HSBC Marketing Plan - Essay Example

 HSBC – Marketing plan Table of Contents 1. Background - Critical Evaluation 1 2. Structured Marketing Plan for the UK 3 2.1 Situation Analysis 3 2.2 Objective 5 2.3 Target Market 6 2.4 Marketing strategy – marketing mix 8 2.5 Marketing controls and assessment 10 3. Marketing Communications Plan for HSBC 10 3.1 Tactics 11 3.2 Action – detailed action plan 13 3.3 Control 15 4. Conclusion 16 Bibliography 18 1. Background - Critical Evaluation HSBC, the Global Bank of the Year (2009) by Euromoney, having a leading position in the world of banking and finance, has an international network across six continents. Despite the global economic downturn, HSBC released solid financial results (HSBC, 2009). While many banks had to be ‘bailed out’ by the government in the UK, HSBC did not have to take any assistance from the government. This sent a positive message to the investors and the public in general. Even in a challenging environment, HSBC could make profits. The on-going success of HSBC can be attributed to several reasons and of course their foresight. HSBC realized that the purchasing power of the people had reduced due to unemployment and hence one of the first steps they took was to curb issuing new credit cards (Poulter, 2009). They rationed credit cards and it was issued only to their existing customers. This was meant to rebuild their financial standing but at the same time, economists find that this strategy to hoard cash and limit credit could limit competition and drive up the cost of borrowing. However, it demonstrates that HSBC plays it safe and believes in old-fashioned banking virtues (Duncan, 2009). The second step was to delay their expansion plan as they fear that the current upturn could be short-lived (Fleming, 2009). They have a track-record of being able to identify economic turning points and act accordingly. HSBC’s success can also be attributed to its strong presence in buoyant economies like China, Hong Kong and Far East. Their focus on the emerging markets allowed it to make these its profit centers while margins in the developed economies fell. This is again their alertness to spot the shift in the world’s centre of economic gravity from the west to the east (Anonymous, 2009). The third strong reason has been the banks ability to attract customer deposits and it is the only European bank that takes in more customer deposits than it loans out (Bloomberg, 2008). This strengthened its position and they continued to focus on growing customer relationships with business and retail customers in all countries where they had a presence (Inmaan, 2009). Despite all their claims of a risk management strategy, HSBC had to write-off over $10bn to cover its losses from the same loans (Charette, 2009). However, since HSBC could raise loans from private capital it worked as a buffer against the bad loans which equipped the bank to deal as the recession deepened (Adams, 2009). Because of its string asset backing, HSBC could survive despite the drop in pre-tax profits in 2008 (Peston, August 4, 2008). HSBC did have to cut jobs in March 2009 and this is not the right strategy during downturn. While it might have helped them to cut costs and register profits, it sends the wrong signals to the public because at these times talent should not be compromised with (PR Newswire, 2009). It also leads to loss of morale among the employees without whom the bank is unable to provide the right customer service. 2. Structured Marketing Plan for the UK Marketing is no longer about developing, selling and delivering products. It is about developing and maintaining mutually satisfying long-term relationships with customers (Gilbert & Choi, 2000). Strong competitive pressures have forced the banks to revise their marketing strategies. A marketing plan is essential for every business because it describes the plan to attract and retain customers. This requires a thorough research of the competitive positioning. The marketing plan can differ across sectors and regions in which they operate. In the UK the situation is grim in the banking sector, with the government having to support the industry. This marketing plan focuses on the marketing efforts of HSBC in the UK. There are several stages in the marketing plan and it begins with the situation analysis. 2.1 Situation Analysis SWOT Strengths Global operations/international presence spanning across six continents The ability to identify economic turning points More customer deposits than loans String capital base Awards and recognition Strong customer relationships Focus on emerging markets Ability to raise private capital Four key business areas – Global Banking and Markets, Private Banking, Commercial Banking and Personal Financial Services. Weakness Loans had to be written off against asset-backed securities Poor risk management strategy Higher borrowing costs for the end consumers Stricter credit ratings Oppurtunities Enhance customer base due to consolidation in the banking industry as many banks are going out of business or not extending credit to consumers. Emerging markets Bond market revival Acquisition of troubled bank subsidiaries in different regions Change in government regulations Supporting the SMEs – currently the sector has not received any support due to which the economy is still in recession (Mollins, 2009). Threats Entering of non-banking financial institutions into mainstream banking Barclays are its main competitors Low employee morale due to downsizing Talent crunch Angry investors Mounting debts Loss of customer confidence Lower pre-tax profits Analysis Thus, the SWOT analysis suggests that HSBC has a strong position in the UK and several oppurtunities as well. While it has the ability to identify the economic turning points, it needs to enhance its customer base. It also needs to focus on revamping its brand image which has been affected due to downsizing and curbing its credit policies. IT also faces threats from other banks such as Barclays and other non-financial institutions that have entered the main stream banking. Several oppurtunities are available due to banks subsidiaries in trouble. Based on these, the next step in the marketing plan, would draw up the objectives. 