Comprehensive Marketing Audit of Citibank: Strategies and Analysis

This report presents a marketing audit of Citibank, a subsidiary of Citigroup, evaluating its strategies and performance in the financial services sector. The analysis begins with an overview of Citibank's operations and then delves into a PESTLE analysis of the Singapore market, considering political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. A SWOT analysis assesses Citibank's internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats, focusing on its competitive position. The report then examines the STP model, detailing segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies. Furthermore, the marketing mix of Citibank, including product, price, place, and promotion, is thoroughly examined. The report concludes with recommendations based on the audit findings, providing insights into improving Citibank's marketing effectiveness.

Marketing Audit of
Citibank

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Company Overview....................................................................................................................1
PESTLE Analysis.......................................................................................................................1
SWOT Analysis..........................................................................................................................3
STP Model..................................................................................................................................4
Marketing mix of Citibank..........................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
All activities of businesses which are performed to create awareness and fascination
among consumers towards the product is termed as marketing. Marketing Audit is a procedure of
analysis all the activities of marketing with respect to their outcome. It is performed to identify
and remove that marketing strategy which is giving low or no value to company. In this
assignment US financial giant Citibank' s marketing strategies has been audited. Citibank is a
subsidiary of US financial company citigroup. It provides financial services such as credit cards,
letter of credit, personal loans, mortgages and commercial loan. In the beginning the report
analyse the macro environment affecting the company through PESTLE Analysis. Secondly
companies competitive position is being analyse through SWOT Analysis. Moreover the report
also assess the marketing mix of the company. After than the report implement STP model. In
the end report give recommendations to the company (Yee, and et. al., 2017).
MAIN BODY
Company Overview
Citibank is a customer division of Citigroup. Citigroup deals in financial service. It is a
multinational company. Its headquarter is located in Manhattan, New York, USA. Citibank
render financial services to customers of 36 countries around the world. The USA branches of
Citibank is congregate in six metro cities of the country- New York city, Miami, D.C., San
Francisco and Los Angeles. Market conditions in USA and UK is appropriate for the company.
However, macro environment of Singapore need to be analysed. Singapore is a developed
country of Asia with high per capita income. The PESTLE Analysis of Singapore is given below
PESTLE Analysis
When a company realise a need of expansion of their business in another country. It is
essential to analysis the macro environment of the country. Assessment of macro environment
guide company in formulating suitable marketing strategies and way the product should be
customized. PESTLE Analysis acts an helping hand by assessing six major factors of macro
environment. The six major external factors are Political, Economical, Social, Technological,
Legal and Environmental (PESTLE Analysis of Singapore, 2017).
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Singapore is a politically stabilized country. President has the supreme dominance over
the country. President has sovereign authority in the country. It has been maintaining good
relations with many developed countries including USA and developing countries like China.
Citizen can explore plenty of opportunities in the country because Singapore political landscape
does not fluctuate. Singapore is corruption-free country. Singapore is successful in combating
with corruption. It is the third most honest country in the world. Singapore government
sometimes curb right to freedom of expression, right to freedom of forming association and
peaceful assembly. Government usually not intervene in the banking sector due to which there is
streamlined functioning in banking industry (Mulyadi, and Budiawan, 2018) .
Citizens of Singapore has a very high per capita income. Singapore has a very rich
economy. Its gross domestic product is growing in very fast pace. Singapore have a low
unemployment rate as compared to other countries of Asia. Singapore has been considered as
Asian Tiger. Singapore gross domestic product had been increased in a very fast pace in recent
years. Singapore is the major attraction of the foreign direct investors. Investors invest their
money in various sectors of the country. It generate lots of revenue in foreign currency through
exporting goods and services. Singapore As government is taking significant measures to
improve economy therefore Citibank have huge growth potential in this market (Abou-Warda,
2015) (Fischer, 2016).
Singapore is a rich country. Multiple ethnicity exist in this country. Population of the
country is increasing rapidly. Mean age of population is also increasing. Singapore is a
developed nation with high literacy rate in the world. Credit card and personal loans are avail by
the young working citizens as population is growing older the relevant market for Citibank will
be shorter than other developing countries however still there is wide scope for banking. Since
people are used to maintain high status therefore financial services (Kantudu, and Samaila,
2015).
Singapore is considered to be a developed nation. Technological advancement plays a
major role in development of the country. Business are continuous innovating new technologies
to stand apart from the competition. Singapore is a hub of highly intellectual and talented
employees accountable for rapid development in technology. It has a good Information
Technology infrastructure with fastest internet network on the planet earth. Beside IT sector
country is facing a dearth of engineering and mathematical talent. Corporates are finding
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difficulties in searching and employing good engineering staff. Citibank can still take benefits of
Singapore technological and financial resources. There is unlimited growth opportunities for
Citibank in technological perspective. Citibank can take the benefits the extra ordinary intelligent
and innovating human resources equipped with knowledge of advance technological skills.
