The FSA’s TCF initiative has required providers to focus on the clarity and fairness of their customer communications. But have the resulting improvements led to increased levels of consumer engagement? In the first part of his presentation Jeremy will argue that this has often not been the case – and based on the considerable amount of consumer research that Brandspeak conducts in this area he will go on to outline the reasons why. Jeremy will then share some of the findings of a new study conducted by Brandspeak and ICM, assessing what fairness means to financial consumers and the extent to which it is they feel different elements of the financial services community have become more or less fair over recent years.

Let’s be clear about what we mean by brand, 'it's what people say about you when you leave the room'. In today's increasingly connected world, you don't control your brand: it's defined by people's shared experiences. It's not just about being better, which creates an arms-race; it's about being branded. Brand development therefore shifts from top-down communications, which you could control, to bottom-up experience, which you can only influence. This presents a challenge. Not every company can have a Steve Jobs acting as creative director. How do you inspire your colleagues - managers in parallel parts of the organisation, as much as front-line staff - to deliver a coherent, branded experience to your customers? Taking market examples, David shows us what makes a loved brand and how that's successfully delivered through what companies do, as well as say.

Defining a distinctive customer experience to reflect customer priorities and your brand promise is a first step. What you can actually deliver, given the operational logistics of people, processes, technology and real estate adds layers of difficulty. What you can afford to offer, matching cost-to-serve with potential customer value, is what drives better business performance. Add to this the complexity of managing CRM across multiple channels dogged by legacy systems. Tools to build a single customer view that can drive enhanced marketing effectiveness are no longer science fiction.