Accelerating journey towards digital banking with a 'Bank within a Bank' model

Businesses across various and diverse industries have seen rapid disruption in the past few years. One of the major drivers for this disruption is the consumer and how they are coming to expect a Frictionless approach. Some have called it the Uber effect. No cash is needed, it is on demand and simple to use. That experience is what customers are now expecting when interacting in the Ecommerce world.  Many traditional corporates are playing catch-up and some like Sears, JC Penny's, American Eagle, Sports Authority and Barnes & Noble cannot pivot fast enough, leaving them in a position of reporting negative growth or closing all together. Players like Amazon are disrupting their business models by leveraging the latest in technology and rolling out customer centric digital offerings. These offerings appealed to the digitally savvy customers and those companies have grown rapidly over the past few years. 

The world of banking has seen its own share of disruption. The current business models, organizations structure, culture, processes and technology platform at conventional banks were not designed for this digital era and hyper connected environment. However, many progressive banks have started getting their act right for the new banking ecosystem and digital transformation is now a priority for most banks. Our recent research found that 78% banks want to create a customer centric organization as a priority for digital transformation. Progressive banks have realized that a truly digital strategy is not just adding new channels or enhancing the same old banking business models with digital technology. They understand that they need to rethink their entire business, their organization, indeed their very identity, to align with digital age realities.

Some banks are approaching the digital transformation journey by forming or acquiring digital oriented subsidiaries, a bank within a bank model. According to our recent research, approximately 60% of banks are launching or considering launching a digital only bank as a strategy for dealing with digital transformation. Banks have the right reasons for opting this route as well - over 80% of these banks said that the digital only banks allows them to offer new products & services quickly & leverage modern technologies to design processes that will give them the required agility. This helps them to expand into new customer segments as well.

One such promising example is Marcus, a brand of GS Bank, providing products to help people manage their finances. The first product from Marcus is a fixed-rate, no-fee unsecured personal loan that enables customers to tailor their monthly payment options to fit their schedule and budget. Marcus provides consumers with a transparent and simple approach to consolidate their high-interest credit card debt.

I am delighted that Marcus has deployed the Finacle solution to manage the complete consumer loan-servicing life cycle. Marcus is now able to deliver extensive self-service capabilities on digital channels to design truly personalized products. The system will give end-consumers the flexibility to choose lending terms such as repayment amount and tenure. I feel Marcus by Goldman Sachs is displaying exemplary vision in creating new business opportunities by leveraging modern technology.

Time is of the essence for banks to get their digital strategy and execution in place. It is important that banks also take the lead in identifying emerging and unmet consumer needs and leverage technology to capitalize on the opportunities quickly. The approach should be to build on existing strengths of scale, reputation, brand, trust and customer relationship, and in parallel, experiment with new technologies, innovations and business models befitting the digital age. The bank in a bank model will help banks to relook at the business afresh, upend legacy practices, and generally help think like a startup clearly. 

Brand Managers vs. Product Managers: What’s the difference?

"For lots of companies, their central product is also, in a sense, their brand."

This can be confusing, because products and brands aren’t the same thing. And product managers and brand managers don’t do the same thing. So how are these positions different—and how do they work together?

Products vs. Brands

To understand these two roles, we first need to understand what it is they’re actually managing. As we’ve already explored, a product is a good or service offered to customers for benefits. It can be a tangible or virtual item (a good), or a package of activities (a service).

A brand, on the other hand, is a much more abstract concept. A brand is the “what” and “why” of an organization. It refers to how an organization is perceived—an inevitably abstract metric.  “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

PMs vs. BMs: Their responsibilities

So how do product managers and brand managers spend each day? Let’s take a look at where they funnel their energy.

Product managers focus on the design and features of a particular product. Their work can be highly logistical and (at least somewhat) technical, involving close horizontal collaboration with executives, developers, sales and marketing. They aim to improve, upgrade and maintain fluid functioning of their product, with a strong emphasis on how customers actually interact with it and how it fits into the market. They deliver the products that people use.

Brand managers focus on the maintenance and perception of a particular brand. Their work is often strategic, involving high-level curation of both their company’s image and the practical steps it will take to maintain that image. Brand managers often work at consumer product companies with mass-market output. They aim to enhance, maintain and inspire interest in their brand, with a strong emphasis on marketing and how their overall organization is viewed. They inspire feelings, reactions and loyalty.

Different value propositions

Another way to distinguish between product managers and brand managers is to understand their divergent value propositions.

“A value proposition is a business or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service.”

Product managers create value propositions that convey tangible rewards. They build products with the goal of offering measurable value: to make you more productive, to improve communication, to make beautiful roadmaps quickly.