Singapore has a highly optimized legal structure. Law is strict and render severe
punishment to convict. Government enforce many legislations regarding welfare of employees.
Company cannot exploit workers in the greed of revenue. Legislations forced companies to limit
working hours and compensate employees minimum with salary prescribe by government.
Citibank is required to comply with the legislation. However it is not a threat for the organisation
but non-compliance will threat for employees. Hence legal landscape of Singapore is favourable
for the growth of Citibank (Ojadonor, 2017).
Climate of the Singapore is appropriate for the development. Weather of the country is
cool. Good climate is the major cause behind accomplishment of a developed nation status.
Government is very cautious regarding conservation of environment. They are taking initiatives
to preserve natural landscape of the country. Government restricts companies in creating any
activity that create pollution. Singapore has been prone to sea level rise and shore erosion. It has
a very less number of freshwater resources which is a serious challenge. Citibank is a financial
company and company has no link with any kind of element which degrade environment. Hence
environmental factors are not causing any difficulty for Citibank (Henderson, 2016).
SWOT Analysis
Every company do business in the hope of profit. In order to achieve this objective firm is
required to divert customer preferences from competitor's product. This needs to be done by
identification of strength and opportunities and overcoming of weaknesses and threats. In other
words, company needs to do a proper assessment of its competitive position. SWOT Analysis is
strategic tool which aid companies in analysing their competitive orientation (SWOT Analysis of
Citibank, 2019). SWOT Analysis of Citibank is given below:-
The bank has its existence in both the institutional and retail form. Citibank render
comprehensive services which mainly comprises of credit card and loans. The network of
Citibank is larger than any other bank. Its network aid in overcoming financial crises better than
rival banks. Another strength of Citibank is its advertisement strategy. Citibank enlarge visibility
of its brand by showcasing advertisement in programs with high television rating points.
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Automation of several process improve quality company's products which enable the company to
adopt strategies according to marketplace conditions. Firm is capable of creating innovation in its
services. Organisation have a strong collaboration with dealers. Along with promoting produbts
dealers also invest their money in the training and developing of sales team so that that they can
make customer aware of the way to pull out the highest advantage from the products.
Weakness of Citibank is that it has a wide coverage with large number of active accounts
due to which it create huge burden on the employees. Bank faces difficulty in managing such a
large database. Citibank had been invested lots of money in creating sustainability during
economic recession. In that period it was not feasible. Also fraud committed by company's
employee spoil the image of the company (Wang, Chan, and Pan, 2015).
Many multinational companies are now emphasising more developing nations instead of
developed countries. These is long term growth opportunities in emerging economies due to
young average age, low salary demand, less number of banks and growing financial inclusion.
Internet penetration has created plenty of opportunities for the company to grow. Company can
promote its products through social media, search engines, mobile games and websites. Internet
Marketing has wide coverage and also it is cost effective (McDonald and Wilson, 2016).
One of the major threats to growth of Citibank is intense competition. Biggest
competitors of Citibank are Bank of America, Standard Chartered Bank and Royal Bank of
Scotland. Despite huge growth potential in developing countries there is still some retard able
factors such as fluctuation in market, unstable political environment and less approachable
market area. Fluctuation in the USA mortgaged marketplace posed a serious hazard to the
company (French, 2017).
STP Model
As minor child cannot purchase car and mature adults are not interested in toys. Every
product category have its own consumer class. STP model define a mechanism to select a
profitable consumer segment. It also define the desired perceived image market will create in the
mind of consumers. STP model has three components- Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.
Segmentation is a method of creating division of population based on certain mutual
characteristics before targeting specific consumers. Segmentation can be on the basis of
demographic, geographic, socio-cultural and psycho graphic. Citibank divided their marketplace
according to demographic segmentation. Demographic segmentation mainly includes income,
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age, gender, occupation and education. Selection of right consumers segments for offering of
products is called targeting. Company majorly targets big business enterprise and wealthy retail
investors. Positioning is a procedure of creating an image in the mind of consumers desired by
the marketer. Company positioned itself as an organisation working for its customers whole day
and whole week.
Marketing mix of Citibank
Marketing mix is a set of components that has to required to considered by the company
in order to offer right product in right place in a reasonable price.
Citibank provides a range of financial services which include securities,personal loan,
equity, insurance policies and business loan. Bank has been divided its banking services in two
forms- Personal banking and corporate banking. Personal banking comprises of Citigold private
client, Citigold expatriate account, Citibank suvidha account, global banking and so on.
Corporate banking of Citibank comprises of trade finance solutions, working capital finance,
cash management solutions, treasury and risk management solutions. Citibank grants various
types of loans such as ready credit, loan backed by securities, personal loan and so on. Insurance
renders by Citibank are life insurance, non-life insurance, health insurance and accident
insurance (De Mooij, 2018).
Citibank had been adopted distinct pricing strategies in comparison with rival banks.
They charge high and low prices contingent on competition, economic conditions and market
situations. Banking authorities and central bank of the respective countries are accountable for
deciding rate of interest on loans and advances.
