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.

MKTG 2003 - Marketing for Financial Services - Blog Post 4

                                           Market Segmentation and Targetting

I found the following advertisment about the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to be interesting and relevant to the concepts of market segmentation and targetting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fZjGOQDbsE&feature=related

The advertisment shows a pregnant women on a public transportation bus trying to find a seat. She is waiting for a man who is seated to give up his place as common courtsey but since he does not she beats him with a rubber toy to force him to give up his seat. The question is then asked "Where are all the people who used to give up their seat?" basically referring to the kind and courteous people. The answer to the question is that they all work at the Commonwealth Bank. Firstly everyone uses bank services, the rich and the middle class and thus the market for people who use financial services is enormous. Since banks cannot focus on the entire market at once they break the market into distinct segments and select one or more segments to target with a distinct marketing mix. This process is called Segmentation. In this advertisment the Commonwealth Bank is clearly targeting the average income earners as the ad takes place on a public transport bus which is typically used by average income earners rather than the high income ones. Thus average income earners especially, pregnant women, the elderly and other types of people who expect common courtsey from others can relate to the advertisment. This will cause them to believe that Commonwealth understands their needs of patience and courtsey and will expect the staff to behave like how they are depicted in the advertisment. Appealing to the need of this distinct segment of the market is called targetting. Hence in this way through the use of segmenting and targeting the Commwealth Bank is focused on what customers they want and who the ad will most appeal to.

MKTG 2003 - Marketing for Financial Services - Blog Post 3

         Buyer Decision Process - Opening a savings/transaction Account at Commonwealth

The topic I found most interesting in Unit 3 of this course was the 'Buyer Decision Process'. This process consists of 5 stages (listed below). This process is very important to understand how a marketer needs to market their product or service to the customers based on their needs. I have used the example of me opening a savings/transaction account at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia when I first came to Australia to study at the ANU. The following are the 5 stages in the buyer decision process and how it applies to the example:

1) Need Recognition: I am an international student and one of my major needs when I come to a new country is my ability to access funds when I require and to earn a good interest rate amongst others. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia understands this need and for this reason has set up a branch at the ANU itself with a very easy set up account creation systems which yields a relatively high interest rate.

2) Information Searches: The second step in the process is the abiltiy to find information on how to create an account, what interest rate is given, what the other alternatives are etc. Commonwealth addresses this step by having information brochures available in every branch and support staff in case one needs more information or just someone to talk to. In addition to this there is very detailed information about their services available on their website in case people do not want to visit the branch itself or prefer doing it online.

3) Evaluation of Alternatives: As an international student I had several alternative banks I could to start an account in namely NAB, Westpac and ANZ. However I chose the Commonwealth Bank over the others because number one there is a branch on campus and two because there are lot of ATM branches all over Canberra. This satisfies by primary need of having easy access to the funds wherever I am in Canberra. Also in case there is a need to visit the branch itself I can easily go to the bank. Hence Commonwealth Bank was the most convinient option for me. Commonwealth understood this need of international students and catered to the need.

4) Purchase Decision: All the above mentioned factors influenced me to open an account in the Commonwealth Bank. The knowledgibility of the Commonwealth staff and the pleasant atmosphere further assured me that the decision of opening an account at Commonwealth was the right one.

5) Post-Purchase Behaviour: A lot of banks take good care of potential customers and raise their expectations of the service before they open the account only to not live up to the expectations leading to dissatisfaction. However Commonwealth Bank was not one of them as even after the account was opened the staff was very friendly and answered any doubts or questions clearly. They always kept me upto date with their latest offers etc without being too aggressive or annoying. Hence it can be clearly seen that the Commonwealth Bank understood the 'Buyer Decision process' very well and followed each of the stages to the best of their ability.

MKTG 2003 - Marketing for Financial Services - Blog Post 2

                                                       SWOT Analysis

The most interesting concept I found in Unit 2 of this course is one of the most fundamental concepts in marketing/management, it is the SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths are positive internal characteristics of a company whereas Weaknesses are negative internal ones. Opportunities are positive and external whereas Threats are negative and external. Each entity be it an individual or a firm has all 4 of these characteristics. The goal of every entity is to maximise and use their strengths to the best of their ability and reduce the impact of their weaknesses while exploiting opportunities and avoiding/tackling threats. The beauty of the concept lies in its simplicity and its easy applicability to everyday life. For example my strength lies in test taking whereas my weakness lies more in writing assignments. Using SWOT I try to ace all my tests (my strength) and practice improving my assignment writing skills (my weakness). The assessment of the course is decided by the lecturer and hence is out of my control. Therefore the structure of the assessment is external. An example of an opportunity to me would be if the assessment became more 'test based' and thus more suited to my strengths and an example of a threat would be if it became more 'assignment based'. Almost all businesses around the world use the SWOT analysis to analyse their business and improve their ability to compete in the marketplace and thus this is a very important concept in marketing.

MKTG 2003 - Marketing for Financial Services - Blog Post 1

                                                 Impact vs Urgency

There were several interesting topics/concepts discussed and demonstrated through examples in the first lecture/chapter of this marketing course, however, the concept that interested me the most was the 'Impact vs Urgency' matrix discussed by the lecturer. The concept consists of a simple 3 row, 3 column matrix with 'Impact of issues affecting a business" put on the column side of the matrix and "Urgency of issue" on the row side. Each column and row was given a strength level of High, Medium and Low. Research was conducted across several different businesses on what type of issues were faced by businesses and which issues were tackled first by management. The management of the businesses first gave a value of how 'impactful' the issues were (if the issue was not addressed the business would suffer greatly in the 'high level' and not as much in the 'low level'),and then on how 'urgent' they were. They were then asked which issues they addressed first and which were postponed. It was discovered that managers of high performing businesses tackled the more 'impactful' issues before the more 'urgent ones' whereas managers of lower performing businesses did the opposite. This is an interesting discovery as normal human behaviour is to address the more urgent issues first, even if they are not as important and postpone dealing with issues which can be addressed later. This concept has opened my eyes and made me look at my personal goals differently and changed the order and importance I give issues in my own life.