2.2 Objective Based on the current situation, the objectives of HSBC would be: 1. To restore the customer confidence, enhance the customer base, and add new products/services to sustain the interests of those that are still with HSBC. 2. At the corporate level, HSBC should aim to support the SMEs which are unable to receive financial assistance. 3. In addition, HSBC would attract the women workforce as their customers by offering special privileges and benefits for them. 4. At the same time, HSBC would need to remain focused on the emerging markets, because the revenues and deposits from these economies would help HSBC to offset lower margins from the UK. These objectives are SMART: Specific: the objectives laid out above are specific in nature – customer relationship, support SMEs, and focus on the emerging economies and enhancing the brand image. HSBC intends to capture the SME market and become market leaders in this segment. Women as new customers and retention of the existing customers would be the focus as well. Measurable: whether the objectives have been achieved or not can be measured in terms of growth in the customer base and in terms of profit margins. Achievable: These objectives are achievable and challenging. This simply requires the right marketing mix and the right marketing communications mix. Realistic: The objectives are realistic because the resources necessary to achieve them are available to the bank. Timed: These objectives have been planned for a 12-month period of growth. It is expected that within a year, the performance results would reflect that the objectives have been achieved. Deadlines are important without which, no organization would pursue it seriously. 2.3 Target Market Porter’s generic business strategies assert that an organization can choose between three strategies – cost leadership, differentiation and focus. To ensure long-term profits and to become the business leader, the companies must be competitive, says Porter (Allen & Helms, 2006). HSBC has already demonstrated that it is the business leader but since there are certain weaknesses, it needs to redefine its strategy which would help it to segment its customers. While cost leadership is not important in the banking sector as the customers are interested in efficient service, HSBC needs to rely on a differentiation strategy to remain competitive. Product differentiation fulfills a customer need and may require tailoring the product or service to suit the customer needs. The bank must provide unique or superior value to the customer to maintain differentiation. The differentiation strategy appeals to the sophisticated customer and they are willing to pay a price for it. In a focused differentiation strategy, a firm targets a specific segment of the market. HSBC would choose a combination strategy of focus and differentiation strategy. They will offer a unique product to a specific target market. This implies that the bank would have to drop the unprofitable customers. This strategy is not just meant to broaden the market share but meant to provide specialty products and services to a specific group. Accordingly, HSBC can attract customers based on this strategy from four different segments: a. The SMEs – these are the ones that have not been able to receive support from the banks during the recession. Hence, these would be easily achievable because the SMEs need support during this hour. More importantly, the SMEs contribute to the economy of the nation as a whole and hence HSBC stands to benefit overall as well. b. Extend loans to the consumers that have deposits – this ensures that bad debts do not occur. c. The existing customers who are likely to turn away to other banks. d. The women workforce that comprise of a significantly large percentage at workplaces. Hence, to restore its image and to remain competitive, HSBC would focus on these three target segments and make their offering based on the differentiation strategy. 2.4 Marketing strategy – marketing mix Product: HSBC should offer products to SMEs that are not yet available. SMEs should be given special assistance from the conception of the idea to the execution. Special facilities would be provided to those customers that want to transfer their funds from other banks to HSBC. Loans with special discounts to the existing customers would be provided. Such packaging of products would serve to attract the customers in good standing, which is very essential considering the number of bad debts that need to be written off. Price: Special mortgage discounts to those that maintain deposits with HSBC. The SMEs that want to transfer their account from other banks would be offered special privileges like extended moratorium on loan repayment or a special discount on loans for a limited period. Those who wish to consolidate their funds at one