Being a multinational bank Citibank have its existence in over 36 countries of the world.
Branches of Citibank can be found in Latin America, North America, Europe, middle east Asian
countries and Africa. As it headquartered in New York therefore major source of revenue is the
market of USA followed by Latin America and Asia. Citibank have maximum number of
branches in USA. However, developing nations such as India and China there is very less
branches of Citibank (Tuten, and Solomon, 2017).
Citibank has a powerful advertisement and promotional strategies. Major promotional
strategies are television commercials, advertisement on hoarding, digital marketing and
newspapers. The advertisement clearly highlights its accomplishment along with its major
financial services and facilities. They also use co-branding marketing technique by offering
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discounts and cash backs on using their credit and debit cards. Bank has been fascinating
customers by launching a sales promotion scheme in which customers can seek cashback by
paying application fee using Citibank credit card. Despite gaining high profit in some countries
promotional strategies are failing in to attracting customers.
Citibank have strong emphasis on the needs of its clients. It has been taking all effort to
make customers satisfied. Company possess a large workforce which provides financial services
to their customers. The client base is dispersed in several countries and millions of customers
have been experienced the Citibank financial services and facilities (Baker, and Saren, 2016).
The company' s process of banking are extremely smooth and strongly focuses on
satisfying customer's needs. All kinds Banking activities of Citibank go through with certain
procedures whether it is opening of saving , salary or current account, deposit of cash,
withdrawal of cash, online transactions, investment in securities and so on. Extensive training
has been provided to employees of bank so that they capable enough to render best quality
services to their customers.
Parent company of Citibank that is Citigroup Inc. has been incorporated in the year 1812
as amalgamation of two large companies Citicorp and Travelers group. The official headquarter
of Citigroup is located in Manhattan, New York city, United States of America. The major
product of bank are investment banking and financial services. Citibank owns the the biggest
network of financial services spreads across more than 150 countries in the world. The major
competitors of bank are JP Morgan chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America (De Mooij, 2019).
RECOMMEDATIONS
Citibank owns the largest network of banks in the world. Its services are efficient and
effective which satisfy customers however bank is still lacking in some areas. There are some
improvement areas of the bank. Citibank is recommended to cater the needs of middle-class and
upper middle-class customer segment which occupies highest portion of the consumer
marketplace. Company is required to enlarge its presence in those developing countries of the
world where people cannot afford to incorporate a bank. There is many countries in the world
with less private banks. Company can acquire benefits of low competition in developing
economies. Firm is highly relies on market of two countries United States of America and
Mexico . Organisation limits its focus on development nations from which company faces
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intense competition. Firm should also emphasis on growing its market share in developing
countries like India and China (Bills, Cunningham and Myers, 2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above marketing audit it has been concluded that macro environment of
Singapore favourable for the company. Company is running very well. Company has many
strengths that can undercut the competition. Company' s weaknesses is negligible. Firm can
easily overcome its weaknesses. Organisation has huge opportunities in emerging market such as
India and China where there is less competition compared to developed countries but political
instability and less addressable market are major concern for the company. Company has
segmentation done on the basis of demography of the population. It majorly target rich working
people of the society. Company has positioned itself as financial company which serve its
customer at their best. Organisation is offering several range of products mainly credit card,
personal loan, business loan, debit card, account opening facility, retail banking, corporate
banking and so on. Company has been adopted premium pricing strategy. It cater to the need of
elite class. Its pricing policy also depend upon supply and demand of the market. Interest rate
decides by Central bank and banking authorities. Citibank render its financial services in several
countries. Company owns the largest network in the country. Company show advertisement in
prime time shows such as major cricket Leagues in order to increase its visibility among
consumers. Company banking process is streamlined. Staff of the company are well trained in
the handling and convincing customers. For all these aspects, necessary recommendations have
also been given in the report above.
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REFERENCES
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Fischer, J., 2016. Marketing Islam in a ‘double minority’setting: The case of Singapore. In Islam,
Marketing and Consumption(pp. 46-60). Routledge.
French, J., 2017. The importance of segmentation in social marketing strategy. In Segmentation
in social marketing (pp. 25-40). Springer, Singapore.
Henderson, J.C., 2016. Halal food, certification and halal tourism: Insights from Malaysia and
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Kantudu, A.S. and Samaila, I.A., 2015. Board Characteristics, Independent Audit Committee and
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Finance, Accounting & Management. 6(2).
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Ojadonor, J.U., 2017. Marketing: An Effective Tool for Managing Secondary Schools in
Nigeria. ATBU Journal of Science, Technology and Education. 5(4). pp.50-55.
Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017. Social media marketing. Sage.
Wang, D., Chan, H. and Pan, S., 2015. The impacts of mass media on organic destination image:
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Online
PESTLE Analysis of Singapore. 2017. [Online] Available through<www.howandwhat.net/pestel-
analysis-singapore>./
SWOT Analysis of Citibank .2019 .[Online] Available through<www.marketing91.com/swot-
analysis-of-citibank>./
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