Marketing for Financial Services - Barclay's Bank - Research Paper Example

Marketing for Financial Services (Research Project) Barclay’s Bank Plc Introduction In this research project I have selected one of the top 50 banks in the world for its financial services and that is Barclays bank Plc. The reason behind choosing Barclays bank in particular is - its worldwide presence. According to the information available on its official website, since the business was established more than 300 years ago, Barclays has grown to offer a range of products and services tailored to meet the specific needs of its customers all over the world. (http://group.barclays.com/About-us/Barclays-at-a-glance). This research project looks into online marketing versus traditional marketing by comparing critically these two marketing tools will conclude the result. First of all we need to know, what is marketing? As defined by Barclay’s website, Marketing is how you get potential customers interested in your products or services. (http://www.barclays.co.uk/Businessmanagement/Marketingandattractingcustomers/P1242572032424). Overview Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail banking, credit cards, corporate banking, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs nearly 147,000 people. Barclay’s moves, lends, invests and protects money for more than 48 million customers and clients worldwide. Barclays uses various tools for its marketing in various countries tailored to the local investment needs, taste and culture. One of the most common approaches it uses is the internet marketing. In each country Barclay’s online marketing tools varies according to the local language, laws and customers demands (e.g. in India its website provide the information about its services in India’s local language which is ‘Hindi’). From corporate commercial clients to consumers in high street branches, Barclays Marketing executives come up with campaigns to appeal to the very different demands of these varied target audiences. (http://group.barclays.com/Careers/Barclays-around-the-world/Group-Centre/Marketing). Types of Marketing Internet is used as a communication channel as a part of direct marketing. It has had a large impact on marketing since it was invented and realised to be an effective marketing tool. Traditional marketing is tangible for the customer where as through a website in Internet marketing is just a virtual image. (Lee, 2002). Internet banking started in early 1980’s and from then people started using more and more online transactions through e-commerce hence the need of online marketing came into existence. (Chaffey et al., 2000). Internet marketing is defined as: The application of the Internet and related digital technologies to achieve marketing objectives and support the modern marketing concept. (Hoffman & Novak, 1995). All financial institutions use different marketing tools to sell their products and services. Barclays also uses different types of marketing channels to sell its product and services to its customers, there are many types of marketing style but here we mainly focus on internet marketing and traditional marketing: Online advertising through its official website, local and financial newspapers, e-magazines, local and international media, Google search engines, yellow pages, direct marketing via e-mail to customers about their new products and services, text alerts via mobile phones, telemarketing, online forums, personal recommendations by its customers or by word of mouth to be more precise, local directories, posters, international business networking, sponsorships, seminars and billboards. Barclays brings an awareness of its brand throughout the world by providing not only basic information of about its product and services but detailed options available to its customers in a more interactive manner. More interactive website is always a powerful marketing tool. Barclays has invested a huge sum to make its website one stop shop for financial services which makes its different to its competitors. Due to continuous change in the society, banks also started to use more and more non conventional direct methods of marketing based on local social cultures, Barclays allocate a client manager who looks after certain number of premium clients and these managers provide bespoke targeted marketing promotions to sophisticated high net worth clients. Through traditional marketing tools Barclays provide sponsorship to various sporting activities, such as tennis and football. As per the official website, Barclays is the proud title sponsor of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the world's largest indoor tennis tournament. (http://www.sponsorship.barclays.co.uk/tennis/event.html). Comparison of internet marketing to traditional marketing I compared the Barclays traditional marketing approach to its online marketing approach and resulted in following summary: Traditional marketing provide a customer face to face interaction which provides more like a human and a personal service, on the other hand internet marketing does not involve any face to face contact which is a shortfall of internet marketing for some aged customers. Traditional marketing is not quick, it is more depends on the time; availability of staff, customers and exact location but on the other hand online marketing approach such as sending out emails to customers is not dependent to any location, time and availability of staff. Traditional marketing approach requires leaflets, papers which may not be environmentally friendly but online marketing is directed straight to an individual mail box without effecting the environment. Online marketing always requires advanced IT, securities; direct marketing tools and software’s but traditional marketing is free from such kind of IT tools which may prove heavily expensive at times. Online marketing is available to the customers 24/7 with web based frequently asked questions and help which are not that flexible in traditional approaches. Traditional marketing allow the customers to express, how they feel about the services provided by the bank but online tools do not have such characteristics. The advantages of Barclays’ traditional marketing are to some extent irreplaceable by any way of marketing through Internet. A face to face contact with the customer is one important advantage that cannot be performed through Internet and can have a large impact on the customers’ experience. It is a way of communication and providing personal service that can create a relationship between the customers and bank. Shortfalls During my research, I come across following weaknesses of online marketing: There is a certain tension that exists in purchasing financial products online—on the one hand it is a convenient process which allows the consumer to make the best decisions for their needs, but on the other there are serious concerns about how well their privacy and personal information is being protected. Will it be given or sold to third parties? Will the institutions use their private information to sell them other products? (Mintel International Group Ltd., 2010). Aging population is increasing according to BBC report: The number of older adults in the world is growing both in absolute and relative terms. In 1994, 16 per cent of the UK population was aged over 65. By 2031, this will increase to 23 per cent, and 10 per cent of this figure will be made up of people over 75 years old. Old people are more comfortable with face to face communication which creates an active marketing situation where both customer and bank have an opportunity to give and receive information and feedback in person. This way the measurement of the result and feedback from customers is easier and quicker. As it comes to attention, the advantages of traditional marketing such as personal service, quick feedback, quick and an easy way to measure the results and responses are connected to face to face communication. Recommendations As mentioned in this research, we acknowledge that marketing is a journey or a process in which the marketing business finds out customers needs and wants and tries to satisfy them. There are different tools and using any of them or the mix of them can take the business closer to their goal. There is no specific way of marketing that would guarantee a success for a financial services company. Barclay’s searches for the best way to reach their customers and to get the message crossed. Since the internet has become a part of our lives, it raises the question that it will, one day take over all the traditional activities that human beings have operated until now. This issue has affected the business world too and there are different opinions on the subject. Based on the gathered information in this research, Internet marketing does not seem to be a contemporary version of traditional marketing but it appears to be complementary to traditional marketing. Internet as marketing tool has added value to the marketing concept in general which makes the process of marketing more complete together with the traditional marketing tool. References http://group.barclays.com/About-us/Barclays-at-a-glance http://www.barclays.co.uk/Businessmanagement/Marketingandattractingcustomers/P1242572032424. http://group.barclays.com/About-us/Barclays-at-a-glance/Key-facts. http://group.barclays.com/Careers/Barclays-around-the-world/Group-Centre/Marketing. Lee, Pui-Mun. (2002). Electronic Commerce Research, Behavioral Model of Online Purchasers in E-Commerce Environment, 75-86. Chaffey, Dave. et al. (2000), Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. Hoffman, Donna L., & Novak, Thomas P. (1995). Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments: Conceptual Foundations, Working Paper No. 1. http://www.sponsorship.barclays.co.uk/tennis/event.html. Mintel International Group Ltd. (2010). (http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=6049315). http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/life_oldera dults.shtml. Read More