The retail banking landscape is transforming faster than ever, driven by digital innovation, AI advancements, and shifting customer expectations. Our latest Horizon Scan. The Beyond for Retail Banking explores the most critical trends and actionable opportunities, including:

Could hyper-personalised solutions, such as financial coaching and tailored reward systems help build even deeper customer connections? Or maybe redefining physical spaces into multi-functioning ones will add more value to your customers? And how do you address the tension between digital-first strategies and the need for meaningful human interactions?

Packed with insights from our brand strategists, this report provides the tools you need to stay ahead of the curve.

Let’s reimagine the future of retail banking, together.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a fascinating topic that cannot be avoided as it rapidly becomes more progressive, sophisticated and integrated within our day-to-day life. We brought together Gabrielle Robitaille, Associate Director of Digital Policy and AI Community Lead from the WFA, Maartje van Beek, Creative and Content Business Director and Len Borghuis, Motion Graphic Designer, both of APS, to discuss how the technology can realistically be used within your organisation, particularly within the creative process.

Hosted by George Smart of APS, the session saw these industry experts dive into all aspects of this revolutionary tool starting with some insightful research conducted by the WFA investigating how brands are currently using AI, where they are up to in their journey, and the main roadblocks to AI adoption.

At the time of publishing, of the companies using AI 84% say they are still in the very early awareness or development stages, with only 16% advising they are at a mature stage or further.

This shows there is still a tentativeness around this complex topic whilst brands are still learning how to navigate the risks, with legal concerns, upskilling and ethical concerns topping the list of apprehensions in relation to the technology.

For those businesses that have started to dip into the world of AI there are some extremely exciting developments into how it can aid the creative process, and it is no doubt transforming the marketing industry. Maartje presented some interesting use cases of how APS has used AI for both creative content and creative production, showing how automation can speed up repetitive tasks delivering efficiencies and saving resource for other creative projects that require a more human touch.

It’s not to say AI is perfect as there are still faults, it’s knowing how to work around these flaws and use AI effectively that can really give your brand a competitive edge. Len talks more about upcoming developments and trends, both good and bad, to give a fantastic, well-rounded insight into the way this technology is moving forward.

Here at APS, we thrive on innovation and aim to keep abreast of ever-evolving technologies to find the best solutions for our clients, enabling them to maximise efficiencies in both resource and budget. Our team will work with you to make innovative yet practical recommendations. Talk to us today, [email protected].

To receive a recording of the webinar, please fill in your details and a member of our team will be in touch with you soon.

In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, the way businesses communicate with their customers is constantly evolving. Digital communications, offering speed, efficiency, cost savings, and environmental benefits, are increasingly becoming the standard.

However, transitioning customers from traditional paper-based methods to digital alternatives presents challenges. Despite the undeniable advantages, many customers remain attached to paper, either due to habit, lack of awareness, or perceived benefits. We explore strategies that can help businesses encourage customers to embrace digital communication while considering their concerns and motivations.

Digital communications provide significant advantages over traditional paper-based methods, whether that’s cost savings, quicker to implement, increased and trackable customer engagement or sustainability reasons. However, understanding customer behaviour in terms of their motivations and potential barriers is important so that you can develop the right strategy for your customers. This will then enable you to focus on strategies that will encourage the transition to digital. For example, exclusive content may work well for some customers, but others may need something more tangible like monetary incentives.

Strategies could include

• Incentives are particularly advantageous when a customer may feel the company is benefitting from cost-savings
• Education and awareness through workshops or tutorials to inform your customers
• Simplifying your processes so that it’s easy for customers to switch, ensuring your platform is flexible, user-friendly and mobile optimised
• Building trust to address privacy concerns and being transparent on how you collect and use data. Alongside this, you need to ensure a robust customer support system is in place and accessible online, to facilitate those transitioning
• Highlight the environmental impact on switching from paper to digital
• Leverage technology that facilitates quick and convenient communication, such as SMS or WhatsApp

Of course, measuring and reporting on your strategies is vital to record what is working or where improvements can be made. Customer feedback is crucial at this stage to ensure you understand all blockers or complexities for a customer to make the switch.

At APS, we can guide your organisation through this process and our team are on hand to advise at every step to ensure a smooth and effective transition for your cutomers and greater digital adoption.

You can download the full version of this report below for more information.

Measuring effectiveness in marketing has always been a challenge as marketers look to tangibly demonstrate ROI across multiple channels and executions and prove their worth. The loss of visibility through phasing out of third-party cookies and privacy changes like Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) has added complexity too. So, it’s no wonder the proportion of marketers putting econometrics into practice to measure campaign outcomes has risen to 45.9%, according to Marketing Week’s annual report, ‘The Language of Effectiveness.’

Less than half (44.6%) of the more than 1,200 marketers taking part in the research for the report agree marketing effectiveness is a well-defined function within their business, with a clear structure and detailed processes. Furthermore, fewer than half of those surveyed say they are happy with the access to analytics they have when measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Our exclusive partnership with The Brand Experience Group (BXG) gives access to a transformational analytics platform that is proven to deliver actionable insights for marketers. The Market ContactAudit (MCA®) platform allows marketers to analyse data from multiple touchpoints by converting data into a single unified currency and informs better decision making and budget allocation. We also look at the voice of your consumer to help you measure and track consumer brand experience.

If you would like to learn more, please fill in your details below to receive A Guide To The Brand Experience Group. Alternatively, we hosted an interactive webinar on how to improve your marketing effectiveness using this analytics platform which you can download here.