due to technology.”
Adrian Jeffery told the panel that: “Technology’s going to drive them [financial marketers] to look
for clear points of difference, because if they’re not there – customers will know it. Technology has
meant that the customer’s got even more opportunities to discover that they’re all the same.”
The impact of data capture and analysis is another driver for change. Industry leading companies
and high-end investment managers are mining data through very complex systems to mitigate risk
where possible and manage what they consider to be interesting financial instruments. There is
also a huge potential within the FS industry to aggregate customer data in order to help
marketers with their strategies, so that they target the right people with the right message in a
nuanced and elegant way. The potential is there for more applied ‘machine learning’ a scientific discipline popular with tech start-ups, whereby you make bottom-up predictions and
decisions based on data analysis – within the FS sector, to challenge established perceptions of
risk attributed to customer behaviour.
On the use of technology to improve the customer experience, James Cardew confirmed his view
that: “the challenge in the current marketplace is people want to understand what makes an asset
management company tick, beyond the numbers and simple profit metrics.
Cardew believes that: “Technology is going to allow us to massively improve that pre / post purchase experience,” which is one way in which technology can form an important part of a brand’s
ability to deliver great service.
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SECTION
3
AFTER ALL THE QUESTIONS,
QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS,
SOME ANSWERS, ANSWERS,
ANSWERS.
Ideas to help financial organisations turn creativity into profit.
If embraced, new marketing technology tools are a trigger for more creative, innovative marketing
strategies that have tangible business benefits. However, it’s clear that there are a number of key
challenges facing marketers seeking to branch out of their traditional marketing remit and elevate
their campaigns - these must be addressed if they are to prove their business value.
If the key challenges are tackled and opportunities harnessed, creative marketing offers three opportunities:
•
Nuture existing client bases through improved relationship management
•
Grow the organisation by connecting with target clients in meaningful ways
•
Maintain the quality of the business through a creative culture and awareness of the
brand that attracts and retains industry talent.
Dog and the other members involved in our panel debate have identified a number of solutions to
the specific issues highlighted in the research and panel discussion. The following set of
recommendations will ensure creativity becomes more engrained in the culture of organisation,
ousts the competition and leads to sustained improved business performance.
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After all the questions, questions, questions, some answers, answers, answers.
TIP #1: TALK THE SAME TALK, WALK THE SAME WALK
With respect to the language barriers, there are two paths to take which can help gain the
credibility and therefore buy in from both board and across the organisation to ensure creative
marketing strategies are seen to be aligned to wider business and sales strategies. Use language
as a tool to prove value.
For most marketers working within B2B financial services, they can choose to change the language
being used to drive more creative marketing strategies.
Let’s discuss the first path: change your own language to fit with the boardroom. For those of you
working in an environment where creativity is alien, where the term “creativity” is seen by many as
an indulgence, an “add on”, then there’s an education job to do.
Use the quantitative and qualitative research at your disposal
Big data is the good cop of creativity. The board want proof, so try using marketing data to your
advantage to prove the strategic demand for marketing initiatives – perhaps the absence of
customer loyalty, or negative perceptions of your brand vs. that of the competition.
Carry out qualitative research. Using data points and intelligence gained from analysis of target
audience behaviour to prove the value and potential encased in creative marketing strategies will
be incredibly important in this environment. Putting forward the value and business impact of
such activities, and of course, its impact upon business performance and return on investment is
integral to generating internal buy-in.
The analysis of Big Data is a challenge, but, as Rob Sanders explained, “it’s not a marketing
challenge and it’s not a sales and marketing challenge, it’s a group challenge for us.”
Don’t be afraid of discussing data with peers across the organisation.
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After all the questions, questions, questions, some answers, answers, answers.
Likewise, exploit the quantitative research available. Talk to fund managers, client services and
business development teams to understand their issues and main objectives. Every day they speak
to clients and potential clients, working in areas of the business and the industry that you might not
yet be fully aware due to departmental silos. Break down those silos. Make time to gather feedback
from them and use that feedback to inform marketing strategies that engineer impact, focusing on
how marketing whether a more intuitive digital journey, improved interaction with key fund
managers or an iPad app that delivers information efficiently to key clients for example - can
deliver a better experience and service for existing or potential clients.
Stewart Conway put it simply: “the fact is we need to graft onto the relationship building process,
not talk about ‘content strategy’ but how we’re breaking down elements that support the sales and
servicing process.”
If you can join up the dots between marketing and business the board – and the organisation in its
entirety - will begin turning a corner, from adversary to advocacy.
Balance the rational with the emotional
The second path allows for more creative communication. Safe in the knowledge that the board
have bought in to the value of creative marketing strategies already, you have the flexibility to
create an emotional attachment between them and the brand.
Like in any commercial interaction, whether internal or external, emotional attachment is key.
Marketing professionals are inherently seeking new ways to create emotional attachment with
customers, so why not use this in the boardroom.
Think about the way in which you’re presenting content and pitching creative marketing strategies.
For example PowerPoint is not always the best option for generating an emotional response –
video and images can work just as well. Or use a story to facilitate your strategy. One of our panel
members, Mark House presented a strategy using Ironman as his protagonist. Selling a vision,
a set of beliefs, or more specifically the why of a campaign will help ensure that senior decision
makers get on board the creativity train and remain loyal travellers.
And for more enlightened companies who are already embracing creativity across their business,
marketers can align themselves with the business more closely to ensure their strategies add
value and support, rather than standalone in departmental silos.
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After all the questions, questions, questions, some answers, answers, answers.
