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Analysis of Management and Customer Perspectives on Various Branding Elements Used in the Indian Retail Banking Industry

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6 Discussion
In this study, analysis of management and customer perspectives on various branding elements used in the Indian retail banking industry was conducted. Based on responses in table 1-A and Table 2-A, gaps were identified in five out of seven brand elements namely Bank logo, Bank advertisements, Bank atmosphere, Bank general communication and Bank personal communication, as shown in Table 3. No gap was found for 2 branding parameters - Bank name and Bank appeal. The gap analysis method showed that while brand practitioners have positive perspectives regarding how their customers view the banks’ brand, it is strikingly different from what customers are thinking. So while bankers are very confident regarding projection of their …show more content…

It can be said that Indian banks are facing a critical situation in their relationship with customers as there are several points at which customer association and their perceived value of the ‘bank as a brand’ is low. The gaps indicate that even if the banks had taken customer’s opinions – they were not identified and inculcated properly in the branding strategy. They are also losing on various opportunities to differentiate and improve brand recall among its present and prospective customer segments. It may be argued that gaps will always be present between management and customers perceptions in any service delivery. However it is important to note the magnitude and direction of various factors individually, so that priority areas can be identified. Based on these priority areas the corporate branding strategy can be formulated or redesigned. In this particular study it is seen that perception gaps for Brand Logo, General communication and Bank Advertisements are particularly high. Hence Indian banks can take note of the impact of these brand elements and design their corporate branding strategy accordingly. On the other hand no gaps were seen for Bank name familiarity and Bank appeal and hence corporate campaigns need not put extra focus on these brand elements.
7 Recommendations and Managerial implications
A recent study by research agency Neilson IAG (2009) states that stock prices and customer confidence go hand in hand. Results showed

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