This is alot of complaints......

Financial Ombudsman Service has reported that Lloyds Banking Group attracted more complaints in H2 2009 than any other financial firm, with the service receiving 20,190 complaints about the group. Of those complaints, 9,952 concerned Lloyds TSB, while 7,349 were directed at Bank of Scotland. Barclays received the second highest number of complaints at 10,892 for the group in total, including 9,836 complaints from Barclays bank customers

Samaritans kicks off search for direct marketing agency

The Samaritans is on the hunt for an agency to handle its direct marketing account.

The review comes after the DM incumbent on the business, the Bristol-based integrated agency Flourish, parted company with the organisation after three years.

Before Flourish's appointment, the Samaritans DM account was handled by Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw, which won the business in 2004 after a four-way pitch.

The agency created a high-profile mailpack that explained how suicidal people have gone on to live a prosperous life after making a call to the Samaritans.

Lunar BBDO was the most recent incumbent on the charity's TV advertising business, and Mindshare is the incumbent on the media planning and buying account.

The Samaritans

Miss out print at your peril........

Two-thirds of consumers consult a catalogue before buying a product or service, underlining the importance of an integrated, multi-channel approach to distance selling.

The Royal Mail Home Shopping Tracker 2009 found 63 per cent of consumers using catalogues in their buying decisions, whether they eventually purchase online or in-store. That is an increase of 9 per cent over the previous year.

Among consumers who go on to purchase online, 45 per look at a printed catalogue from some source beforehand (up 8 per cent on 2008). A catalogue that had been posted to the consumer was used by 37 per cent of online buyers (up 11 per cent on the previous year).

Vote now !

David Hughes the man who sleeps and talks e-everything sent me this link to a website in the states which has a number of marketing tests with the results of which won,Click here have a look as there are some interesting learnings.

For me the smallest changes can have the biggest impactClick here.

Happy Voting

New relationship for Comet

Comet, the electricals retailer owned by Kesa Electricals, has appointed Euro RSCG London to handle its £13m advertising account.

The agency will create new brand and price advertising for Comet and develop a brand communications concept that can be applied across various channels and sales activity.
The appointment follows a four-way pitch against Addiction London, Albion and Quiet Storm.

Where's all the money gone - it's gone to LEEDS

Leeds Building Society has reported a 51% year-on-year increase in profit to £31.7m in 2009, after attracting 71,000 new members and increasing its savings balance by £225m to £6.8bn. The society also set aside £52.5m in 2009 to take account of losses and provisions on commercial and residential property, compared to £32.1m in 2008.

HSBC from wealthy to wealthier strategy

HSBC is currently implementing a new strategy based on six sub-brands that will target consumers and businesses with different levels of wealth, using the tagline 'HSBC helps you unlock the world's potential'. The consumer brands will be Private Bank, Premier, Advance and an as-yet unnamed fourth which will emphasise 'relationship rather than transaction-based banking'. HSBC Business will target SMEs, while HSBC Corporate will target larger companies.

Check out the new MAN site - http://him.uk.msn.com/

Click here

Microsoft Advertising carried out the research into the online behaviours of the ’pre-family man’ ahead of the launch of the website and found 80% would feel lost without the internet.

It also found the internet is the technology that most men (57%) feel attached to, followed by mobile phones (49%) and TV (46%). The most valued online tool was email (52%), followed by search (25%) and social networks (12%).

A quarter of men said they checked their email and 18% looked at their social networks on their phone before they got out of bed in the morning.

Warner Bros has signed up as the first brand to advertise on MSN Him and will advertise male-targeted movies and DVDs across the site for the next three months, starting with the John Travolta action film From Paris With Love.

Chris Maples, commercial director at Microsoft Advertising, said, “MSN Him is a great example of the innovative and creative branding solutions we develop in collaboration with our long-standing customers like Warner Bros. To date, pre-family men have remained one of the hardest audiences for brands to engage with.”
- People like this give marketing a bad name for using "Marketing puff".
Click here

I would like to say I will also not be paying myself a bonus this year, aren't I good!!!!

Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive, Stephen Hester, has agreed to waive a bonus payout of up to £1.6m, in a move reportedly designed to influence a favourable decision from UKFI to sign off on bonuses to the bank's investment banking staff. According to reports, the bank will pay its investment bankers around 28% of revenues in bonuses if UKFI signs off on the proposals this week. The move places further pressure on Lloyds TSB chief executive, Eric Daniels, to follow suit.

Fleece your customers when times are hard !

Credit card companies have responded to calls by Ros Altmann, a former government adviser, for an investigation into their profit margins. Credit card customers are now paying the highest interest rates for 12 years, even though base rates are at an all-time low. Card providers say rates are high because of the number of people failing to pay their bills during the recession.

Oh so true, Banks, you are not part of the information circuit for entrepreneurs

Delta Economics has reported that accountants and family members are considered better sources of advice and support to entrepreneurs than banks or Business Link. The survey found that professional advisers were the most widely used, both during the start-up stage and later in the company's development. However, the percentage using banks for advice fell as businesses matured.

Paypal - is it more than a payment system?

PayPal has begun pitching for its advertising account and is in the process of meeting with agencies. The successful agency will be briefed to take on all of the advertising for the company, highlighting the breadth of its service and shifting consumer perceptions of the brand as a default payment system.

Mobile Banking - Big big opportunity in UK

ABI Research has reported that the number of consumers worldwide using mobile banking services is doubling every year, and predicted it will reach 250m subscribers by 2015. According to the company, Asia accounted for the majority of the 30m subscribers in 2009, with growth in Europe and North America limited due to financial institutions offering m-banking primarily to existing users of their online services.

Santander hands online banking ad account to Grey

Santander has awarded the £20m pan-European advertising duties for OpenBank, its unified online banking service, to Grey EMEA.
The online bank of Banco Santander, already operates in Spain, but is looking to expand into the UK, following the rebranding of Abbey and Bradford & Bingley branches earlier this year.

The agency won the business after a pitch against the Publicis network. Grey London will lead the integrated account, which includes advertising, digital and design, while G2 in Spain will manage direct marketing.

Grey says it is currently planning a launch campaign to promote the service, which is set to break in the UK later this year. It is not yet clear if Santander will wait for Alliance & Leicester to take on the Santander name, before it launches.

The pitch process was handled by Santander's new Global Direct Banking division, which has been set up to oversee the unification of its different online banks. WCRS still handles duties for the main Santander brand, and Carat is responsible for media planning and buying.

Example of the kind of data files available in the US

Colon Cleansing Trials Just Pay S&H
New list — Colon Cleansing Trials Just Pay S&H — Dart Data — This file contains consumers who accepted a 14-day trial of a colon-cleansing product they found online. The file is 65% female; average income is $40,000.

Brand growth for Santander

Banks were the most improved sector in this year’s Brand Finance Global 500 list, despite being shrouded in controversy over the past financial year.

The annual list, which studies the value of a brand against its financial performance, shows that banks have made conscious efforts to improve the credentials of their brands following the doom and gloom of the global recession.

HSBC is the leading bank in eighth place, increasing its brand value by 15% to $28bn (£18bn), while Santander’s increased 20% to $25.5bn (£16.3bn) in 12th place.

Keith Moor, Santander’s UK brand director, says the recession cut “arrogant banks” down to size, and Santander was focusing on “developing propositions to build relationships with customers”.

Something to look at....

http://compareforgood.com/

Interesting approach to comparison websites.

Tesco, just another bank - big YAWN...

