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Barclays “Buzz” keeps up momentum

Posted in General February 27th, 2007 by Stuart Aitken

In our latest analysis in conjunction with YouGov’s BrandIndex we assess public opinion in the light of huge profits in the banking sector.

Barclays has come under intense media scrutiny in the past week after unveiling record profits of £7.1 billion and then facing criticism from consumer watchdog Which? for levying unfair charges on customers.

The consumer perception, as opposed to the reality, is that high street banks are making their huge profits by “ripping off” customers with exorbitant overdraft charges and interest fees.

Banks are actually making the bulk of their profits from corporate clients but that has not stopped consumer activism going into overdrive with blogs and websites decrying the bank charges. Has all this activity affected Barclays’ “Buzz” rating as measured by YouGov’s Brand Index? Apparently not, according to latest figures.

 

BrandIndex measures whether people have heard positive or negative things about the brand and last week actually saw Barclays regaining ground. Its Buzz rose from -2.8 on 9 February to -0.8 when financial results were posted last Tuesday (20 February). By last Friday the Buzz rating was at -0.6.

On the other hand the “Value” rating, based on whether the brand represents good value in terms of the service customers receive, has dipped. On results day it was -5.6 and by Friday was -7.4. Its lowest point was -11.8 on 5 January.

The positive Buzz could be down to very happy shareholders. The Buzz has been fairly consistent over the year, hitting  -3.4 in mid-August with a blip of -4 on 1 January this year.

It’s also possible the marketing charm offensive over the past year devised by brand and UK banking marketing director Jim Hytner has paid off. Hytner introduced the idea of making the high street operations more approachable and informal with initiatives such as ditching branded biros and calling the ATM the “Hole in the Wall.” There has been a consistent advertising campaign, created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

The overarching strapline for campaigns, unveiled in October 2005, is “Barclays, now there’s a thought.” That replaced the long-running “Fluent in finance” positioning.

Other banks are now posting their financial results and the sector as a whole is coming under fire from consumer advice columnists and other quarters. The issue of banks considering charging certain customers for a current account service is now surfacing. Barclays’ future Buzz is likely to be determined by the stance it takes on this hot potato.

About YouGov

YouGov is a full service agency, pioneering the use of the internet for market research and public consultation.

Using proprietary consumer and specialist audience panels, YouGov operates in the UK, North America and the Middle East. One of the most quoted research agencies in the UK, it has an established track record of consistently accurate and high quality survey data, expertise in constructing nationally representative samples online and developing consultation and deliberative research techniques. The launch of BrandIndex in 2005, which monitors the brand health of over 1,100 brands continuously, underlined YouGov’s reputation for innovation and the service now counts some of the UK’s largest brands amongst its subscribers.

BrandIndex is a daily measure of public perception across 32 sectors, with brands measured on a 7-point profile and data delivered next-day. For BrandIndex, YouGov interviews 2,000 people each weekday, more than half a million interviews per year. Respondents are drawn from YouGov’s proprietary online panel of more than 130,000 UK respondents. For full methodology please see www.brandindex.com