Summary
A Fortune 100 Financial Services firm offering investment, advice and retirement solution wanted to analyze Financial Wellness offerings of key competitors, which included their products, services, dedicated teams, advice, and guidance for employers as well as employees, tools, platforms and programs, and partnerships with other industry players. The firm also wanted to gauge how these competitors were marketing and positioning these offerings.
Evalueserve's Market & Competitive Intelligence team conducted an in-depth analysis of competitor’s offerings and features provided both in-plan and to retail customers, segmentation, and their marketing strategies. The research aided client in assessing gaps in their capabilities and areas to focus on to bridge these gaps. The client was also provided with actionable insights and recommendations to re-align their strategies regarding offerings as well as what resonates with clients.
The Challenge
The firm wanted to conduct a deep dive into the product and service offerings of the competitors, understand the various aspects of their capabilities and get a comprehensive view about everything they are doing in this space.
The main business need for this competitive intelligence study was to strengthen its own financial wellness offering, core position and differentiate themselves in the marketplace to gain more market share of this fast-growing and evolving segment.
Our Solution
Our team proposed the study to be categorized under the following five headers to help the client understand its competitors’ offering and marketing strategies thoroughly and to revamp its own strategic roadmap.
Step 1
Definition of Financial Wellness and Domains Covered by Competitors
Step 2
Approach towards Financial Wellness
Step 3
Products, Offerings Tools, and Programs
Step 4
Partnerships with Third-party Vendors
Step 5
Marketing Initiative and Positioning
Step 1: Definition of Financial Wellness and Domains Covered by Competitors
Clearly defining the whole financial picture and components of financial wellness, from borrowing to saving, budgeting and beyond.
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Offerings
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Competitor 1
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Competitor 2
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Competitor 3
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Competitor 4
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Financial Education
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In-person Consultations
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Seminars & Workshops
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Calculators
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Personalized Results and Advice
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Credit Counseling/Debt Management
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Integrated Website/App
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ID Protection
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HSA Integration
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Student Debt Refinancing
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Other Offerings
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Step 2: Approach towards Financial Wellness
Covering all the aspects that impact and improve financial wellbeing of an individual, such as:
- Satisfaction with current financial situation
- Encouraging positive financial behaviors like overall, retirement as well as emergency savings, reducing debt, and day-to-day budgeting
- Financial knowledge/literacy level that helps in changing behavior
- Reduced financial stress and addressing barriers
- Creation of a customized financial plan to reach desired financial goals
- Optimizing retirement income and outcomes
Step 3: Products, Offerings Tools, and Programs
- Key components and categories under which products and offerings are categorized like savings, spending, planning, protecting, retirement, and overall financial wellness
- Dedicated websites, micro sites, and apps
- Dedicated teams, recent executive announcements (like appointment of Chief Financial Wellness Officers), expansion plans, realignment of marketing organizations, and acquisitions
- Integration of other offerings (like critical illness, accident, and other insurance) in to core benefits line ups
- Tools and calculators like money check-ups, setting up, tracking, and creating a plan to achieve financial milestones, financial assessments, personalized dashboards
- Education programs, guidance, and personal consultation programs on a broad range of financial topics for individuals at different stages in their career, job transitions and across major life events
Step 4: Partnerships with Third-party Vendors
Announcements made by key competitors about their partnerships and alliance with third-party vendors, platform and other technology providers, virtual benefits administrators, student loan refinancers, etc.
Step 5: Marketing Initiative and Positioning
Covered the entire spectrum of marketing efforts, messaging, positioning, differentiation and thought leadership including emails to employers and retirement plan participants, sales sheets for employers, newsletters, research briefs, whitepapers, surveys, articles, point of view (POV) documents, webinars, podcasts, conferences, workshops, interviews, and insights from industry experts, focused campaigns, and road shows, etc.
Business Impact
- The client was able to compare the length, depth, and effectiveness of its offerings against its close competitors
- This study was leveraged to drill down into performance gaps to identify areas for improvement in the existing offering
- Identification of success factors of market leaders to have a better outlook as to where they are versus where they want to be
- The current organizational and team structures and executive announcements of competitors led to the client hiring more people to strengthen its own team focused on this segment and investing additional resources
- Better understand the perspective of its own clients, what resonates with them, their challenges and how to overcome them for better adoption
