RBS

Help make RBS the destination for savings

Challenge

Following the banking crisis in 2008, RBS needed to increase its capital reserves.

RBS knew that its existing customers held £50BN+ in savings with other providers and the commercial strategy was to secure £7.5BN of this.

Our clients distilled that brief into a simple challenge: “Help make us the destination for savings.”

Clear’s job was to turn the commercial strategy into a winning customer proposition.

Clarity

We rigorously analysed the bank’s existing customer segments to get a clear focus on where the money was.

This highlighted the first key issue – the existing brand strategy was targeting the wrong segment.

Having identified the two most profitable segments, we used in-depth qualitative research to uncover the triggers and barriers to increasing their savings pots with RBS.

Transforming customers’ lives through the power of saving

Solution

The real breakthrough came from understanding what saving meant to these customers, which highlighted 4 simple but significant tensions with saving.

These tensions provided a real opportunity for RBS to change the status quo and led us to the new ambition “To help transform customers’ lives through the power of saving.”

We then used the brand strategy to help build a pipeline of new product ideas including a coaching tool, a flexible bond and a children’s savings product which then launched in the market.

Impact

Our work led to a 12% increase in savings balances held by our two key target segments with RBS within 3 years.

RBS grew market share in the UK Savings market from less than 8% to nearly 10% in the same period.