Women have been steadily increasing in importance and prominence in their role in society, with a commensurate increase in their wealth and assets. At the same time, numerous studies show that women are put off by much of their experience with the financial services sector. This is something the industry certainly recognises and is trying hard to address as more providers begin to appreciate that understanding what makes female customers tick is becoming a commercial imperative.
Our research has found that financial institutions in the UK alone have a £133 billion opportunity in re-thinking how they engage their female customers.
Get inside her head - Companies need to dig deeper and do more fundamental research. What can financial services brands do to help women at different moments of their financial lives? Engage with them as they take their first steps into the financial world. Making better emotional connections from the start will help create long-term, trusted relationships.
Step into her world - Women are not a homogenous group. Companies should appreciate the differences and changing nature of women’s lives and work at finding actionable insights about how to connect with female customers, including context and levels of confidence.
Above all, take her seriously - Condescending to any customer is not helpful. With women in particular it’s important to inform without patronising or communicating a sense of fear or obligation. Study brands which truly relate to women and influence behaviour - empower, don’t diminish.
As one of the world’s leading market research and consultancy businesses, Kantar has conducted a number of significant pieces of research around how brands can get gender right across a number of industries, areas and even countries. For all of our research please find links below:
Understanding the commercial case for re-thinking how Financial Services brands are engaging with their Female customers.
A build on Winning Over Women, exploring the opportunity specifically within the wealth and investments sector of Financial Services.
A report exploring the underlying importance of self-esteem, the five key pillars that support it and variations between gender.
Insights into the role of gender in brand strategy, creative response and media targeting and how brands get communication right, and wrong.
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