Marketing Communications Strategies and Promotional Mix: Barclays Bank

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Barclays Bank's marketing communications strategies. It begins with an introduction to the various functional departments within an organization and emphasizes the importance of analyzing the activities of each department. The report then gives a background of Barclays Bank, highlighting its services and divisions. The core of the report focuses on the promotional mix, evaluating advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing, internet marketing, and sponsorship activities of Barclays. The report then transitions to an analysis of the AIDA model and communication processes, explaining how Barclays utilizes these models to effectively communicate with its target audience. Finally, the report evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies, providing insights into Barclays Bank's marketing performance. The report is well-structured, offering a deep dive into the marketing practices of a major financial institution, with relevant references.

Running head: MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Marketing Communications
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes:

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Table of Contents
Task One....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction............................................................................................................................2
Background of the Barclays Bank..........................................................................................2
Promotional mix.....................................................................................................................3
Advertising.........................................................................................................................3
Public Relations.................................................................................................................4
Sales promotion..................................................................................................................5
Personal selling..................................................................................................................6
Direct marketing.................................................................................................................6
Internet marketing..............................................................................................................7
Sponsorship........................................................................................................................7
Task two.....................................................................................................................................9
AIDA model...........................................................................................................................9
How Barclays uses the AIDA model...............................................................................10
Evaluation of effectiveness..............................................................................................11
The communication processes.............................................................................................11
How Barclays Uses the Communication processes.........................................................12
Evaluation of effectiveness..............................................................................................13
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................14

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Task One
Introduction
There are various functional departments within an organisation. Furthermore, the
nature of activities that a company is subject to as a whole is determined by the activity of
each functional department of the company. Hence, the nature of activities that are carried by
each functional department of a company is to be effectively analysed. The aim of the paper
is to critically evaluate the scope of operations of the marketing division of Barclays Bank
and justify the importance of the same in terms of organizational effectiveness and
operations.
Background of the Barclays Bank
Barclays banks has been recognized as a company that was founded in 1690 in the
United Kingdom. The company also has its headquarters in the United Kingdom
(Barclays.co.uk 2020). The company operates in the industry by offering financial and
banking services in the industry. The nature of services that are offered while the company
operates industry are services such as Retail Banking, commercial banking, wholesale
banking, private and investment banking, and wealth management services (Barclays.co.uk
2020). The company is further divided into various divisions. The divisions of the company
are divided in Barclays UK, Barclays investment bank, Barclays Corporate bank, Barclays
Private bank, Barclays payments and Barclays US consumer bank (Barclays.co.uk 2020). The
company is currently primarily listed in the London Stock Exchange. The company has been
able to comply with the changes in the modern business environment. The company has been
able to develop competencies with the help of which they can appeal to the modern age
customers. The company has been highlighted the effective nature. The change in the
economy and change in the practices in the modern marketing environment has resulted in

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changes in operations of companies. It has similarly affected the operations of Barclays bank
as a result of which the nature of activities carried out by the company in accordance with the
new business model are practiced. The company has been able to design a service with the
help of which the solutions to every problem or need of individuals are addressed by the
bank. Moreover, the company has been able to dedicate teams that have been developed to
boost the effectiveness in terms of the customer retention quotient of the company. The
following sections will critically evaluate the scope of operations of Barclays bank’s
promotional mix and activities that are carried out by the company with the help of which,
the scope of operations of the company in terms of attracting potential clients and
communicating the value proposition in the market that the company operates in.
Promotional mix
Advertising
Advertising refers to a method of paid promotion with the help of which the
companies aim to communicate the value proposition of a company or a campaign that is
currently being carried out by the company (Kapustina, Agababaev and Drevalev 2019).
Advertising is an activity that attracts the majority of the allocated promotional budget of a
company (García, Kamakura and Martínez 2019). Thus, it is with the help of advertising that
companies are able to gain favourable nature of outcomes that is increase in the potential of
generation of brand awareness, generation of turnover and goodwill generation (Kliestik et al.
2018). Hence, it can be said that it is an activity with the help of which the motives of
companies can be satiated and the company can ensure that they are able to maximize the
exposure of the company.
Advertising is an aspect that the company has not lagged behind in. The name
Barclays resonates with the English Premier League. Barclays bank is the main sponsor of