Brand managers also create value propositions, but theirs are more intuitive. Brand managers spark perceived value—a sense that “buying in” to the brand will have a payoff. The nature of that payoff is more abstract. It could be something tangible (like actual, increased productivity) or it could simply be the feeling of increased productivity that the brand inspires.

Different pain points

Different jobs, different stressors. Because product managers are responsible not just for the development, but also the ongoing health and well-being of their product, they must constantly triage and address new requests, releases and bugs. Their job is far from finished once a product is launched. And while their product may operate on a long life-cycle, they must constantly and creatively come up with new versions and upgrades that will keep their product competitive.

Brand managers, on the other hand, typically work on shorter cycles. They are responsible for product line depth, width and extensions, and often experience more day-to-day urgency. Because it’s up to them to prevent brand obsolescence, they must constantly and creatively come up with new products that will keep the brand top-of-mind and top-of-market. Their function is much more than simply PR—they strategize how to keep the business (and the brand) current across every channel.

So how do they feed each other?

Guess what! Brand managers and product managers don’t operate in a vacuum. Their functions are interrelated.

The product manager supports—and sometimes helps create—the brand. Product managers are responsible for consistently building and maintaining products that serve as a tangible touch-point to that brand.  “Everything you say and do, and everything you don’t say and don’t do, communicates.” Products communicate, and product managers are responsible for making sure they communicate the right brand.

The brand manager, meanwhile, creates a mind-space for the product. Since brand managers are concerned about brand obsolescence—or rather, avoiding obsolescence—they need to drive the introduction of new products into the marketplace. While product managers might be responsible for the upkeep of one product, brand managers cultivate the soil in which new products can grow.

8 Step Process Perfects New Product Development

Every entrepreneur knows that productivity is one of the key ingredients for successful product development.

When teams collaborate in developing new innovations, having the following eight ingredients mixed into your team’s new product developmental repertoire will ensure that it’s overall marketability will happen relatively quick, and accurately – making everyone productive across the board.

Step 1: Generating

Utilizing basic internal and external SWOT analyses, as well as current marketing trends, one can distance themselves from the competition by generating ideologies which take affordability, ROI, and widespread distribution costs into account.

Lean, mean and scalable are the key points to keep in mind. During the NPD process, keep the system nimble and use flexible discretion over which activities are executed. You may want to develop multiple versions of your road map scaled to suit different types and risk levels of projects.

Step 2: Screening The Idea

Wichita, possessing more aviation industry than most other states, is seeing many new innovations stop with Step 2 – screening.  Do you go/no go? Set specific criteria for ideas that should be continued or dropped.

Because product development costs are being cut in areas like Wichita, “prescreening product ideas,” means taking your Top 3 competitors’ new innovations into account, how much market share they’re chomping up, what benefits end consumers could expect etc.  An interesting industry fact: Aviation industrialists will often compare growth with metals markets; therefore, when Boeing is idle, never assume that all airplanes are grounded, per se.

Step 3: Testing The Concept

As said, “Concept testing is done after idea screening.” And it is important to note, it is different from test marketing.

Aside from patent research, design due diligence, and other legalities involved with new product development; knowing where the marketing messages will work best is often the biggest part of testing the concept.  Does the consumer understand, need, or want the product or service?

Step 4: Business Analytics

During the New Product Development process, build a system of metrics to monitor progress. Include input metrics, such as average time in each stage, as well as output metrics that measure the value of launched products, percentage of new product sales and other figures that provide valuable feedback. It is important for an organization to be in agreement for these criteria and metrics.

Even if an idea doesn’t turn into product, keep it in the hopper because it can prove to be a valuable asset for future products and a basis for learning and growth.

Step 5: Beta / Marketability Tests

Arranging private tests groups, launching beta versions, and then forming test panels after the product or products have been tested will provide you with valuable information allowing last minute improvements and tweaks. Not to mention helping to generate a small amount of buzz. WordPress is becoming synonymous with beta testing, and it’s effective; Thousands of programmers contribute code, millions test it, and finally even more download the completed end-product.

Step 6: Technicalities + Product Development

Provided the technical aspects can be perfected without alterations to post-beta products, heading towards a smooth step 7 is imminent. “The production department will make plans to produce the product. The marketing department will make plans to distribute the product. The finance department will provide the finance for introducing the new product”.

As an example; In manufacturing, the process before sending technical specs to machinery involves printing MSDS sheets, a requirement for retaining an ISO 9001 certification (the organizational structure, procedures, processes and resources needed to implement quality management.)

In internet jargon, honing the technicalities after beta testing involves final database preparations, estimation of server resources, and planning automated logistics. Be sure to have your technicalities in line when moving forward.