Tesco Bank has appointed HSBC's current head of marketing, Chris Pitt, as its director of marketing, starting at the end of the month. The bank is currently recruiting thousands of staff in Glasgow and Newcastle, to service its planned expansion within financial services

Visa promo, yes please

Visa has launched an above-the-line campaign based on its 'Running Man' TV ad to promote its sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. The six-week TV, cinema, radio, press, outdoor and digital push is being rolled out across 16 European markets. The card provider is also launching a competition to win tickets to the event and prepaid cards worth £500

4th Time Lucky-something is not quite right here!

Stroud & Swindon Building Society has appointed former Nationwide director, John Sutherland, as its new chief executive, following a three-month search. His appointment marks the society's fourth chief executive in seven months

Cashless society, would it work here- yes/no!

Consumentenbond, the Netherlands-based consumer association, has claimed that the country could be cash-free within five years, with all transactions made via card or mobile payments. According to local press reports, a number of supermarkets have already outlined plans to phase out the use of cash by 2014 in a bid to reduce the risk of robbery, while mobile operator, Telfort, is to stop accepting cash payments from April 2010.

Simple Banking for the customer

BankSimple, a start-up created by a group of 'technologists, former banking consultants and user experience people' is planning to launch in the US in the first half of 2010. According to its website, customers will have a single account for checking, savings and credit, all from one card. It also claims to offer a 'better choice', and will not impose overdraft, transfer, minimum balance or monthly fees on customers.

Retail still lives

Cybersource research has found that 50% of Britons aged over 16 do not shop online, with the most widespread reasons being a preference for the 'hands-on' high street experience (expressed by 67% of participants), and fears over online security (41%). Overall, the proportion of those concerned about security has increased from 66% in 2008 to 71% today, while 59% of consumers are not comfortable with retailers storing their credit card details.

O2 or Oh dear !

O2 have written to me today telling me that they are going to save paper by putting my bills online, what a complete load of rubbish. I want my bills sending to me on paper as it saves me having to print them off which I need to do as part of my expenses tracking for my accountant. It's quite obvious O2 are about saving themselves money.
Maybe they will give me a refund or knock some money off my bill or even better contribute some of their savings to a green cause.I'd be very surprised if they did and they must think we're aload of flipping morans , well Mr Jonathan Earle , Head of Pay Monthly you don't know your customers very well.

Why ?

Nectar has reported that it added over 1m card holders in 2009, taking its total to 16.8m. The growth means Nectar has now overtaken the Tesco Clubcard, which has just over 16m holders, to become the UK's most popular loyalty card.

Customer Feedback

Barclays has overhauled its website with a new look to bring it in line with its online banking site, which was relaunched in July 2009. Acting on customer feedback, barclays.co.uk now features clearer screens, simpler navigation and new content, including an expanded help section.

If you're a customers of Barclays and think it's clearer let me know.

Control your man

Thought you might like to have ago at this great piece of media for chucking young men around the room whilst hurling their clothes off them.

Click here

Health Warning This is not to be copied at home as you may injure yourself and others , unless you want to !!

Older drivers , watch out !

AXA is to roll out a £10m marketing campaign to support the launch of its first direct motor insurance product. The product will target older drivers with the offer of a 90% no-claims bonus

Jobs galore....

Have a look at this link , quite a few roles listed - http://jobs.marketingweek.co.uk/jobs/financial/

Not seen this before , I wonder why.....

Marks & Spencer Money has launched a 'car wash incentive' which gives customers who take out its motor insurance policy through Moneysupermarket.com a free car wash every month for 12 months. The incentive runs until 28 February 2010 and is redeemable at any ARC IMO location nationwide.

Make it unique to me , I'll begin to love it

Todays snippet is where I think banks can begin to differentiate themselves through self selection and design. It's something which has been around for some time but as you well know banks only like those customers who fit into their boxes........

Discover Financial Services has launched CardBuilder, an online tool that enables users to select terms, rewards preference and card design. The process of card configuration starts by selecting from among a number of options that describe clients' credit standing, and establishes from the outset how they plan to manage their balance