Product and Brand Management in Barclays Bank - Essay Example

Product and Brand management in Barclays Bank Analysis Barclays is one of the most popular finance organization situated in United Kingdom with its head office located in London. It is one of the major financial services provider engaged in credit cards, personal banking, corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management operating at international level. The operations of Barclays are carried out over 50 countries and have 140,000 employs. This organization moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients throughout the world (Barclays.com). Brand: The development of brand identity is based on customer analysis, competitor analysis and self-analysis (Koltler& Pfoertsch, 2006, p. 174). The Barclays brand has two business groups. The first one is the Corporate and Investment Banking, which comprises of three groups and Wealth investment management and the second, is Retail and Business Banking. The Retail and Business Banking Group comprises of four Business units. They are Africa Retail and Business Banking; Barclaycard, Europe Retail and Business banking and UK Retail and Business bank (Barclays.com). Product Portfolio: The products are of two types in general classification of categories. Products that are purchased for personal use and enjoyment are called consumer products, whereas those products those purchased for resale to make other products or for use of firms operations are called business products. (Ferrel & Hartline, 2011, p. 193) The products provided by the organization are for individuals, for corporates and investments. The products for individuals are personal banking, credit cards, loans, investment banking and wealth management. The products for corporates are corporate banking, credit cards, loans, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management. The Vision* of Barclays Bank Barclays are committed to building a world-class organization. The organisation aspires to be amongst the most valuable and admired financial services companies in the world. According to Barclays Bank, its vision is: A business that leads in its chosen markets A portfolio of brands that are synonymous with quality and integrity A culture based on high performance and behavioural excellence *(Barclays.com) Mission Statement “To be an innovative, customer-focused group that delivers super products and services, ensures excellent careers for their people and contributes positively to the communities in which they live and work” (‘Business strategy of Barclays’, 2013). Values and Behaviours: Values and behaviours of the Barclays bank are respect, integrity, service, stewardship, and excellence. Barclays bank respect and value its customers and stakeholders and their contributions. It shows courage to do as well as say the right thing. It believes in building trust with the colleagues and partners, the bank works with; always strives to surpass clients’ and customers’ expectations; and protect and enhance its reputation and legacy at all times (Barclays Purpose & Values, 2013). SWOT analysis of The Barclays Bank: SWOT analysis is a relatively common strategic tool. When it is performed correctly it allows the strategic planners to identify the issues most likely to impact a particular organization or situation in future and develop an appropriate plan for action (Marquis & Huston, 2009, p. 144). Strengths: The portfolio brands are with high quality and integrity Products designed to suit the requirements of the customers Brand image and popularity Financial services of many types and products are available. Weaknesses: Facing and coming out of economic crises in the home country Political and legal restrictions in other countries. Opportunities: Global expansion and investments across other countries in the world Entering new markets of various geographic locations Products and services with attractive and new features Threats: Substitute products form the competitors Economic policies of the Bank The brands current position: Positioning is the battle for a place in the consumers mind (Sengupta, 2005, p. 10). In terms of relative performance with in a market, a brands positioning can reflect a battle for the customers mind (Lilien, Rangaswamy & De Bryun, 2013, p. 99). By providing the customers services and products in retail banking the position of the Barclays bank in consumers mind is significant. This brings the competitive advantage to bank as more customers prioritize the Barclays bank for their personal and corporate requirements. The business process leads in the chosen markets of this organization and besides this they have culture based high performance and behavioural excellence. By this positioning strategy the organizations ideology of business, its capabilities to serve the customers, satisfaction of consumers and stake holders and ability to sustain in the competitive environment and making services and products of competitive advantage is efficiently possible. Strategy: Strategies are the future actions plans that are to be implemented in accomplishments of goals and objectives of an organization. Positioning strategies are evolved when they are several well defined competitors are present with fairly unambiguous images (Stevens et al., 1997, p. 159) In the analysis it is found that the Barclays Bank has potential future positioning options which place the organization in the top position. There are two options which can be focused for the brands within the retail banking. They are: Business process in chosen markets: Barclays banks services and products are introduced and business process is conducted in chosen and selected markets. This brings the organization high potential opportunity. Chosen markets or market segments are groups of high potential prospective customers with common characteristics and needs to distinguish them from other high potential market segments (Sandhusen, n.d., p. 274). Culture based high performance and behavioural excellence: the other important aspect of Barclays bank for gaining the highest position in the mind-set of customers is high performance that is based upon culture and their behavioural excellence. An organizations culture is considered strong and cohesive when it conducts business according to clear and explicit set of values. The strong cultures are likely to be associated with high performance and improve firm’s performance through internal behaviour consistency (Lussier & Achua, 2010, p.375). The main features of high performance cultures have a character for valuing their employees, being result oriented, give emphasis to everyday outstanding performance and excellence where reinforcement is done by diverse culture tools. Positioning with most Potential: From the analysis, ‘the business process in the chosen markets’ is the positioning with most potential in future. In order to make the position the Barclays bank has to target and enter new selected and segmented products that are highly suitable for the requirements of individual customers as well as the corporate organization. When business process is done in segmented markets strategies of marketing the products and services of retail banking as per the can be developed