Comprehensive Marketing and Communication Analysis of Metro Bank

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Metro Bank's marketing and communication strategies. It begins with an overview of Metro Bank, its founding, and its unique selling propositions, such as its 'pet-friendly policy.' The report then delves into the importance of understanding customer needs, wants, and demands in marketing, examining how Metro Bank prioritizes customer-centric approaches. A situation analysis, including SWOT and PESTLE analyses, is conducted to evaluate the macro-environment, focusing on economic and technological factors. The report also includes a competitor analysis, comparing Metro Bank to other UK banks, and discusses the findings in terms of store numbers, interest rates, and online services. Finally, the 7 Ps of marketing are applied to Metro Bank, analyzing place, price, promotion, people, process, physical evidence, and product. The report concludes with a summary of key marketing strategies and recommendations for future growth.

Running head: MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Marketing Communications
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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Introduction:
Overview of Metro bank
The current report focuses upon the UK based Metro bank which was founded in the
year 2010 by Vernon Hill. It is retail bank listed on the London stock exchange as providing
banking services to business and personal customers. It is the first high street bank to be
granted licence in over 150 years. It had its first store located in Holborn and plans to open
200-250 stores in greater London. As reported by Forbes magazine, METRO garnered $200
million in deposits, which was four times the total at an average American branch. By 2013,
the bank had a total 200,000 customer accounts, including 15,000 customer accounts
(metrobankonline.co.uk 2018). By 2020, the bank plans to open 200 stores across UK which
would in turn require huge amount of revenue.
Purpose of the report
The report has been drafted with a purpose of understanding the marketing and
communication aspects of the UK based METRO bank. The bank is the first high street bank
and has a number of USPs which makes it a marker puller. Some of the unique marketing
gimmicks used by the bank are the implementation of a ‘pet friendly policy’, which states
that if the bank can take care of the customer’s pets, the bank will also take care of the
customers (metrobankonline.co.uk 2018). The report here also focuses upon the
communication objectives of the bank which it could use for marketing and promotions.
Task 1:
Importance of understanding customer demands, needs and wants in marketing
The concepts of wants, needs and demands are important in marketing. Though,
sounds similar the points have substantial differences among them. ‘Need could be said as the
state of felt deprivation of some basic satisfaction. ‘Wants’ are desires for a specific satisfier,
‘demands’ are wants for specific products which are arising out of willingness to buy them.
In terms of marketing the demands could be further divided into primary and secondary
demands. The primary demand places more importance on the particular products and
services. For example, during economical strike the demand for credit and debit cards
increases as people need more convenient means for drawing out money as well as paying

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them. However, secondary demand is when the name of particular brand is associated with a
product. The customers use brand differentiation features such as brand name, packaging,
price, promotion to fetch better reviews from the customers (Coombes and Nicholson 2013).
Needs, wants and demands of metro bank customers
The metro bank views all its customers are priority client and develop effective
marketing strategies for gaining competitive advantage over other similar market players.
Metro believes in being more customers centric by focussing upon some of the basic
requirements of the target customer groups. As supported by Love and Roper (2015), the
bank believes in developing an effective bond with the customers. For instance, banks in UK
have their cash bending machines outside the branches, whereas in METRO bank the cash
vending machines are inside the branch premises. This is done keeping in mind it rains
frequently in London. As per Hill, he does not want his customers to get wet in the rain
standing outside. Metro bank had built a big data infrastructure to maintain a single view of
the customer. The data infrastructure will help the bank understand the manner in which the
customer interact with the bank through phone, mobile, online and stores. METRO had
recently built and app to let its customer pre-book appointments (metrobankonline.co.uk
2018). This helps in providing the customers priority based features where the customer do
not have to wait long in the queue.
Task 2:
Situation analysis of metro bank
Systematic analysis refers to the analysis of the various assets of an organization
which could provide it with a competitive advantage over similar market players. Both
SWOT and PESTLE could be used to conduct a situation analysis over here. As commented
by Tran and Corner (2016), an organization is hugely affected by the several surrounding
environmental factors such as economic, political and technological factors.
Therefore, conducting a situational analysis would help in understand the suitable
position of the organization within the current market. It helps in focussing upon the market
demands alongside the internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization. The strengths
and weaknesses could be used for designing of an effective marketing plan. Additionally, an