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the English Premier League as a result of which the league is also known as the Barclays
Premier League (Hassan 2018). The latter is a league that can be instantly recognized by
people globally and it is with the help of the said sponsorship the company has successfully
transformed to a brand that is effectively positioned in the global market. It has been found
that the target audience of the company is
located across different age groups. As a result
of the array of services that are present in the
service portfolio of the company, there is no
specific target market that the company
appeals to. However, there is a similarity in the
issues that have been identified by the nature of the target
market that has been identified. Regardless of the background of the nature of activities of the
company, the services provided by the Barclays Bank is applicable for the target consumers.
The company follows 360 marketing with the help of which the company has been able to
comply with all the prospective consumer groups. The advertisements offered by the
company is incorporated into digital and traditional marketing. The nature of advertising
strategies that the company has adopted has resulted in the high reach in the market and the
industry that the company has been operating in.
Public Relations
Public relations refer to the relations that a company has with the consumer
community. There are various activities that are to be carried out by companies in order to
develop relations that they have with the consumer community. Public relations are to be
maintained by companies with deliberate action from the part of the company. Sustainability
is an aspect that companies can capitalize on in order to ensure that they have a positive
image in the industry that they are operating in. It comes down to the image of a company

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that determines the exposure and goodwill that a company is subject to. There, are various
activities that are carried out by companies in order to develop and maintain an image in the
industry. Public relations help in sustaining the activities with the help of which the image of
the company can be bolstered. Gaining exposure is the gateway to achievement of sustainable
nature of outcomes in markets that are deemed to be highly competitive in nature. Thus, it
can be said that companies should aim to develop competencies with the help of which the
nature of activities and the value proposition of the company can be communicated to the
diverse stakeholders associated to the company. The company has also focused on the
development of the competency of the company in terms of management of the customer
relationship. Thus, CSR activities are carried out by the company targets the consumer
community with the help of which the company is likely to sustain itself in the market with
the help of development of favourable relations with the diverse stakeholders associated to
the company.
Sales promotion
Sales promotion refers to the incentivising of sales (Haw et al. 2020). Thus, sales
promotion refers to the activities with the help of which a consent ensures that the cater to the
need of generation of turnover in the company. Hence, it can be said that sales promotion are
the additional activities that companies need to carry out that helps bolster the activities with
the help of which they can help generate awareness through promotions that help in
informing the consumers about the company. Barclays Bank is a reputed organization that is
not only known all over the United Kingdom but throughout the globe (Zharova and Lloyd
2018). The goodwill of the comment alone drives numerous customers towards the company.
The nature of outcome that the company is able to develop in terms of the sale’s promotional
activities on which the company is not totally reliant due to its good reputation. However, the
sales promotional activities carried out by the company help in generating additional interest

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from the potential consumers. The sales promotional activities that are carried out in by the
company, involves promotion with the help of traditional media and social media. The
company generates favourable nature if outcomes with the help of offers, high interest rates,
attractive offers for deposits, thus, there are issues that helps in gaining effectiveness in
generations of
offices with the help
of which the sales
promotional
activities will
deemed to be
successful. The
sales related activities are targeted at the development of the company in terms of revenue
generation. Revenue generation is also an important aspect that has to be incorporated into
the operations of companies on order to achieve corporate governance.
Personal selling
Personal selling refers to pushing sales of an item on an individual basis (Ancillai et
al. 2019). The outcomes that companies are subject to sure not really affected by the personal
selling that is carried out by the companies. Personal selling helps in improving the chances
of conversion on an individual level (Lam et al. 2017). This helps in conversation of
prospective consumers to actual consumers. This is ensured with the help of home visits, or
pushing at the counter or by pushing sales at the bank or even by reception pushing sales.
Insurance and advisory services are personally sold by the Barclays Bank.
Direct marketing
Direct marketing is carried out by companies to constantly keep in touch with the
consumers. Direct marketing is a marketing tool that is best applicable on existing customers

