Revolutionizing Investor Relations: A Strategic Blueprint for Reinventing the Banking Experience
Akbank, one of Turkey's largest private banks, sought assistance from IBM iX™ to address a crucial business challenge: increasing income and profitability by offering customized value propositions to active and potential investors in the Turkish market. To achieve this objective, the research was focused on gaining insights into the behavior of both active and potential investors. Specific objectives included enabling individuals with a certain amount of savings to use investment products effectively, encouraging existing customers to take more proactive actions regarding their investments, and attracting non-Akbank customers to start using Akbank's investment services.
FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR / TURKEY
Insights
People are financial beings
Our comprehensive research unambiguously indicated that contemporary investors exhibit unique needs and expectations. Concurrently, it illuminated the challenge banks face in attracting the broader market segment towards utilizing financial investment products, such as mutual funds, stocks, and bonds.
Understanding these distinct requirements is crucial for banks. They must comprehend the motivational factors driving their clients' investment decisions. Equally significant is the awareness of the risk profiles that these investors are willing to take on. These profiles vary widely, determined by the individual's life stage and financial situation. Considerations like financial awareness, available capital, and short or long-term expectations are critical in this risk assessment.
Addressing these intricate investor needs requires an integrated effort from the bank and all its subsidiaries. Banks can formulate robust value propositions by unifying these resources under a single brand. This coordinated approach reinforces the brand's strength and offers tailored financial solutions that appeal to the target audience. The aim should be to develop strategies that meet and exceed the clientele's expectations, encouraging greater usage of financial investment products across the market spectrum.
Idea
Investor archetypes
Based on our intensive research, we have identified a set of Behavioral Archetypes designed to elucidate the connections between our target audience's motivations and financial actions. These archetypes offer detailed insights into the dynamics of who makes which financial decisions, under what circumstances, and their underlying reasons – focusing primarily on the context of financial investments.
We've employed a strategic approach to craft actionable triggers for these archetypes. This involved a comprehensive combination of key motivational elements, ranging from pleasure, pain, hope, and fear to the psychological impacts of social acceptance or rejection.
We also considered various simplicity factors, such as the amount of time and money involved, and the physical effort required. These combined elements effectively guided Akbank in their efforts to instigate the desired behavioral shifts, thereby leading to their targeted business outcomes.
Moreover, we've highlighted existing and potential investors' specific needs and expectations at different stages of their investment journey. These stages include initial awareness, research phase, decision-making and transactional stages, and investment performance tracking. The insights derived from our findings have been pivotal in helping Akbank address potential weaknesses in their digital channels and foster innovative ideas to remain competitive.
This comprehensive approach will enable Akbank to keep pace with the competitive market and adopt and implement industry-leading best practices.
Impact
Increase in awareness and transactions
Having established a clear vision, we stand poised to manifest value by capitalizing on immediate victories and exploiting short-term opportunities. Our team has crafted innovative value propositions, such as novel financial products, bundles, and unique digital features. These not only add value to the customer experience but also serve as actionable triggers designed to directly amplify income and profitability.
In alignment with our strategic guidance, Akbank has embarked on a journey to refine the customer experience for investors. They have meticulously distributed our newly introduced initiatives, features, and financial products across the customer journey map. Their efforts have been concerted and methodical, prioritizing implementing the communication strategies we defined for each archetype.
This targeted approach is aimed at captivating potential customers and fostering awareness about Akbank's diverse array of financial products. By successfully accomplishing this, they can attract new customers and stimulate increased transactions. In turn, this would lead to a substantial boost in commission-based revenue.
However, the ultimate value creation is not just the immediate revenue increase. The transformative outcomes we've designed ensure a long-term value proposition for Akbank. They lay the groundwork for sustainable business growth by fostering customer loyalty and enhancing the bank's reputation as an institution that prioritizes its customers' unique needs and investment goals. In this way, the outcomes of our strategic vision extend beyond immediate financial gains to ensure enduring business success.