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Susan Menke
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Daniel Hayes 
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Allison Lehmann 
Chris Zagorski Investment
Q&A about 2010 Financial Services Trends
I spent the weekend crafting answers to the many great questions people sent during and after our “2010 Financial Services Trends” webinar. If you’d still like to check out the presentation slides or watch the webinar recording, click here.
Also, please don’t hesitate to use the comments field below to post more questions or to add to my answers. I’m very eager to hear what you think about our predictions and to get a dialogue started about major financial services trends for this year.
Without further ado… the answers.
Q1: Why do you equate saving with simplification?
This is a continuation of discussion we had in webinars last summer about how consumers are simplifying their lives. The basic premise is that saving money = buying less stuff = simpler lifestyle. Consumers generally save more during recessions, but in this case, it is part of a more general and longer-term trend that encompasses simplification.
Q2: Please expand on how social marketing provides “highly measurable ROI?”
Social and digital media tracking can provide a tremendous amount of behavioral data that can be used to determine ROI (return on investment). In terms of measurability, social marketing compares favorably to other marketing channels, such as TV or direct mail. For example, online data like click trails can show how well the social media strategy is driving visitors to the company website.
Q3: What was presented as a reasonable alternative to traditional banking during your research?
We often use examples in our survey questions, but in this case we didn’t. We simply wanted to measure the degree of consumer dissatisfaction with banks, not the degree of attraction to specific banking alternatives. However, some alternatives we could have mentioned would be accounts at brokerage or mutual fund firms, or perhaps prepaid cards with online bill pay services.
In a survey Mintel conducted in September of 2009, 5% of respondents said they “would leave my current bank if Walmart offered all the same financial services that my bank does”. In this case, Walmart could be considered a bank alternative.
Q4: Can you further explain Blippy? We do not understand the way it works.
Check out their website at http://blippy.com/. The site is basically a social media site that posts financial transactions so that everyone can see what you are buying. You can either designate a primary credit card or you can share your information at Amazon.com or iTunes for instance. People are calling it the “Twitter of personal finance.” This indicates that the trend of all our behavior being shared online is continuing.
Q5: Isn’t P2P lending a legalized version of loan sharking?
It is if the fee structure is exorbitantly high. However, our data indicates that many consumers don’t pay as much attention to fees as one would think. And the convenience of P2P will probably be a draw for a certain portion of consumers.
Q6: You indicated that 29% of people tend to ignore FS companies on social networking sites. How does this compare to other industries?
That’s a very interesting question, and it will certainly be included in our next round of consumer surveys on the subject of social media. Stay tuned!
2010 Financial Services Trends – get the slides here
We had a successful webinar yesterday; thanks to all who attended! Sorry about the sound difficulties at the beginning of the webinar.
Those of you who tuned in submitted tons of great questions about our financial services trend forecasts for this coming year. I’m crafting answers today and this weekend, so I hope to have them up on the blog by Monday. Please of course, feel free to use the comments field here if you’d like to submit more questions about our predictions.
In the meantime, Mintel Comperemedia’s fabulous marketing team has created a link to the webinar recording. You can either listen to it again (or for the first time if you missed it yesterday!) or you can download the slides to peruse at your own leisure. Click here to do so.
Webinar on 2010 financial services trends
The time has come for a little self-promotion…
I know we’ve all been thinking (or is worrying a better word?) about what this year is going to look like in terms of consumer spending, saving, credit usage, lending, etc. Economists aren’t predicting anything dire for the economy, but they aren’t predicting anything great either. We’re still in a fragile state: consumers are spending, but not too much; job markets have loosened, but unemployment remains a major concern; banks are starting to pay down debt, but they still face many obstacles.
So what does it all mean? How will consumers react to the fading of the “Great Recession” and how can businesses capitalize? Which trends will have the biggest impact on the financial services consumer and how will his/her attitudes and behaviors change as a result?
These are exactly the questions I’m going to try to answer in my webinar next week: “2010 Financial Services Trends.” Please join me as we discuss next year’s biggest trends and what implications they’ll have on businesses and consumers alike.
The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, January 28th at 2pm CST. It will last an hour (including 15 minutes for questions) and it’s free. Click here to learn more and register.
CDs marketed as the stable, predictable investment choice
Consumers are wary of certain volatile, risky investments these days, especially in light of the recession. In response, many banks have begun promoting Certificates of Deposits (CDs) as safe and predictable. With interest rates held down to almost zero by the Federal Reserve Board and the equity markets viewed as too risky, CDs are being marketed as the smart choice.
In direct mail and email, we’ve seen three themes prominently marketed in relation to CDs: rates, stability and predictable returns. Citibank, for example, hit all three of these themes in an email offering a CD with an attractive APY. The email addressed the recipient as a savvy saver looking for predictable returns. Bank of America, likewise, is cross-selling a 12-month CD to checking account customers with a letter that contrasts the “fluctuating” stock market with its “reliable” CD.
In a comparable email campaign, ING promotes its CD with “a guaranteed return with no market risk” and the ability to “open online in 5 minutes.” Even State Farm has been sending direct mail that contrasts the challenging stock market with the security of a State Farm CD. That particular letter asks recipients to call a State Farm agent to “discuss your continuing plans for safely growing your savings.”
CD offers are talking about the stable and predictable returns that other investments do not have in the current economy. A large number of offers mention the economy directly. High rates are a strong competitive point for CDs and they’re where investors will find a difference between products. The latest campaigns we’ve seen offer rates above the national average, some significantly higher.