Why are all financial services brands not great?

Abstract

Purpose To investigate the factors characterising financial services brands in the UK which are succeeding rather than thriving. Design/methodology/approach From a grounded theory perspective, depth interviews were conducted with 42 respondents within four UK financial services organisations. Findings Brands which had not achieved “greatness” tend to be rooted the past, place emphasis on financial performance rather than brand success indicators have inadequate leadership support for the brand, be poorly differentiated, exhibit a lack of understanding and confusion about branding issues, have service quality concerns, demonstrate HR activities which could be more fully “on brand”, and have a culture and values which are not clearly and consistently reinforcing the brand. Research limitations/implications The study was bound by the availability of respondents' time. The focus was to examine four organisations in considerable depth. Moving forward, it is intended that a quantitative study will be undertaken to better generalise and expand upon these findings within financial services. Practical implications A number of significant managerial implications are drawn from this work, which are of value to managers, consultants and academics. Originality/value While the extant literature is rich in suggestions about what might promote brand success, less attention has been paid to the opposite scenario. This paper seeks to bridge this knowledge gap by addressing the factors which may be linked to some financial services brands' relative lack of success.

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