Challenger banks face emotional indifference

Research suggests that new banking brands, such as TSB, may struggle to engage with potential customers in the current climate.

Brand language analysts, Linguabrand, analysed the language of key markets and found that, when it comes to banks, traditional values, such as service and attention, were valued above innovative products.

As a whole, banking customers feel little emotional connection with bank brands. Alastair Herbert, Linguabrand’s managing director, says, “All the science says we make our decisions based on emotions and then post-rationalise. But banks continue to focus on function over emotion. Their language is bereft of sensory impact”.

Herbert explains why the current market is so difficult for challenger banks to crack, “Challenger banks have been born out of regulatory supply rather than consumer demand. Resurrecting names like TSB and Williams and Glyn recognises that brand heritage is important, but to have any chance of attracting new customers these brands must use modern methods to find and deliver traditional values. At the same time they need to make their own brand distinctive.”

Linguabrand use proprietary software based on psycho-linguistics. The software is applied to brands and consumer conversations in an effort to uncover underlying emotional motivators.

For more information about the obstacles facing challenger banks click here.