market analysis outcome and current market trends. This is an appropriate and best business positioning strategy for the Barclays bank in retail banking because there is large number of competitor firms with similar substitute products and services which would be a threat to business process of the organization. It is better to target segmented markets with the products and services which help in gaining competitive advantage, reducing substitute products and services as the positioning helps the customers or consumers to focus on standard products and services. In next two years more new markets can be exploited where these unique products and services of retail banking are absent or not available. Branding places a premium on achieving appropriate positioning. It is necessary for the business organizations to identify those segments or markets which offer the most potential for defensible positioning (Glibert, 2003, p. 310). Implementation: A policy of ‘multiple segmentation’ has to be adopted by Barclay bank to focus upon a variety of different segment. It should develop a different marketing mix for each. This helps the organization from being vulnerable either to a direct and sustained attack by a competitor or to a downturn in demand within the target market (Wilson & Silligan, 2005). In retail banking, four customer groups exist – the very rich, the rich, high net worth individuals and medium net worth individuals (Wilson & Silligan, 2005). Marketing strategy targeting each of these segments of customer groups have to be set. Though targeting multiple segments would result in increase in cost for production, promotion, delivery, and management; the trade-offs for an increase in cost against an expectation of higher total returns exists. Internal brand management can be effective through the employers’ communication with consumers. Employers being key stakeholders within the organization understand and behave well according to the brand. Internal marketing is one of the steps in Kotlers service marketing triangle; where communication flows between employees and company (Jevnaker, 2005). According to Barclays’ PLC (2013), strategic action plans include focus solely on activities that support customers and clients in geographic markets where it has scale and competitive advantage for 2015. Segmenting should be done in existing geographic markets as well as new products should be included in the global market where there is no scope for other organizations. This may result in gaining reputation while maintaining its current customers and clients’ respect towards the bank. The retail banking concept must be restructured to target more customers throughout its operating countries in the world. The elderly population is an attractive target market for many goods and services (Anderson & Vincze, 2008). Exploring of new market areas to widen the global approach of the bank can be done by introducing new products which are unavailable in that segment. Steps that include for new product development include generation of new ideas, investigation conducted on preliminary basis, detailed investigation in business case, development, testing and validation of the new ideas, and production and market launch (Barclay, Dann & Holroyd, 2000). For example, Barclay can introduce Islamic banking concept for segmented Muslim consumers in not only Islam prevailing countries but also in other global countries; which forbids the pay of interest on deposits according to Muslim faith (Essavle Corporation Limited, 2007). ‘As the markets expand it is likely that banks will begin to focus and become more specialized in their product and service offerings’ (Jaffer, 2005). Measures for New Product Development: Bhuiyan (2011) suggests that firms must try to shorten the development time for the new product to minimize the chances that development and customer needs have changed when the product enters into the market. Gaps between image and vision express a situation where top management is alienated from what consumers expect and perceive of the brand identity (Heding, Knudtzen & Bjerre, 2009). Therefore misalignments between vision and image are to be reduced through better brand management. Resistance to change can be a barrier for introduction of new product in any organization (Monczka et al., 2000). Measures and monitoring is required for managing change effectively. References Anderson, CH & Vincze, JW 2008, Strategic Marketing, 2nd edn, Biztantra, New Delhi. Barclay, I, Dann, Z & Holroyd, P. 2000, New Product Development, Butterworth-Hienemann, Oxford. Barclays 2013, Barclays, viewed 14 March 2013, from http://www.barclays.com/supplier/aiming_high_our_vision.html Barclays PLC 2013, Barclays, 12 February 2013. Barclays Purpose and Values 2013, Barclays, viewed 15 March 2013, http://group.barclays.com/transform/values Bhuiyan, N 2011, ‘A framework for successful new product development’, Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 746-770. Business strategy of Barclays 2013, UKessays.com, Nottinghamshire, viewed 14 March 2013, http://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/business-strategy-of-barclays.php Essvale Corporation Limited 2007, Business Knowledge for IT in Retail Banking: A complete handbook for IT Professionals, Essvale Corporation Ltd, London. Heding, T, Knudtzen, C & Bjerre, M 2009, Brand Management: Research, Theory and Practice, Routledge, New York. Ferrell, OC & Hartline, MD 2011, Marketing Strategy, 5th edn, South-Western, Cengage Learning, Mason, USA. Glibert, D 2003, Retail Marketing Management, 2nd edn, Pearson Education Limited, New Delhi. Jaffer, S 2005, Islamic Retail Banking and Finance: Global Challenges and Opportunities, Euromoney Books, London. Jevnaker, IS 2005, ‘Internal Brand Management: Specifics and Problems’, Brand Equity Management Seminar Fall semester 2004,Seminar WS 2004/2005, Handelshochschule Leipzig, viewed 15 March 2013, http://socialbydesign.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/internalbrandmanagement.pdf Kotler, P & Pfoertsch, W 2006, B2B Brand Management, Springer Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. Lilien, GL, Rangaswamy, A & De Bruyn, A 2013, Principles of Marketing Engineering, Gary L. Lilien, Arvind Rangaswamy, and Arnaud De Bruyn, State College, PA. Lussier, RN & Achua, CF 2010, Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH. Marquis, BL & Huston, CJ 2009, Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application, 6th edn, Wolters Kluwer Health and Lippincott Williams & Wikins, Philadelphia. Monczka, RM, Handfield, RB, Scannell, TV, Ragatz, GL & Frayer, DJ 2000, New Product Development: Strategies for Supplier Integration, ASQ, Wisonsin. Sandhusen, RL n.d., Marketing, Barron, viewed 14 March 2013, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=V8pfulsfCSgC&pg=PA274&dq=positioning+strategies Sengupta, S 2005, Brand Positioning: Strategies for Competitive Advantage, 2nd edn, Tata McGraw-Hill, Delhi. Stevens, R, Loudon, D, Wrenn, B & Mansfield, P 2006, Marketing Planning Guide, 3rd edn, Best Business Books, USA. Wilson, RMS & Gilligan, C 2005, Strategic Marketing Management: planning, implementation & control, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington. Read More