bank would receive special rates and prices. Place: HSBC has a wide network within UK and can make the offer from all of its branches and subsidiaries. In addition, the information and service would also be available through its website and partner websites. Internet is a very powerful medium to reach the customers. This can be possible through email, through e-brochures and through their website. To attract the women with special benefits, at organizations where the number of working women exceeds 25, services would be provided at their premises. Promotion: HSBC has been promoting itself in different markets to suit the local conditions and the business environment. However, at this juncture, they have to move out of the traditional promotional strategies. The promotional strategy or the marketing communication mix is being discussed in the next section. People: Currently, HSBC’s reputation has become tainted because of its downsizing. They are likely to lose valuable talent and hence it important that HSBC revise its strategy to offload talent. Such human resources become invaluable when the situation improves and the lack of such talent can be detrimental to growth. Thus, ongoing training and development would be focused upon. They would be trained not only on the products and services but on service delivery also. Processes: HSBC should make use of advanced technology to enhance its services. More of net banking and mobile banking should be encouraged which would make the entire system cost-effective both for the bank as well, as the customers. Besides, they need technology to determine the creditworthiness of the applicants for credit which will help the bank to control risks. Thus, technology would have to be updated as an ongoing process. Requests for loans would be cleared at the fastest possible pace. Talent at the banks would be trained so as to improve efficiency in services. Handling of customer complaints is another area that needs attention. Online complaints would be handled by a different set of people while manual complaints would be handled differently. Efforts would be made to ensure that personalized attention is given to each complaint. Data mining techniques in the financial and banking industry can be applied to risk management, portfolio management trading, customer profiling and customer relationship management (Ogwueleka, 2009). Information about customers is essential to meet their needs. Physicals: HSBC should strive to maintain the same pleasing environment at all its outlets. The décor of the premises should be uniform, customer greetings should be identical at all the branches. Customers look for comfort, convenience and the right ambience when they visit a bank. 2.5 Marketing controls and assessment: Both financial and non-financial performance measures would have to be implemented to determine the extent of success achieved. It is not enough to know sales, profit or cash flow. Innovativeness and market standing are measures of non-financial performance. Customer surveys at frequent intervals would help to understand whether the bank is moving in the right direction to achieve its marketing objectives. Once the strategies that are working are identified, they can be focused on and others can be revised or eliminated. It is also possible to monitor the website and determine which particular offers are attracting visitors to the website. 3. Marketing Communications Plan for HSBC Marketing communication implies communicating about the organization and its services through packaging, advertising through different channels, and promoting the organization itself as a brand. According to Proctor and Kitchen (2002) communication channels, when integrated together can deliver a clear, consistent and compelling message about the organization and its products and services. This can bring success in the endeavours of an organization. Marketing communications mix comprises of advertising, personal selling, public relations and sales promotion and these may have to be changed as the situation demands or as the business environment changes around the organization. Marketing communication has three functions – to inform, to remind and to persuade. The persuasive function has to be through marketing communication. The SOSTAC model in the marketing plan comprises of Situation analysis, the objectives, and the strategy (SOS), while the TAC including tactics, action and control will be dealt with in the marketing communications plan. TAC is a detailed, measurable and controllable action plan. 3.1 Tactics The tactics or the tools to implement the strategy include advertising, personal selling, public relations and sales promotions. These can be does in different ways rather than the traditional forms of personal selling or advertising. The audience is generally influenced by press reports rather than on advertising. Moreover, men and women process advertising messages differently. Women are more sensitive to the product of risk. The advertising that HSBC undertakes should reflect the changing needs of the women workforce, for instance offering services on holidays. As discussed in the marketing plan, the physicals are important. The environment serves to communicate the message that the bank cares. Hence, the customers should be offered a beverage of their choice as soon as they arrive. Since one of the objectives is to attract the women workforce, there should be a play area for the children. Most women have problems leaving the children behind if they want to visit