Bank Brand Tracking: A large regional financial institution came to MDRG with a request for traditional image and advertising research. In the course of discussing the applications of the research, it became clear that there was a need for a more comprehensive research study that would actually tie the advertising and the image to a more important measure-the brand. The research followed MDRG's proprietary brand equity model in measuring the various dimensions of brand equity including brand position (awareness of the brand and the advertising), image effectiveness (the extent to which the advertising claim is distinct and important), brand loyalty and brand value. In addition, the model provides a single measure of brand effectiveness.
Evaluating Bank Sales and Service As a first step in designing a mystery shopping program for a bank, qualitative research was conducted among customers to identify the employee behaviors most critical to sales. The research was used to design and implement a proprietary mystery shopping program that measured employee behaviors having the greatest impact on sales and relationship development for the bank. MDRG combined mystery shopping data with actual sales data to show clients the correlation between performance of specific service behaviors and sales.
Mortgage Company Retention Study: A mortgage company wanted to understand the extent to which loyalty to a mortgage company influenced a customer's decision to select a specific mortgage company. Research revealed that the customer first develops a list of mortgage companies from which they will make a final decision as to which company to use the "consideration-set." Once the "consideration-set" is established, the factors driving purchase shift to include more specific service and relationship issues-the "purchase-set." In the past, the mortgage company had focused its resources on the factors in the "purchase-set" and had ignored the unique "consideration-set" factors. The mortgage company was able to refine its marketing plan to include strategies focusing on the "consideration-set" factors.
Bank Customer Defection Study: MDRG conducted customer defection and retention research for a financial services institution to identify and understand the attitudes and motivations that drive the decision to terminate or diminish a relationship with a financial institution. MDRG conducted in-depth laddering interviews to explore the chain of events and attitudes that prefigure defection or diminishment to a competitor institution. This process was followed by quantitative survey to assess the magnitude of each of the defection and diminishment factors identified in the qualitative research. The client institution found the results and analysis invaluable in designing strategies to retain a group of extremely profitable customers.