Australia’s largest airline could benefit from offering more than just flights, with CoreData’s digital intimacy research revealing Qantas is the non-financial services provider that Australians would most likely consider if it started offering financial products.
Qantas has a strong brand in Australia and the airline’s frequent flyer program, which has more than 10 million members, is already linked to many credit cards across Australia.
Given this brand equity and credibility it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to see Qantas offering insurance, superannuation or home loans to the masses.
It is not quite the same story with Coles and Woolworths however, with most Australians saying they would never consider the supermarket giants for financial products.
This is in line with previous CoreData research which found more than three quarters (76.3 per cent) of Australians would never consider the Big Two supermarkets as their superannuation fund.
Coles and Woolworths are widely perceived as lacking the credibility and trust to move into financial services. If they want to follow in the footsteps of Tesco in the UK, they’ll have to work hard, with effective communication paramount to building trust and credibility in the digital age.
No such thing as too much communication
With the constantly evolving nature of digital technology, Australians increasingly demand easier, better and faster communications from their financial services providers. Security and privacy issues are also important, with three quarters (75.2 per cent) of Australians prioritising these over convenience and innovation.
Overall, the research found that most Australians are happy with the communication channels used by their financial services providers. However, there is room for improvement in the actual content and delivery of these communications.
There is no such thing as too much contact, with less than 2 per cent of Australians saying they would like less contact from their financial services providers. The caveat is the contact needs to be relevant and personalised. Only then will it be effective in fostering engagement, trust and credibility.
Social media gaining credibility
The research also found that compared with 2013, social media followings of financial services providers among Australians have grown slightly, with banks the most likely to be followed (11.1 per cent). Considerably more Australians say that it is important for financial services providers to be present on social media in order to be credible (29.3 per cent).
However, social media is by far the least-trusted communications channel (an average rating of 3.4 out of 10), and satisfaction with communications through social media tends to be low. These findings suggest social media should only be a small part of the broader communications strategy of financial services providers. The focus should instead be on improving in-person contact (8.9 out of 10) and the website (7.8 out of 10) – the two communications channels that Australians trust the most.
Communications will be increasingly important in 2016 as retaining customers will become critical in the quest for growth, particularly with the ongoing threat posed by disruptors such as robo-advice providers and peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders.
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