Step 7: Commercialize

At this stage, your new product developments have gone main stream, consumers are purchasing your good or service, and technical support is consistently monitoring progress.  Keeping your distribution pipelines loaded with products is an integral part of this process too, as one prefers not to give physical (or perpetual) shelf space to competition. Refreshing advertisements during this stage will keep your product’s name firmly supplanted into the minds of those in the contemplation stages of purchase.

Step 8: Post Launch Review and Perfect Pricing

Review the NPD process efficiency and look for continues improvements. Most new products are introduced with introductory pricing, in which final prices are nailed down after consumers have ‘gotten in’.  In this final stage, you’ll gauge overall value relevant to COGS (cost of goods sold), making sure internal costs aren’t overshadowing new product profits. You continuously differentiate consumer needs as your products age, forecast profits and improve delivery process whether physical, or digital, products are being perpetuated.

Remember: The Process Is Loose

The entire new product development process is an ever evolving testing platform where errors will be made, designs will get trashed, and loss could be recorded. Having your entire team working in tight synchronicity will ensure the successful launch of goods or services, even if reinventing your own wheel. Productivity during product development can be achieved if, and only if, goals are clearly defined along the way and each process has contingencies clearly outlined on paper.

4 Mistakes You Make While Marketing, Launching, and Selling Your New Product

This is a time of year when many business owners are thinking about what’s next in their businesses. And for you, that might be your “Next Big Thing.” It’s a product, program, or service that you’re incredibly excited about. Something you think might represent your business for years to come. Something that might finally put you over the top of your revenue goal or revolutionize your business model.

A Next Big Thing could be exactly what your business needs to do all those things. Unfortunately, if you’re an idea person like me—and I reckon you probably are, it’s likely that you’ll get carried away with the idea itself and forget to engage some of the strategies that can help you realize the true potential of your idea.

After all, you’d like people to be hungry to buy your new idea, right?

Here are 4 mistakes you’re likely to make in the process of marketing, launching, and selling your new product—and how to avoid them:

1) You take it to market too slowly.

Yes, too slowly. The faster you can bring a product to market the better. My highest grossing, most respected and well-known products have gone from idea to sales in the shortest periods of time. And that’s no fluke.

When you take a product to market as quickly as possible, you get “proof of concept.” The proof, of course, is whether people are willing to buy it or not.

To get that proof, you need to ask yourself, “What’s the least amount of work I can do on this for people to be willing to buy it?”

 Challenge yourself to think small.

The answer to that question is the design of your Minimum Viable Product. Often for service or information businesses, the answer is nothing more than an offer, a sales page, or even just a conversation. For product businesses, it might be a photoshop mockup or a sketch.

If you don’t have at least some people willing to buy this kind of product, your Next Big Thing isn’t going to be that big the way you’ve conceived it. The great part of going to market fast is that you can make changes, adjust your idea—possibly several times—so that when it comes time to really investing your time, money, or energy into your idea, you know it’s going to work.

2) You don’t take into account who’s ready to buy.

Now, not everyone buys a Minimum Viable Product. Who does? Early Adopters. They’re often your business’s biggest fans and most loyal customers. They love trying out new stuff and are just tickled when they get to try out something before everyone else.

But what about when you move past of the MVP stage? Every stage of product iteration and marketing development should take into consideration the segment of the market you’re ready to reach—and who’s ready to be sold to.

For example, you might develop an internal launch of your new product that is designed specifically for customers who wouldn’t have been comfortable buying a prototype but are nonetheless excited about a new idea. They’re focused on what they’re trying to achieve, how they want to feel, and how they could be doing things better.

Later in the game, you might turn an active product into a more passive product or evergreen offering and put it on autopilot. The kind of customer who is going to buy that product wants to have everything figured out for them. They’re likely more focused on fixing a problem or alleviating some pain. Each of these stages deserves a fresh marketing message that appeals to that customer segment’s specific needs.

3) You focus on feel-good ideas instead of urgent needs.

Speaking of needs, let’s talk about that. I know you, you hate to be “salesy.” And you just love this idea that business “starts with why” because it feels good, feels safe, feels altruistic.

Here’s the thing, business starts with why but transactions don’t end with it.

Instead, the real reason people Buy Now is because they’re actually looking for something to buy. People love to buy! And when you tap into the natural reasons they’re already in the market with their wallets out, you’re much more likely to get the sale.

And the really beautiful part of that is that you still don’t have to be salesy. You just have to match your sales copy to the reasons people are looking to buy, whether that’s because they’re looking for a great necklace for date night, they’re frustrated by their website, or they’re finally ready to stop visiting the refrigerator every night at 8pm.

