Barclays eyes greater brand consistency

Barclays is adopting a company-wide “Brand Centre” technology platform in an effort to ensure brand consistency, as it seeks to differentiate itself in a market increasingly influenced by comparison sites and the new rules that make bank account switching easier.

barclays-ad-2013-460
Barclays is adopting a company-wide “Brand Centre” technology platform in an effort to ensure brand consistency.

According to Matthew Gillard of Barclays’ brand and marketing department, implementation of the technology is part-way through, with a requirement first to understand how Barclays’ diverse business units need to use brand and marketing assets.

Speaking at an event hosted by Adgistics, the supplier of Barclays’ new technology, Gillard said: “We still don’t know yet what we need to do for them from a Brand Centre perspective.”

He added: “You need to map the business first, intelligently, and then see how the Brand Centre reaches out.”

The programme is part of a brand overhaul that has taken place in the wake of the Libor scandal, in which Barclays was fined for its role in rigging the inter-bank interest rate.

“Straight after that there was a need to reinforce the values that were created post-Libor to drive culture change within the business,” said Gillard.

This is even more important in light of new regulations that mean banks must complete current account transfers within a week when a consumer switches provider, he added. Comparison sites and other online switching services also pose greater threats to customer loyalty.

“We are becoming subject to ‘the algorithm’. There is now a lot of work being done to reposition ourselves,” Gillard said.

“It’s not a leap of the imagination to think that those algorithms are going to get more complex and deliver more value to the customer. You have to have a positioning that puts you there in the future.”

Recommended

barbour-2013-500

Is going native a marketer’s dream?

Lou Cooper

As the latest content marketing technique, ’native advertising’ is causing a buzz among brands. But there is confusion about what it is and how best to use it without falling foul of the regulations.