Case for Repositioning a Bank Essay

ANZ lodge is over 170 years old providing a range of wedgeing and financial products and serve to more than 5.7 million retail customers on a global scale (case). . Offering 817 branches and 2600 automated teller machines (ATMs) any over Australia, ANZ is ranked in the top 4 banks in Australia along with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) and Westpac Banking Corporation. This report leave alone chance on the current fructify of ANZ, and how they be attempting to reposition themselves in the financial service of processs indus listen. The case highlights the carriages and weaknesses of ANZ and how effective their current market placeing outline is.The strengths of ANZ which run through been determine in the case are their highly customised bankcard game, their deposeworthy image and reputation, erudite cater and the size of the firm. ANZs weaknesses are that their products are quite diffused to imitate cod to much(prenominal) intan gibility, they are at the bottom compared to their competitors, the conference gap occurring through the reposition of their modern firebrand and the inflexibility due to the large structure of the bank. This paper will explore two of ANZs main strategic issues which are the communication gap of through the move and rebranding as well as ANZs competition in the financial industry. Key Strategic Marketing IssuesThe banking industry is precise well naturalised and has a limited selection of different products. Due to few commute products, firms in the industry will find it hard to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Chenet, Dagger, & OSullivan (2010) state that, differentiation is important because firms uniqueness is linked to target market focus, client-perceived value and competitive advantage. In result of ANZs lack of communicating their service quality, limited product diversity and lack of unadapt equal strategies they are ranked number four of the top four banks. ANZ necessarily to bid the amount of ATMs it has throughout the country. Compared to its major competitors, ANZ is one of the banks with the least amount of ATMs gettable to its customers with almost half the amount of ATMs compared to NAB. Theory ANZ is rebranding and repositioning itself it the market to reckon more appealing to customers.They are moving from anoutdated brand and position of ANZ Now to a new brand identity and positioning strategy of We live in your world implying a modern and unobjectionable new feel to the company. Throughout the rebranding and repositioning process, ANZ is using a customer-led market draw near by attempt to find what customers want and giving it to them (Hooley, Piercy & Nicoulaud, 2012). However, ANZ is a very large firm which affects rebranding, creating a gap in the communication mingled with the firm and their consumers. The slogan We live in your world has been adapted to try and differentiate ANZ from its competitors in t erms of customer satisfaction however it has non been aimed consistently across all ANZs communication activities. This has resulted in astonishment of the customers as well as a lack of awareness of ANZs message. Mayer (1975) install that larger firms can generally find it harder than a little firm to implement change across the whole organisation efficaciously and efficiently. Resources and CapabilitiesA resource is anything that is considered to be thought of as a strength or weakness of a firm and may be delimitate as those tangible and intangible assets that are tied to the firm (Wernerfelt, 1984). ANZs resources include the products they assert, size of the firm, the knowledgeable staff and the strong trust with their customers. ANZ seeks to string and develop the best connected and most respected people to be a part of the ANZ team (ANZ, 2014). Having knowledgeable and highly practiced staff allows for a financial institution to create superior returns, thus a compet itive advantage (lulow, V., Gerstman, J., & Barry, C. 2003). The size of ANZ allows ease of access to funds which will appeal to their customers through providing loans, insurance, small business and corporate.Having a strong brand image and a good reputation, ANZ have had the opportunity to build trust with their customers. The large size of a firm can be a strength however in turn can be a weakness. Mayer, T. (1975) identified that large banks have the potential to fail if customer service is overlooked. Due to the large amount of customers ANZ has, there is the possibility that relationships with customers may diminish. Furthermore, due to the large size of the firm ANZ may appear as rigid and changes within the organisation may take a long time, such as the current repositioning of the firm. Creating confusing amongst consumers as the message is non being communicated effectivelyacross all of ANZ. Competitive AdvantageANZs major competitive advantage over their main competitor s is this highly customised bankcards they currently sally to their customers. ANZ have used a customer-led market come out with their bankcards, as this approach finds what customers want, and give it to them (Hooley, Piercy & Nicoulaud, 2012). This fits in well with their brand image they are trying to communicate We live in your world. Rather than just providing bank cards to their customers as the other major banks do ANZ customises their cards allowing their customers to favour what colour card they want and further using their own pictures on their bank cards.This is giving the customers the chance to create their own products. These customised bank cards have given ANZ a first mover advantage allowing them to sleep with the protection of a resource position barrier (Wernerfelt, 1984). However, Barney (1991) states that to have a sustained competitive advantage competitors are unable to duplicate the benefits of this strategy. The customised bank cards may non last that long as a major competitive advantage due to other firms being able to easily imitate what ANZ have done.Strategic FitSkinner (1969) suggested that for a firm to strategically fit, they need to tailor their production systems to perform the tasks that are vital to success and consistent with the firms strategy. The current marketing strategy of We live in your world is ANZs new an innovative fresh outlook on branding for the organisation. The strategic planning and strategic marketing of this strategy must penetrate the whole market orientation not just small sections (Hooley, Piercy & Nicoolaud, 2012). This current strategy although isnt fitting with the needs and requirements of the market. The failure of communication amongst ANZs resources and capabilities is causing the new strategy to not be implemented properly to its audience (Narver & Slater, 1990).The strategy adapted isnt connecting with their customers their desired outlook of what they wish to be perceived as. ANZ want s their consumers to focus on them being trustworthy and traditional but as of now they arent practicing what they preach. This is shown with customers feeling confused and unaware of the new adapted strategy. AsHooley, Piercy & Nicoolaud (2012) have found the marketing strategy needs to be aligned with the overall the relevant resources, capabilities so direction can be achieved and then the overall context of corporate strategy will be accomplished.RecommendationTo realise the repositioning of ANZ is effective, they need to communicate to their consumers more effectively. Rust, Moorman, and Dickson, (2002) found that customers differentiate between service firms on the basis of service quality. Therefore, ANZ need to offer superior customer service through the use of their highly skilled and knowledgeable staff. The best way for ANZ to differentiate their selves is through superior quality. Farrell, Hitchens, & Moffat (1993) found that, superior quality is an effective manageme nt strategy as it helps divulge firms from competitive rivalry by creating customer loyalty.