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evaluation of the threats and the opportunities can help the business organization do an
advanced risk planning which helps in market survival.
Discussion of macro environment of metro bank
The macro environment of the METRO bank has been discussed with reference to the
economic and technological factors. The economic flow of a country can hugely impact the
business of a bank or any monetary institution (Ahuja 2016). Some of the factors such as
global inflation can lead to consequent increase in the money lending rates of the bank. As a
result the customers lend the money at a higher rate and hence there is a gradual decrease in
the rolling of the money, which makes recovery difficult for the bank. The slow economic
growth at current GDP rate of 0.7% demands for high industry based investments (bbc.com
2018). Therefore, for the investments rates to be high for the industries, the METRO banks
have lowered its rate of interest for lending money. This in turn creates more business
opportunity for the bank as lower interest rates could invite higher number of customers.
Technological dependence is a necessity for banking and financial sectors. In this
respect, METRO uses latest hardware which gives them a competitive advantage over some
of the similar market players. As reported by Ocloo and Dzisah (2013), METRO banks has
made online banking accessible to most of their customers. Therefore, the bank holds a better
position than most of its competitors.
Importance of Competitor analysis in marketing
Competitor analysis refers to the analysis of the sister firms of a current organization
based upon their market positioning, profitability ratios, annual revenue etc. It also takes into
consideration the various micro and macro environmental factors such as power of buyers,
suppliers, products, services etc. Therefore, conducting a competitor’s analysis helps in
understanding the competitive advantage of disadvantage a firm has over its rival firm.
Additionally, understanding the marketing strategies of the rival firm will help in designing
an effective marketing plan. The understanding of competitor objectives and thrusts helps in
own strategic decision making. As commented by Jackson and Ahuja (2016), conducting a
competitor analysis helps in understanding the marketing instruments and tools better. For
example, understanding the power of the buyers will help the METRO bank in redesigning its
money lending policies. As argued by Watson et al. (2013), an understanding of the
competitors strategic thrusts and objectives can help in effective contingency planning.

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Competitor analysis of metro bank (refer to appendix)
Discussion of findings from competitor analysis
The findings from the competitor analysis could be further discussed over here based
upon different operations of the METRO bank. This have been evaluated in terms of – no of
stores, self service machine, interest rates, help desk services and online banking facilities. It
has been seen that WILLIAMS and GLYN has the highest number of stores whereas
METRO bank has the lowest number of stores (williamsandglyn.rbs.com 2018). The
METRO bank had been in business since the last 8 years. Therefore, in order to reach out to
more target customers the bank needs to increase the number of its stores and outlets. Though
pulling up in the form of water vending machines for the pets, METRO bank needs to
provide personalized and better security services to the customers (Gamble and Gilmore
2013). The METRO bank highest interest rates compared to WILLIAMS AND GLYN and
VIRGIN MONEY, which means that more customers would like to invest with the bank.
Apart from digital banking solutions the bank also hosts a number of online forms which will
help in solving individual customer queries (metrobankonline.co.uk 2018). However, having
less number of stores can be a huge disadvantage for the bank as the reachability is less over
here.
Task 3:
7 p analysis of metro bank
Attributes Discussion
Place  The METRO bank has stores located all across UK.
 It plans to open 200-250 stores in greater London with a view of
reaching out to more number of target customers
(metrobankonline.co.uk 2018).
Price  The price of the product depends upon the kinds of services
provided by the bank.
 The banks use its integrated customer data for background check
before pricing loans to the customers.
 The interests rates on fixed deposits are 5.5 -6% which are higher
than rest of the banks (metrobankonline.co.uk 2018).

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Promotion  The METRO bank uses print media and social networking
channels for reaching out to wider customer sets.
People  The METRO banks provide housing and educational loans to it
customers at nominal rates as it focuses upon maintaining a loyal
relationship with each of its target customers.
Process  The bank has effective digital banking solutions in place to help the
customers with the transaction process year round.
Physical
evidence
 The bank provides mobile ATMS for facilitating easy and hassle
free transactions by all its customers (Shaikh and Karjaluoto 2016).
Product  The branches provide brilliant banking solutions for business along
with harbouring a number of safe deposit boxes.
Analysis:
The marketing mix analysis helps in understanding the strategic positioning of the
bank in terms of products, prices, promotional channels, place etc. Therefore, from the
analysis it could be said that the less number of branches could be a disadvantage for the
bank whereas some of its competitors are much widespread. The bank applies caution before
providing loans to its customers. This is done on the basis of eliminating the non-profit assets
(NPA) and inviting upon the accounts with a good credit rating. The interest rates for the
bank are quite high which means that more customers will be willing to invest their money in
the bank. Hence, it could provide the bank with a competitive advantage. The bank has
special discounts on the rates of interest for education and housing loan where the interest
rates starts somewhere between 1.25-1.75% per pound (Rupp et al. 2014). The interests are
further compounded to a single pound which makes investments easy.
Summary of the report
METRO bank has some of the most out of the box marketing tricks which would
fetch the bank a comfortable position in the market. Some of the techniques used by the bank
are implementing count counting and sorting machines along with water bowl’s for
customer’s dogs. The bank provides the customers with instant ATM cards, whereas other
banks in UK make their customers wait in line for several days before they actually get the
card. The METRO bank is open 362 days a year till 8 pm in the night (metrobankonline.co.uk

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2018). This helps in ensuring that the customers can approach the bank easily at any point of
time. The bank has easy investment plans where a customer can start investing right from a
single penny. However, the lack of wider outreach can make the bank have less competitive
advantage.
However, in order to increase the number of branches the bank needs to depend upon
its return on investments, which are further dependent upon the customer base of the bank
(Alexander 2013). Hence marketing and affirmative marketing solutions can help the bank
pitch its strategies rightly in a nutshell (Sellar and Adeleye 2016). Therefore, transparent
communication policies can be used to inform the customers regarding the banking
processes.