Don’t just get people excited, give them a reason to buy.

4) You don’t start marketing and selling soon enough.

Finally, the number one mistake I see with marketing, launching, and selling a new product is that business owners don’t start the marketing and sales process soon enough. Clients ask me all the time, “How early is too early to start marketing my new product?” The answer is never.

It is never too early.

It doesn’t have to be polished, it doesn’t have to be strategic. It does’t need to use the latest trend in online marketing.

First, marketing starts the minute you start product development. Because marketing is so much more than promotion, as soon as you start thinking about who your product is for, why they need it now, and how you’re going to best fill those needs with your product, you’ve started marketing.

Second, promotion can begin with a whisper. A small wave of a mention that you’re working on something for your people that does x, y, or z can lead to a tsunami at launch time.

Finally, I don’t let any of my clients start building a product if they haven’t figured out their sales message. If you don’t have confidence your product is going to sell, you’re not ready to realize your idea yet. Start there.

If you can avoid these 4 mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to creating and selling your next blockbuster product.

STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNIT – WHERE TO PLAY?

A strategic business unit, popularly known as SBU, is a fully-functional unit of a business that has its own vision and direction.

A strategic business unit or SBU operates as an independent entity, but it has to report directly to the headquarters of the organisation about the status of its operation. It operates independently and is focused on a target market and is big enough to have its own support functions such as HR, training departments etc.

Once a unit is given an SBU status, it can make its own decisions, investments, budgets etc. It will be quick to react when the product market takes a shift or changes start happening before the shift happens.

Strategic business units are absolutely essential for multi product organizations. These business units are basically known as profit centres. They are focused towards a set of products and are responsible for each and every decision / strategy to be taken for that particular set of products. 

Strategic business unit would be to take organizations like HUL, P&G or LG in focus. These organizations are characterized by multiple categories and multiple product lines. For example, HUL may have a line of products in the shampoo category, Similarly LG might have a line of products in the television category. Thus to track the investments against return, they may classify the category as a different SBU itself.

Each Business Unit must meet the following criteria:

1.     Have a unique business mission, independent from other SBUs.

2.     Have clearly definable set of competitors.

3.     Is able to carry out integrative planning relatively independently of other SBUs.

4.     Should have a Manager authorized and responsible for its operation.

BEST EXAMPLE FOR SBU WOULD BE TATA GROUP

                         

SBU's which form a major part of the Tata group include:

Tata steel

Tata motors Ltd.

Tata consultancy services

Tata Technologies

Tata tea

Tata power

Tata Communications

Tata Teleservices

Tata hotels

BRAND IMAGE – DARE TO BE DIFFERENT!!!

WHAT IS BRAND IMAGE AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR A PRODUCT TO HAVE A BRAND IMAGE OF ITS OWN?

Brand image starts from the consumers  which refers to consumer’s general perception and feeling about a brand. For marketers, whatever their companies’ marketing strategies are, the main purpose of their marketing activities is to influence consumers’ perception and attitude toward a brand and establish the brand image in consumers’ mind.

HOW ARE BRAND IMAGES FORMED IN THE MINDS OF THE CONSUMERS?

Brand image has not to be created, but is automatically formed. It  is the objective and mental feedback of the consumers when they purchase a product. 

Brand images can be strengthened using brand communications like advertising, packaging, word of mouth publicity, other promotional tools, etc.

Film stars like Priyanka Chopra, Ranbir Kapoor,Sports stars like Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni,are part of many advertisements. These personalities help to create and maintain valuable image for the brand that proves beneficial in the long run.

To sum up, “Brand image” is the customer’s net extract from the brand.

Today’s generation is quite impressionable and hence in order to enhance their personality, or to meet social standards, they prefer branded products that are creating a stir in the market.

TYPES OF BRAND IMAGES

Positive Brand Image:- 

It happens by understanding and delivering what customers wants and values, taking initiatives to ensure credibility and ensuring top notch customer service to keep the customers happy. Examples of positive brand images are Apple, Coco Cola, Google.

Negative Brand Image:-

On the contrary negative brand image happens because of poor customer service, bad advertising or publicity, lack of delivering value and customer’s money’s worth. Examples are Volkswagen, Nestle, US Airlines, etc.

The Best Advantage of building a strong brand image is that a promising brand image conveys the success of the product and gives results with increased sales and revenues.

But the major Disadvantage is that the brand and its products will always be identified with the image until further changes in the brand image are impelled and 

then sales and revenues will also be hampered.

To sum it up, a company’s brand image should be so good that the consumers fail to ignore it.