the bank. While these do form part of the service, ultimately what would matter to the customer is the banking service extended with deftness. The bank should remember that any negative experience by the customer would lead to adverse negative publicity through word-of-mouth which can be worse than no advertising. This is part of communication through public relations. Word-of-mouth (WOD) publicity and is an important linkage between customer experience and enhancement of business (Grace & O’Cass, 2005). The existing customers should be offered some incentives when they introduce new reliable customers to the bank. If they bring in their family or friends, the existing customers could be given some gift or special discounts on their loans for a limited period. This would serve to retain the existing customers thereby enhancing customer loyalty. Another tactic to enhance customer loyalty would be to segment the customers that are very regular with their credit card payments. Special offers or reward program should be designed only for such customers because HSBC has to ensure no bad debts. In addition to offering simple reward points, banks can tie up with consumer goods companies and offer special discounts to their regular credit card customers for purchasing online from the partner website, through the credit card. This is a novel way of sale promotion of the credit cards. Advertising can be done through the internet not only on their own website but also through partner websites. Today customers are all technology savvy and would be interested if visuals and audio advertising is included on the website. While customers browse through the website, some music could be played which would serve to hold the customer to the website for a longer period. This music should be changed every hour. 3.2 Action – detailed action plan Customers most often are not aware of all the products that their bank or their branch offers. The customers need to be made aware of the offers. From time to time the loan offers should be modified and made interesting. This has to be communicated in the right manner. For instance, for two months the SMEs in one particular sector can be attracted and focused upon. They should set up a separate cell for the SMEs so that the small creditors do not hesitate to contact the bank for specific needs. These should also be made available to the SMEs through the HSBC website. These are the different distribution channels to reach the geographically dispersed customers and sales promotion through such channels can be effective. The front office staff represents the bank to most customers because these are the people that the customer interacts with. Hence, training of the front office staff at the bank branches is essential so that whenever a customer approaches for one work, they are immediately apprised of other offers that the bank has in store for them. This amounts to personal selling which makes the customer feel valued. The staff has to be caring towards the customers which would help to restore the lost confidence in the bank. Once the staff expresses concern and commitment to the needs of the customers, the customers would not look elsewhere. Training would have another advantage – it would serve to motivate the employees whose morale is down due to downsizing. Special attention should be paid to the new customers or those who call or walk in for the first time. Rattling off too much of information for the new customer can dissuade the customer from approaching or availing of any services from the bank. Hence, only to-the-point and relevant information should be provided to the new customers but in a way that captures their interest. The customer first has to know of the services before he can be tempted to know of new offers. All communication need not and may not result in immediate sales but once the information reaches the customer, the information is stored for use in future. At regular intervals, the bank should inform its customers about the new offers through the website or through flyers posted in mail. Special cell should be set up to handle complaints and another for handling new customers. The marketing communications theory suggests that it is not enough to listen to the customer; it is essential to understand the customer (Olorunniwo, Hsu & Udo, 2006). Towards this objective, training of the staff is necessary. Only when they understand the concerns of the customers, they would be able to offer the right product and develop a new customer. To understand the customers and what impression they have of the services offered, social networking is the latest technology employed by many organizations. Thus HSBC should have its own blog and also be linked to FaceBook and Twitter. They should follow what their customers feel about their services. This would help HSBC to understand where they need to change their strategy or augment their services or products. The existing customers should be encouraged to post on the blog and also have a link to the blog in the mails that go out. This would attract other people who are not the customers of the bank. Social networking would also offer HSBC a platform to create awareness of new products from time to time. To enroll more women customers, HSBC should tie up with organizations where over 25 women are working. Through special incentives offered to the organization as a whole, personalized service can be offered to the women to open their savings account with HSBC. While many are reluctant to visit the bank on