Moneycorp

Moneycorp is an international company offering foreign exchange and global payment services to individual and corporate customers.

Operating in a number of countries, Moneycorp provide bulk foreign notes and travel money services (bureau de change) via a number of travel companies and airlines.

The Challenge

Moneycorp had ambitious plans to grow its business. Competitive pressures were increasing with alternative channels such as online bureaus and ATMs gaining presence.

They needed an edge; a new angle – and so turned to us to help explore what really drives customer choice. The task, to discover a different way of viewing the market and guide a series of bold, precisely targeted marketing communications.

Our approach

We began with the premise that price will be a key behavioural driver for considering Moneycorp. ‘Rational’ and ’emotional’ factors such as convenience and brand associations will also play a part.

To explore the hypothesis, Savanta conducted several focus groups, interviewed 800 business and leisure travellers, and applied a variety of statistical analyses.

The research confirmed that price is, indeed, a key factor in buying behaviour, but doesn’t matter equally to everyone.

We also uncovered a hidden truth, that suppliers themselves are being segmented by buyer stereotypes – the perception of an airport bureau de change being expensive, is one example. Whilst the price itself may be attractive, if the bureau’s stereotype is at odds with this then it is likely to be met with cynicism.

The outcome

The true goal of this project was to make the segments ‘tangible’, bringing them to life and making them easy to embed in Moneycorp’s decision structure.

Each segment was given a memorable name. A pen portrait of the typical member of each segment was created. And a video was made which starred members of each segment overlaid with key facts about them.

We then used statistical analyses to isolate a small number of ‘magic questions’, the answers to which could place any individual into the right segment. This can be used to profile databases, channel leads or tailor conversations.

Off the back of this, Moneycorp has developed a finely targeted marketing campaign throughout the terminals of its partners, built around the understanding of customer thought processes when they are heading through the airport.

Between the focus groups and the quantitative research Savanta didn’t simply provide us with the data and the numbers; they offered genuine strategic thought behind the data in terms of how we could take those results and act on them. 

Head of Marketing, Moneycorp