Marketing for Financial Services - Essay Example

Topic: Marketing plan for “Toumouh” Introduction to the product Bank AlJazira has launched a new innovative “Tomouh” programme for a niche community that’s the female Saudi students. Our innovative programme is customised to fulfill all banking and financial needs of students. While studying in schools and colleges, immersed in the task of gaining knowledge for building a strong career, students don’t find any time left to fulfill your banking and investment needs, which our bank, the Bank AlJazira, has recognised well in time particularly for our female students in Saudi Arabia. The need for developing the “Tomouh” programme has been felt by the bank as our other products don’t satisfy the time schedules of our Saudi students who are very busy and are unable to avail the benefits because of their involvement with scholarship pursuits at their schools and colleges (Bank AlJazira 2011). Students can well imagine the frustration it may cause when the last date of submitting the fees expires because there are no funds available in their pockets. It could be due to their spendthrift nature or lack of managing their finances. Bank AlJazira is offering a customised programme i.e. “Tomouh”, which will serve all their instant financial needs (Bank AlJazira 2011). Presentation of Tomouh “6oumou7” Our Toumouh "6oumou7" programme is formulated for our Saudi Youth between the age-group of 15-24 years old. They are our star customers availing the privileges of modern Islamic banking services offered by Bank AlJazira. We need to develop a marketing strategy on this programme, the product and services of the programme. Students are our primary marketing sources to know directly from them their response to our new product. We need to organize meetings with the female student community to acquaint them with the features of the product such as uninterrupted access to the bank 24 hours a day without bunking classes! It is possible two-ways – either through our telephone banking services or our online services that students can access from anywhere whether in college, school, home or sitting and passing free time in the canteen. The best part of becoming a customer of Bank AlJazira female customers is that they can remain updated on each and every transaction and that too with total privacy and comfort of operation. Our marketing slogan should advertise our product’s compatibility with the Islamic Sharia Law (Bank AlJazira 2011). The Objective of the Marketing Plan for Financial Services The objective of our marketing plan is to know the response of the students, how they would react to our novel “Tomouh” programme as the idea of offering a saving account to the student community has not been availed by other financial organisations in Saudi Arabia. It means our Tomouh programme should not face competition from other financial companies. We should not delay our marketing tactics to impress upon students the needs of managing their financial portfolios and initiate our marketing programmes by meeting female students through seminars for creating awareness on opening saving accounts while studying in schools and colleges so that students take time to fulfill the account opening formalities as soon as possible. We should focus on the feature of customised services being offered to the Saudi students. How they can add or snap any functionality of holding a student saving account that also provides investment solutions to their saved money at Bank AlJazira. If students feel that their spendthrift nature holds them back from saving funds, they can simply deposit their cash in their saving accounts so that when they are in dire need of it, they can withdraw funds to fulfill that need. We need to plan our marketing strategy by allaying the fears in the minds of students that they won’t be crossing the line of Islamic Sharia Law by opening a saving account in our bank. We should convince them that the purpose of the Bank AlJazira behind such an initiative is more social in nature by serving the student community to develop a habit of saving for their future career growth than any monetary interest of the bank. For this purpose, we need to make visits to nearby schools and colleges and meet the student representatives of the student organisations in those schools and colleges so that we could create consciousness for managing their finances by their agreeing to participate in seminars where our marketing team would go and propagate the benefits and features of our Toumouh programme. We can make use of posters also to publicise our innovative Toumouh programme, formulated for the benefit of student community only, which is not structured to earn money by selling a product but serving a corporate social responsibility (CSR) cause of fulfilling the financial needs of the student community with additional tools made available to them for investing their savings regularly through such mediums that are not against the Islamic Sharia Law so that when they graduate from their educational ventures, they are financially capable to some extent at least to walk confidently on the road that leads them to their career goals. We should meet students in small groups of five-to six to inspire them that savings is a good habit that needs to be inculcated not only for their current financial needs but for making it a life-long habit for the welfare of the whole family although once they have completed their studies, generally as is the case, the benefits attached to the studentship cease automatically but opening a saving account is a preparation for the future for all life long monetary needs to be fulfilled from accumulated funds, which can be realised through regular monthly savings. So students should reap the benefits as long as they are available to them. As members of the marketing team we can reach the students different ways for gaining relevant information through our own efforts by using research tools such as questionnaires and other available communication channels. Particularly for female students, we need to frame a questionnaire that includes information on their mobility because of prevailing social customs they would be more prone to use the online medium of remaining updated on their saving details. We can easily access our data sources, the selected schools and colleges on our rolls to get contact numbers of female students so that we could introduce our Toumouh programme to them through telephonic conversation as well. We can make use of short message service SMS to female students to participate in an online survey by visiting our website so that they could get first-hand information themselves. We need to share the non-banking benefits of opening a saving account that are enumerated on the website as well, which include the ease of carrying a VISA "6oumou7" Credit Card with a distinct design besides an international ATM card. Such benefits are not possible to students at least, which are being offered by the Bank AlJazira. Students can transfer funds between their accounts and also with other banks. Great and best part of the deal is that their savings with “6oumou7” product are within the tenets of Islamic Sharia Law. We need to tell and share these facts with the female students so that they become sure that they are performing an act which is totally legal and at the same time providing them tangible and intangible benefits of operating an account that would prepare them in sound financial management of their funds. Our primary research through different mediums can benefit us in getting crucial feedback of female Saudi students through group-discussions, seminars, website surveys and telephonic interviews to fathom the demand of our new and innovative product “6oumou7”. Reference Bank AlJazira, 2010. Toumouh, Bank AlJazira. Available from: http://www.baj.com.sa/pb/default.asp?pb=account&actype=tomu [Accessed 2 January 2011]. Read More