MKTG 2003 - Marketing for Financial Services - Blog Post 6

From the Unit of Branding I found the concept of building Brand Dynamics interesting and decided to use it on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to see how it works.
The first stage is the 'Presence stage' which asks whether I, the customer of financial services namely banking know about Commonwealth. Due to consistently good service and word of mouth I am very aware that the Commonwealth Bank is one of the 4 major retail banks in Australia and provides banking services like deposits, debit cards etc.
The second stage is the 'Relevance stage' which asks whether the service offers me something in particular. As an international student who needs regular access to my money to make purchases and the ability to make them without actual cash the Commonwealth Bank satisfies my need by allowing me to open an account there and have access to the money in the account by assigning me a debit card.
The third stage is the 'Performance stage' which asks whether the service can deliver. The Commonwealth Bank has made it very convinient for me to access my funds and also gives me good interest rates on my deposit as compared to its competitors. Hence I can say that it does perform and does it on a consistent basis.
The fourth stage is the 'Advantage stage' which asks whether it offers something more than its competitors. I feel that by having a branch on campus it allows students easier access to withdrawal of cash and the ability to go to the branch directly to ask questions etc. Hence I feel that the Commonwealth Bank definitely has an advantage over its competitors.
The fifth and final stage according to the model is the 'Bonding' stage. This asks the question whether Commonwealth Bank is the best in providing this financial service namely the banking one. I feel that I am still currently in this stage and am unable to comment on whether this is indeed the best of the services as I have not experienced the other services offered by its competitors.

MKTG 2003 - Marketing for Financial Services - Blog Post 5

From the Unit, "Developing Financial Products and Designing service experiences" I found the 'Core, Actual, Augmented' Concentric circles Services model very interesting. I have decided to apply this model to the debit MasterCard that I use.
The inner most circle is the 'Core service'. This is the main purpose of the debit card itself, i.e. the main benefit of having this financial service, which is 'Cashless Finance'. This means that I do not need to carry a large amount of cash whenever I go out to make purchases. This is a major convinience for me. Other financial products like a credit card also have this same core benefit however this allows me to use my own money.
The middle concentric circle is the 'Actual services'. This is what this particular company offers that makes it different from it's competitors. This includes Brand name, which MasterCard has because of consistently good service and word of mouth. Also the debit card can be used to withdraw money from ATMs. This although not the core benefit is very useful for users of the debit card. Other features include it having a great design and the wide recognition of the card in various shops and restaurants.
The outermost circle is the 'Augmented services'. These are the additional services offered which are not particularly important but may still influence customers to choose a particular service over it's competitor. The debit MasterCard sends me monthly statements which shows the amount of usage of the card over the month. In addition it has very good after-sale service as one can call the company for help to answer doubts etc.