Guest blog post by Juliet Carey, Head of Financial Services,
Weber Shandwick
Consumer lifestyle choices are changing. The advances of technology and
digital literacy in these uncertain economic times have dramatically altered
the ways in which consumers live their lives. A knock-on effect of this change
is a fundamental shift in what they demand and expect from financial products
and services.
We discussed these very issues at a recent roundtable event at the Institute of Directors
in London.
Financial journalists, IFA groups and representatives from leading
product providers discussed whether it was time to rip up the existing suite of
financial products and start again or whether a large dose of innovation is
needed to keep the industry afloat. We also commissioned a study with ICM that found that 50 per cent respondents
agreed that financial products currently available don’t fit into their
lifestyle or individual needs. Forty eight per cent simply did not understand the ‘jargon’ used
to promote financial products as they yearned for simplicity.
The truth is many consumers don’t feel able to think about long-term
money planning issues with 76 per cent of those surveyed believed that mortgages were
no longer affordable, with over 46 per cent seeing life insurance as an expensive
luxury. Given the current economic climate these findings are
understandable. However this rise of this short termism calls into question
whether focusing on products serving long term needs will engage this new
generation of consumers. This sets providers the challenge of how to excite modern consumers.
Many consumers feel overloaded by the torrent of gadgetry and technology they
are exposed to in day to day life and financial services companies are at risk
of falling victim to a potential backlash.
So what’s the solution? Well, it may lie in focusing on simple
products which serve clearly defined short term consumer needs such as saving
for a new baby or planning a holiday. Providers need to go back to basics and
ask themselves whether the products they offer serve an underlying purpose and
are relevant. If you want to understand what consumers really think about your
services, book yourself into one of our Weber Shandwick Financial consumer and
client workshops. In these sessions we work together with financial product
providers to map out products of the future and explore how brands need to
behave in the marketplace to stay relevant to their target customers.
After all, it’s the content of the conversation that’s necessary for
consumer engagement. Never forget this!