TIP #2: DO NOT FEAR COMPLIANCE. TALK TO YOUR TEAM FROM THE BEGINNING
Some see the FS industry as one that is hamstrung by regulation and many layers of
bureaucracy, which limits innovation. Yet, the reality is that the two departments exist to ensure
the truthful communication of brand and message to existing and potential clients. They stand for a
very similar thing and are seemingly working toward the same goal, yet a battle seems to rage on.
However if marketers communicate with their peers in compliance from the beginning, and work
within defined parameters, then creative marketing strategies will flourish. By working within the
confines of compliance and regulation, rich ideas and creative solutions can be the overall focus.
To avoid the incremental chipping away of strategies, or indeed to avoid creative strategies never
even leaving the drawing board, communication between departments is key.
TIP #3: IDENTIFY THE BRAND. AND LIVE IT.
Financial Services is a continually innovative industry but currently it is not a creative industry in
terms of marketing. It’s true that you’ve got to live within what your brand is and what core clients
value and recognise, but innovation and creativity should complement each other and drive your
customers’ experiences and gains further.
Challenges revealed by our research led us to explore the issue of brand, and the tendency of
marketers in the financial services industry to lean towards product marketing, rather than focus
on brand marketing. This has produced an industry of anodyne messaging focusing on product
performance, and a lack of differentiation between brands.
This is an area that must change if B2B financial services brands are to succeed in an increasingly
digitised market where people are interacting with brands directly. The future of differentiation is
brand and engagement, rather than product.
Each B2B financial services organisation needs a point of difference and it must ensure that the
brand is consistent across each touch point, from a letter to a film, an email through to online
banner ads. Technology and the ubiquity of digital communications mean that financial services
organisations cannot control where or how an individual researches or connects with a brand, so
ensuring absolute clarity of purpose is vital if brands are to control and grow their relationships
with clients.
For too long, the brand has been perceived as something that only those organisations involved in
B2C marketing should worry or invest in. Times have changed and so must the mind set of financial
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After all the questions, questions, questions, some answers, answers, answers..
services marketers. And with that, so must the mindset of the Board, playing their part and support
brand building marketing as a tool to differentiate and communicate messages. Identify a set of
values, an identity that resonates with each individual. Driving creative marketing that is aligned to
a strong brand will be a much easier sell both up to the board, and across the organisation.
As the financial services industry begins to embrace the creative transformation of marketing that
places brand and client at the centre, Mark House stated: “There are people chipping away at the
sides of things but there isn’t anyone killing it, so you need someone to lead it and differentiate and
prove to the rest that differentiation matters.”
Be that leader. Prove that a strong brand works for the business.
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CONCLUSION
Financial services marketing is at a crossroads.
Only harnessing the power of digital
communications will set the industry on the right
path.
With the digital transformation well under way at the vast majority of financial services
organisations – changing sales processes, relationship and client service management, and of
course marketing and communications forever - the time has come for marketing to embrace the
creative transformation necessary to connect with clients and potential clients in meaningful ways
that positively impact business.
Technology has fundamentally shifted the way people interact with financial services brands –
including B2B brands – and has opened up new ways to increase engagement throughout the
sales funnel and client relationship lifecycle. On the one hand, marketers are able to mine and
interpret data to prove strategic demand or potential engagement, giving strategies that all
important credibility in the boardroom. On the other hand, technology is forcing organisations to
pay closer attention to their brands. Identifying the fact that as people demand transparency and
crave meaningful relationships with brands that they trust, organisations – led by the board – must
nurture and build a strong brand that represents a clear identity to target audiences.
In an industry that still struggles with image and trust, and a market that has greater access to
organisations than ever before, the ability to connect with people has a fundamental role to play in
the health of the industry as a whole, and the growth of organisations against their competitors.
With opportunity, value, risk and investment intertwined and often clashing to the point that
innovation is abandoned and creativity dulled, creative marketing in financial services is a complex
story. As a result, too many financial services firms continue to rely on bland product focused
marketing that, once the logo is removed, could be for any number of organisations. This is
undoubtedly the biggest challenge for the future of the financial services industry.
Harnessing the digital marketing opportunities is the answer. Collaboration between teams is key.
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The creation of the whitepaper was made possible by those who participated in the industry
roundtable. Dog would like to acknowledge and thanks the following people for their input:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
James Cardew - Global Head of Marketing at Schroders
Stewart Conway - Head of Digital Marketing at Jupiter
Paul Fletcher - Managing Partner at Enabling Innovation Partners (Chairperson)
David Hamilton - Commericial Director at Dog
Mark House - Former Executive Director at Coutts now independant Client Service,
Business Development and Digital Consultant
Adrian Jeffery - Head of Advertising at Dog
Gerry McCusker - CEO at Dog
Rob Sanders - Group Head of Marketing at Aberdeen Asset Management
[email protected]
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INTERESTING RESOURCES
PWC: Stand out for the right reasons. How financial services lost its mojo –
and how it can get it back
http://www.pwc.co.uk/financial-services/financial-services-risk-and-regulation/how-fi
nancial-services-lost-its-mojo.jhtml
Financial Times: Restoring Client Trust: 2014 Report
http://ftcorporate.ft.com/asset-management/
CBI / PWC: Steady growth continues in financial services
http://www.cbi.org.uk/media/2635428/cbi_pwc_financial_services_survey_31_
march_2013.pdf
Econsultancy: Value of Marketing: 2014 Report
https://econsultancy.com/reports/value-of-marketing-2/
[email protected]
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