Sundays or other holidays, banking services can be offered during the breaks or fixed timings at least twice a week. 3.3 Control – tracking progress and knowing we have achieved the objectives set. Branches are the most important delivery channel and progress about business improvement or additions of customers can be monitored through individual branch statistics. It would also be possible to measure the customer relationship based on the sales and service figures collected from the branch. Technology has enabled to extract data from the internet on the number of visitors to the website. When this is compared to the increase in the customer base, the effect of the marketing communications would be evident. It is also possible to know at what point the customer gave up while at the website. This would help to understand what attracts or distracts the customer away from the website. The current SME account holders at the bank should be invited every quarter for a feedback session where they would be able to express their expectations or needs. This would help the bank to understand their customers better. Besides, it is also a method to monitor progress and the growth in the number of SMEs that are with a particular branch. It would also help if sector wise details of the SMEs are derived. Then HSBC could focus on a particular sector and customize the service. 4. Conclusion HSBC’s image has been affected due to its policy to downsize during turbulent times, due to the write-offs and lower profits. Customers have been losing confidence but at the same time, HSBC has received the award for Excellence in 2009. This implies that despite downturn, HSBC has been able to sustain itself against competition due to its strong capital base. Nevertheless, it needs to enhance its marketing strategy as the business environment has changed. While it has to face challenges, oppurtunities before HSBC are plenty. Based on the situation analysis, the objectives that the bank has set are to enhance the customer base, to restore the lost confidence among the existing customers, to focus on the SMEs in the UK and to devise a plan to bring in more women customers. To meet these objectives, the marketing strategy has been planed including the marketing communications plan. Tailored products would be offered to the SMEs after understanding their specific needs. Various distribution channels would be adopted and the offerings would be changed every two months. To restore customer confidence ongoing training and development programs for the staff would be organized, which would enhance service delivery. For customer loyalty, data mining techniques would be employed and through partner websites, effective reward program is envisaged. To attract the women as the customers, women’s department with women staff in different organizations would be tapped. Services would be offered at their workplaces twice a week. Furthermore, at the bank branches the physicals would be looked into like making the place have a friendly ambience, a play area for children that women have to bring with them. These differentiation strategies are realistic and achievable and if handled with tact, HSBC can continue to be the leaders in the sector with better profit margins. References Adams, J 2009, 'Stability returns to the banks'. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Allen, RS & Helms, MM 2006, 'Linking strategic practices and organizational performance to Porter’s generic strategies'. Business Process Management Journal. 12 (4), 433-454 Anonymous. 2009, 'Banking: As others retreat'. HSBC moves to profit. Euromoney. London: Oct 2009. Bloomberg. 2008. 'Barclays, RBS in debt double whammy'. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Charette, RN 2009, 'Managing Enterprise Risk in a Failing Economy: Is It Time to Rethink Risk Management?. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Duncan, H 2009, 'Mega-profits at Barclays and HSBC spark recovery hopes'. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Fleming, S 2009, 'HSBC boss warns of second global economic downturn'. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Gilbert, DC & Choi, KC 2000, 'Relationship marketing practice in relation to different bank ownerships: a study of banks in Hong Kong'. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 21 (3), 137-146 Grace, D & O'Cass, A 2005, 'Examining the effects of service brand communications on brand evaluation'. Journal of Product & Brand Management. 14 (2), 106–116 HSBC. 2009, 'Group History'. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Inman, P 2009, 'HSBC profits dragged down by US lending'. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Ogwueleka, FN 2009, 'Potential Value of Data Mining for Customer Relationship Marketing in the Banking Industry'. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences , 3(1), 73-78 Olorunniwo, F Hsu, MK & Udo, GJ 2006, 'Service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in the service factory'. Journal of Services Marketing, 20 (1), 59–72 Peston, R August 4, 2008, 'HSBC: Half right'. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 PR Newswire 2009, 'Survive the Recession, But Not the 'Crunch'? [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Poulter, S 2009, 'RBS and HSBC become first British banks to ration credit cards to existing customers only'. [Online] access from 10 February 2010 Proctor T & Kitchen P 2002, 'Communication in Postmodern Integrated Marketing'. Corporate Communications, 7 (3), 144-154 Read More