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of a particular company (Pepe and Bournique 2017). Direct marketing refers to activities with
the help of which a particular company engages with the consumer community (Pepe and
Bournique 2017). This is carried out by the companies with the help of activities such as
providing newsletter services to the consumers, removing the consumers about the new offers
and programs that are being arranged by the company. Barclays Bank communicates their
below proposition with the help of direct marketing in the mailbox of the subscribers of the
company's services.
Internet marketing
Internet marketing to refers promotion of the value proposition of the company with
the help of which companies help in sustaining the activities of a company with the help of
digital media (Aswathy and Nair 2020). Hence, the nature of activities of a company can be
promoted with the help of social media platforms that helps in increasing awareness by
chapter on the massive scope of operations of the company. Barclays has numerous social
media pages that helps in capitalizing on the activities that are carried out by the company in
order to maximize the exposure of the company. There are digital media pages on websites
such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and so on. This helps amplify the likelihood
of engagement to the consumer community. Social media presence had become a necessity in
the current day and age. Thus, it is with the help of the same that the company companies
with the activities that have been carried out in the industry that they operate in.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship are partnerships that a company might develop with another company.
The companies can be in a mutual relationship with the help of which they have certain
benefits of being associated with each other (Jensen and Cornwell 2017). Thus, it is an aspect
that is practiced by the company. The company sponsors the English premier league as
mentioned before and the latter had been identified as the most effective form of sponsorship

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that the Barclays Bank carries out. It helps in promoting of the name of the company with the
help of the popularity of the football league.

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Task two
AIDA model
The AIDA model is a model with the help of which marketers generate knowledge
and awareness in the market with the help of which consumers go through the decision of
making certain purchases (Fortenberry and McGoldrick 2019). AIDA stands for Attention
Interest Desire and Action. It is with the help of this model that marketers and sales personnel
are able to satiate the needs of their functional department.
The role of the AIDA model is huge in terms of businesses and three applications of the same
determines the sustainability of companies in both the short and the long run. There are
various steps associated to realisation of the AIDA model. The steps in the process of AIDA
has been stated below (Gever and Olijo 2017);

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Attention: Through the marketing activities or the sales promotional offers the companies
attract the attention of the prospective consumer. It is only after the generation of interest that
a company can be subject to the latter stages in the AIDA model.
Interest: After a customer or a group of customers have the attention of a company in terms
of the product that they pitch, it is up to the marketers and sales personal to generated
interests within the consumers by communication regarding the value proposition of the
product or service that is being pitched by the company.
Desire: After a consumer is directly interested in some product or services offered by done
companies, it is the desire to purchase the product that will finally lead to the purchase
decision. Thus, the aim of the latter to ensure that the pending activities are leading up to the
generation of desire that ultimately leads to the purchase decision from the end of the
consumer.
Action: The stages of attention, interest and desire are carried out to ensure the purchase
decision is made by the consumer. Action is the final stage of the AIDA model and it is
characterised by the development of action that is the purchase decision that their customer
leads to after all the stages have been complied with.
How Barclays uses the AIDA model
Barclays has been recognized as a global bank which is instantly recognizable. Thus,
it can be said that the company has been able to effectively develop a competency with the
help of which the company has been able to develop a state with the help of which they are
instantly recognizable. The nature of operation of the company is highly characterized by
affiliation towards the proceeding of the AIDA model. The company has been able to
develop a business model with the help of which they ensure that the generate interest
towards the promotional activities to be complied with by the companies. The existing