The Forum Buzz: why Ross Geller was the man for TSB

Alex Sword

Editor

The Financial Services Forum

“Recognisable, trusted and humorous”: Why Ross Geller was the man for TSB

This week the FSF features interviews with TSB’s Emma Stacey and OakNorth’s Valentina Kristensen. Amongst other topics, Emma discusses why TSB enlisted David Schwimmer of Friends fame for its Life Made More campaign.

Oaknorth has been making a name for itself as one of the most innovative fintech firms out there, using a sophisticated algorithm to bring loans to an overlooked segment of SMEs. Valentina talks about what this means from a marketing perspective.

For readers in the insurance space, this week’s opinion piece discusses new technologies which are helping insurers to centralise customer experience.

If you missed it last week, we also have a member-exclusive report on the key learnings from our recent Martech event and an interview with Starling Bank’s Head of Brand Rachel Kerrone.

 

Food for thought: FCA launches Consumer Duty Consultation

Friday saw the FCA launch a consultation for a new Consumer Duty, which will require firms to offer a higher standard of care to customers.

The proposed regulation effectively centres on consumer welfare being put at the centre of financial service provision. Firms will need to ensure they avoid causing foreseeable harm and help customers pursue their financial interests.

Andrew Strange, Financial Services Regulatory Insights Director at PwC, tells the FSF that the proposal is the latest step in the creation of a more joined up regulatory regime, where the full lifecycle of a product has to be considered.

The regulation is in the consultation stage, with Andrew highlighting that there are two proposed draft texts for the underlying regulatory principle, which have very different implications. One stipulates firms must act to “deliver good outcomes” while the other stipulates they should act “in the best interests” of clients. As Andrew says, a given product may be “good” for a certain customer but it may not be the “best” possible one.

For marketers, this takes further the provisions around targeting in MiFID, where firms need to define target markets for products, and applies the concept more widely to all products. Ensuring the best outcome means ensuring the right customer is targeted with communications about the most optimal product.

In a wider sense, Andrew adds that marketing is traditionally built around what people want rather than what they need. Now marketers will need to think about what consumers “need” and how they can educate them about products rather than just selling to them.

 

Alex Sword

Editor

The Financial Services Forum

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