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Drivers of Brand Love in the financial services sector

Stephen Palmer EVP, Financial Services 07/12/2021

The past 18 months have been unprecedented in so many ways, and not least in terms of the uncertainty consumers have faced around their finances, and long term planning.

It is perhaps not surprising that ‘trustworthy’ has moved up the list and is the attribute that now drives the largest gap in terms of perceptions among those that love a financial services brand.

There has been significant emotional turmoil for many, and it has brought some shifts in attitudes towards financial planning and to how people think about financial service companies. Brands have been able to connect more emotionally, and at times demonstrate real empathy for what people have been going through.

Our latest BrandVue report reveals the UK’s most loved financial services brands, highlighting the risers and fallers compared to 2020, whilst also shining light on the notable success stories – download the report now.

Looking at BrandVue data over H1 2021, we still see that it is the ‘softer’ and more customer-centric image attributes that are the biggest drivers of Brand Love.

It is perhaps not surprising that ‘trustworthy’ has moved up the list and is the attribute that now drives the largest gap in terms of perceptions among those that love a brand.  Given that so much feels out of their control, people want financial service providers to be there for them, and to do what they say.

Consumers are also very receptive to reassuring messaging about finances and financial products. They want to be given the feeling of being in control and feel financially safe.  Our data shows how important it is that consumers feel that brands and services are ‘for people like them’ – that they can demonstrate that their understanding of what people are going through and can be trusted to support and deliver.

Being ‘friendly’, ‘on my side’ and ‘helpful’ are the next group of attributes that most strongly drive BrandLove. Again, these are all attributes that reflect an empathy and an understanding of the customer and their needs.

‘Caring’ is next on the list, followed by ‘gets me a good deal’, highlighting that brands that demonstrate they are there for the customer, are committed, and help them get a good deal, come across as supportive and committed.

The next share of attributes are slightly more functional and are really about how brands show that they are trustworthy.  Being ‘accurate’, ‘dependable’, and ‘approachable’, all retain importance, but these are  more of a means to an end in terms of driving high level attributes and Brand Love.

In 2021 all of the top six drivers of love are softer, more emotional, and personal attributes. The most loved brands are those that inspire love, connect emotionally with their customers, stay relevant and show that they can be trusted to offer some control back to customers.

Download the report here to see the full list of the Top 100 Most Loved Financial Services Brands and find out what it means for a customer to be ‘in love’ with your brand.

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