The Times 100 Business Case Studies

Edition 15
Discovering customer needs through research

Barclays

Introduction

Barclays provides services for different markets

Personal customers Business banking Families Mature people Students

The personal customer market has segments, e.g.

Market research helps Barclays to identify what each segment needs and wants.

Purpose of market research

To ensure assumptions are correct

Barclays discovered students were an important segment

To understand what customers think of existing products

Barclays found its existing student account could be improved Students gave their views directly

To identify what new and existing customers want

To help develop existing/create new products to meet the needs of target market

Insights helped to increase market share

Barclays research findings

Students wanted separate accounts to manage borrowing and spending

Often needed to own high-tech equipment, e.g laptops

They relied heavily on credit whilst at university

E.g. an overdraft
Would not alone persuade students to choose a particular banking product An incentive based on mobile phone or broadband had most appeal

Incentives were expected

Implementation of new student proposition

Barclays set up working group

Insight from research established key features and benefits

Partnership with Orange to develop new incentive

Providing discounted mobile broadband

Word of mouth www.100voices.co.uk Literature in branches Online promotion through www.barclays.co.uk Direct mail to prospective students during summer

Marketing campaign

Evaluation of research

Examination of internal data proved students were a valuable market Secondary research showed the size of the potential student market Primary research identified what students wanted from an account The new proposition increased the overall number of student accounts by 34% (target 25%) Barclays moved from 3rd to 2nd in terms of market share

Types of market research

Primary finding new information for a specific purpose

Secondary focuses on existing information from published sources

Qualitative opinions, feelings - taken from e.g. interviews, opinion panel or focus group Quantitative numerical data from e.g questionnaire May be expensive/time consuming to carry out

Research reports, competitor literature or government publications, e.g. national statistics May be quicker/less expensive but results less specific to company or question