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References
bbc.com 2018, bbc.com , Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk [Accessed on 18 Mar.
2018]
Coombes, P.H. and Nicholson, J.D., 2013. Business models and their relationship with
marketing: A systematic literature review. Industrial Marketing Management, 42(5), pp.656-
664.
Cornelissen, J. and Cornelissen, J.P., 2017. Corporate communication: A guide to theory and
practice. London: Sage, pp.105-215.
Gamble, J. and Gilmore, A., 2013. A new era of consumer marketing? An application of co-
creational marketing in the music industry. European Journal of Marketing, 47(11/12),
pp.1859-1888.
Jackson, G. and Ahuja, V., 2016. Dawn of the digital age and the evolution of the marketing
mix. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 17(3), pp.170-186.
Love, J.H. and Roper, S., 2015. SME innovation, exporting and growth: A review of existing
evidence. International small business journal, 33(1), pp.28-48.
metrobankonline.co.uk 2018, metrobankonline.co.uk , Available at :
https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/savings/products/fixed-rate-cash-isa/ [Accessed on 22
Mar. 2018]
Ocloo, C.E. and Dzisah, W.E., 2013. Banks and Customer Service Delivery: Attracting and
Retaining Customers in the Ghanaian Banking Sector. European Journal of Business and
Management, 5, p.25.
Rupp, C., Kern, S. and Helmig, B., 2014. Segmenting nonprofit stakeholders to enable
successful relationship marketing: A review. International Journal of Nonprofit and
Voluntary Sector Marketing, 19(2), pp.76-91.
Shaikh, A.A. and Karjaluoto, H., 2016. On Some Misconceptions Concerning Digital
Banking and Alternative Delivery Channels. International Journal of E-Business Research
(IJEBR), 12(3), pp.1-16.

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Tran, H.T.T. and Corner, J., 2016. The impact of communication channels on mobile banking
adoption. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 34(1), pp.78-109.
uk.virginmoney.com 2018, uk.virginmoney.com , Available at :
https://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/ [Accessed on 19 Mar. 2018]
Watson, C., McCarthy, J. and Rowley, J., 2013. Consumer attitudes towards mobile
marketing in the smart phone era. International Journal of Information Management, 33(5),
pp.840-849.
williamsandglyn.rbs.com 2018, williamsandglyn.rbs.com , Available at :
https://williamsandglyn.rbs.com/ [Accessed on 20 Mar. 2018]

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Appendix
In this respect, the competitor analysis of METRO bank has been done in comparison to of its
similar market players which are VIRGIN MONEY, WILLIAMS AND GLYN. The
competitor analysis has been done with respect to some of the factors such as number of
stores, self service machines etc.
Attributes METRO bank VIRGIN MONEY WILLIAMS and GLYN
No of stores 55 75 store and 5 lounges 307 braches
Self service
machines
Installation of machines
which are perfectly
accurate in terms of each
and every penny. It also
hosts water vending
machines for the pets of
the customers.
Along with
implementation of the
self service machines
in branches, VIRGIN
MONEY have opened
its lounges where
customers can relax,
eat and drink
(uk.virginmoney.com
2018).
Its installing new ATMS in
all 300 of the branches with
improved security systems
Help desk
services
The back operates 362
days a year and the
helpdesk are open all 365
days 24*7.
Its provides an online
support hub 24*7
which provides
services on all matters
related to savings,
credit cards, current
account, mortgages etc
(uk.virginmoney.com
2018).
Williams and Glyn operates
telephonic helpdesk
services where the lines are
open from 8 am to 8 pm
from Monday to Friday and
10 am to 4 pm on weekends
and bank holidays
(williamsandglyn.rbs.com
2018).
Interest rates 5.50-6% 4.04% 3.40%
Online banking
facilities
The metro bank has
digital banking solutions.
It also hosts an online
form which the
customers can fill up with
their queries and the bank
The bank has its app
which the customers
can download and use
for money transfer and
other activities.
The digital banking
interface has been approved
by Royal bank of Scotland
(RBS). However, the
software needs upgradation.

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personnel would get in
touch with the customers
within 24 hours
(metrobankonline.co.uk
2018).