Challenge
When NatWest launched their new purpose-led strategy ‘Championing potential’, they wanted to build on this platform to establish a unique position in UK banking as a sustainable brand that supports enterprise, education and the fight against climate change. They took a holistic approach: seeking to understand their reputation across customers, consumers and key opinion formers. Onclusive supported NatWest in designing an industry-wide Reputation Tracker to track the outcomes of stakeholder engagement, progress towards objectives and performance against competitors.
Approach
The client wanted to set up an innovative Ask and Listen study to deliver 360⁰ reputation tracking. This aligned survey-led approaches, “Ask”; with human-led, qualitative analysis of publicly-available content “Listen”.
The model tracked the thoughts of public, customers and key opinion formers on the organisation’s character and competence. It allows the bank to benchmark against competitors and understand the traction of the new brand identity, reactions to the news agenda and the success of communications initiatives.
Insight
NatWest is tracking a series of dimensions across both the Ask and Listen components of this study, to find out what is driving trust towards the organisation. These dimensions include sustainability, customer experience, impact on society, business performance, people and culture. Through analysis of these findings, NatWest now understands where their strengths and weaknesses lie. They use these insights to plan communications activities which can move the dial on those dimensions and the bank’s reputation overall.
Impact
NatWest has placed insight at the heart of the communications team allowing them to support its purpose and objectives.
This has created a virtuous cycle whereby insight informs strategy. Strategy directs creative and the planning and activation of campaigns. Campaigns can, in turn, be measured and feed back into insights to begin the cycle again.