The Times 100 Business Case Studies Edition 15

1. The Times 100 Business Case StudiesEdition 15 Discovering customer needs through research Barclays

2. Introduction • Barclays provides services for different markets • Personal customers • Business banking • The personal customer market has segments, e.g. • Families • Mature people • Students • Market research helps Barclays to identify what each segment needs and wants.

3. Purpose of market research • To ensure assumptions are correct • Barclays discovered students were an important segment • To understand what customers think of existing products • Barclays found its existing student account could be improved • To identify what new and existing customers want • Students gave their views directly • To help develop existing/create new products to meet the needs of target market • Insights helped to increase market share

4. Barclays research findings • Students wanted separate accounts to manage borrowing and spending • Often needed to own high-tech equipment, e.g laptops • They relied heavily on credit whilst at university • E.g. an overdraft • Incentives were expected • Would not alone persuade students to choose a particular banking product • An incentive based on mobile phone or broadband had most appeal

5. Implementation of new student proposition • Barclays set up working group • Insight from research established key features and benefits • Partnership with Orange to develop new incentive • Providing discounted mobile broadband • Marketing campaign • Word of mouth – www.100voices.co.uk • Literature in branches • Online promotion through www.barclays.co.uk • Direct mail to prospective students during summer

6. Evaluation of research • Examination of internal data proved students were a valuable market • Secondary research showed the size of the potential student market • Primary research identified what students wanted from an account • The new proposition increased the overall number of student accounts by 34% (target 25%) • Barclays moved from 3rd to 2nd in terms of market share

7. Primary – finding new information for a specific purpose Qualitative – opinions, feelings - taken from e.g. interviews, opinion panel or focus group Quantitative – numerical data – from e.g questionnaire May be expensive/time consuming to carry out Secondary – focuses on existing information from published sources Research reports, competitor literature or government publications, e.g. national statistics May be quicker/less expensive but results less specific to company or question Types of market research