Will current financial services providers survive the on-line revolution?: A branding perspective

On-line delivery of all kinds of goods and services is predicted to grow rapidly in the near future. In particular, this delivery channel is expected to have a major impact on financial services. In order for traditional financial service suppliers to reach their customers via this new channel it will be necessary to rely on third parties, such as telephone and software companies. These very powerful players such as BT and Microsoft, may have ambitions to enter the financial service market themselves. This risk has been recognised by many providers, but they tend to believe that their ‘brand’ will protect them from these new entrants. This paper discusses how a misunderstanding of the different facets of a brand may mean that this faith is misplaced and that current providers are at greater risk from competition from new entrants than they realise.