On a Mission
A day with Mike Harris
Stand for Something
Building trusted brands
The Upside of the Downturn
Ten Management Strategies
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Norwich Union finds core brand essenceFriday 30th November 2007 Norwich Union has axed its strapline 'Quote me happy' in favour of 'We just make it easier' for its new £8m advertising campaign. The campaign which will air in the Autumn focuses on how the insurer aims to support consumers in "choosing, using and staying with Norwich Union". The ad claims: "Sorry but we can't stop your bad luck striking and we can't protect you from the whims of mother nature. That's just the way it is. But we can make it easier to cope with whenever it happens." And the advert ends with the strapline: "We just make it easier". At Strand Financial, we believe that by owning the word "easier" in customers' minds, Norwich Union will re-engineer its value proposition with a positive impact on their customer experience. The new aligned approach follows research into customer perceptions and expectations of Norwich Union and its products. Norwich Union marketing director Crawford Davidson says: "These insights reflect the very essence of Norwich Union and will increasingly underpin our interaction at every stage of the customer journey". Should Banks be more like Madonna?Thursday 29th November 2007 Today, banks and their agencies are most intent on communicating stability. In the current climate, you actually have to engineer two vectors - one of stability and one of change - simultaneously. Madonna was a classic example. She engineered transformations. She was hot on trends as they break. If she stayed the same, people would move on. Banks can't stabilise or else they’ll disappear. Banks that effect change are the only ones that really get noticed in the marketplace. Much in the same way, Madonna does not ask her fans what she should do next; she has an idea and implements it. And then, when her fans have caught up with her, she invents again - without their help.Treating Customers FairlyTuesday 27th November 2007 The FSA has announced December 2008 as the deadline by which firms must be able to demonstrate both to themselves and to the FSA that they are treating customers fairly. There is also an interim deadline of end of March 2008 for firms to have appropriate management information or measure in place to test whether they are treating their customers fairly. A detailed online survey commissioned by TCF Index comes hot on the heels of the new FSA progress report; both show that whilst, overall, firms are embracing TCF principles, there is an urgent need for help and support across the industry. Respondents from the worlds of banking, insurance, pensions and investment were asked for their views both from an industry perspective and also specifically about companies they know well. The survey makes interesting reading and shows that, though progress is being made, there is much still to be done given the new deadlines for 2008 that have been announced by the FSA:
Some firms still prioritise new customers over existing ones
Alarmingly high proportion of senior management not assessing decisions against TCF policy Inadequate consumer research into new products Lack of clear and user-friendly customer literature, such as Key Facts documents and statements Handling of complaints shows a great deal of improvement is needed TCF Index have now launched the TCF Index BaseBoard™, a fascinating combination of diagnostic tools and display techniques that shows a firm’s TCF status compared with both its own objectives and current best practice. It is a programme that not only helps a firm understand its current TCF status but remains as a constant development aid and TCF MI filing cabinet. To see an example of the baseboard, click on the link below: Customer Advantage, Not Merely Competitive AdvantageFriday 23rd November 2007 Over at Harvard Business Online, (link to http://conversationstarter.hbsp.com/2007/07/why_the_major_airlines_missed.html) I spotted a brief but interesting 'conversation starter' by Erich Joachimsthaler, entitled: ‘Why the Major Airlines Missed the All-Business-Class Innovation’. He contends that that if companies invested in a deeper analysis of customers’ needs and behaviours rather than becoming obsessed with their competitors they would, in Strand Financial terminology, create their own space. Erich concludes, “What matters is customer advantage, not merely competitive advantage”. Companies that attempt differentiation or re-invention are clearly missing a trick if they expend their time and energies purely benchmarking their own performance against their competitors and neglecting what really matters to their customers. |
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