Defining the optimal digital-only Business Banking proposition

The Challenge

There were two distinct markets:

1. Established businesses – to understand what might drive businesses to switch banks.
2. Start-ups and future start-ups – to understand what they did when they started their business or, at pre-start-up phase, to look at what they will do when they start their business.

Research was required to understand the differences in the needs between the two target audiences and what they are looking for from a business bank proposition.

Our approach

We conducted more than 1,000 online interviews among the different target segments.

We used an implicit conjoint approach which adds a layer of behavioural science and enables us to get to the system1 thinking and reactions. This revealed:

• What aspects of the proposition are most compelling – and therefore should be headlines in any communications.
• The impact of the fee – how much businesses are prepared to pay for various features.

The outcome

Our client was able to get a deeper understanding of the different target markets, and where there was the greatest potential.

The research showed that fees were a considerable driver however there were other drivers and selling points of the proposition.

Clearly communicating the key tangible benefits were compelling headline-grabbing messages.

Additionally, one of the key outputs of the research was an interactive tool where the client could put in various scenarios according to fee vs brand vs features to understand the optimum proposition driving choice.