Trust is a rare commodity when it comes to the FS industry. Overall, this sector isn’t great at self-promoting, and cynicism is a big challenge when banks stand up to speak or attempt to share their stories. Their message sometimes comes across as too rehearsed, and manipulative, which isn’t what they intended it to be ; it sounds like the public is after more authenticity.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Trust is a rare commodity when it comes to the FS industry. Overall, this sector isn’t great at self-promoting, and cynicism is a big challenge when banks stand up to speak or attempt to share their stories. Their message sometimes comes across as too rehearsed, and manipulative, which isn’t what they intended it to be ; it sounds like the public is after more authenticity.
Below are some of the key takeaways from our conversation on the topic.
1. Bold leadership is key
One of the challenges local teams / overall organisations often encounter is the difficulty of getting the leadership on board with the need to invest in changing perceptions ; it is often a low priority as the direct benefits often seem intangible or too long term to be one leader’s main agenda, and they know that trust and perception changes often require a deeper cultural transformation. Buy-in from the CEO is key to initiate any sizeable cultural change.
2. Not just a PR thing
The challenge for banks is to identify the best way to influence perceptions, as large investment in adverts and slogan doesn’t equate with good reputation automatically. It takes a lot more than words - actions are what will make a difference to the general public.
3. One size doesn't fit all
There isn’t one magic recipe that banks can summon to get out of a reputational rut. Each will have to reflect on what their tone of voice is, what their message is, and overall, what type of connection they want to establish with their customers.
4. Long-term over short-term
Changing trust level and perceptions isn’t a short-term thing and cannot be done by moving just lever.
5. Emotional connections
Trust is something quite fragile, hard to build and very easily damaged - it goes beyond the rational mind and appeals to the emotional part of each individual, and takes a lot of effort to build up again.
6. Context matters
Overall, the mood of the nation has an impact and influences which messages resonate more than others.
7. Local versus national
Having a local impact is a great way to rebuild trust. Banks should consider how they want to invest in building trust and reflect on the difference of impact between the national and local scales.
Influencing locally requires banks to devolve decision-making power to local teams, and therefore cannot be just a PR exercise - it requires an overall look at how teams are empowered internally.
8. Brand is all
A bank’s brand is often seen as its largest asset - and therefore investing in protecting it against its erosion should always be a priority.
9. Customer’s king
Focusing on making customers feel safe and therefore reinforcing the trust they place in their banks is a good place to start - and building this safety can start with educating customers on how to make the most of them. Check out Barclays and their digital eagles for an example of this. Making customers feel safe should be something tangible though, not another empty marketing message.
10. Customers are king
There is a risk in over-communicating as a knee-jerk reaction to a decrease in trust - instead of bombarding their audiences with discording or conflicting messages, banks should focus their message on what they do best, what differentiates them from their competitors. This is the thing they can be fully genuine about, and on which they’ll want to make their voice loud and clear.
Expert:Andrew Wilde, Smithfield – a Daniel J Edelman Company
Facilitator: Lucile Knight, Clarasys
