February 22, 2007

Financial Services Brand Perceptions

A Look At How Consumers Describe Their Banks And Investment Firms

This is the first document in the "Financial Services Brand Study" series.

by Bruce D. Temkin

with Eric M. Dolan, Steven Geller, Peter Hult

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

We examined how consumers describe their primary bank and investment firm across five areas: originality, trustworthiness, supportiveness, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness. Overall, we found that banks are most often described as "convenient" and "accessible," while investment firms are considered "reliable" and "secure." We also looked at the differences across generations of consumers, as well across individual financial institutions. Some of our findings: Seniors have the most positive impression of their providers; Gen Yers have different views across genders; Bank of America is the bank that's most often described as "leading-edge"; SunTrust is the bank most often described as "convenient"; A.G. Edwards is the investment firm most often described as "honest"; and Charles Schwab is the investment firm most often described as "accessible." Firms should incorporate this insight into their marketing plans by elevating their strengths, acknowledging their weaknesses, and developing different approaches to reach specific generations and genders of consumers.

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