CSMCE – OCT 2022 – L2 – Q6 – Reasons for Market Research in Banking

Reasons to research a bank's market.

Question

Discuss five reasons why it is necessary to research the bank’s market?

Answer

In my expertise at Stanbic Bank Ghana, market research is essential for informed decisions, compliant with BoG’s data-driven approaches under Act 930. It supported recoveries post-2019 cleanup. Five reasons:
Identify Customer Needs and Preferences: Reveals evolving demands, like digital services in Ghana’s youth demographic. Discussion: Enables product matching, enhancing satisfaction and cross-selling per marketing philosophy.
Assess Competitive Landscape: Uncovers rivals’ strengths/weaknesses. Example: Research helped Access counter MTN MoMo with better features. Discussion: Informs differentiation, protecting segments.
Support Strategic Planning and Segmentation: Provides data for plans and targeting. Discussion: Aligns with corporate structures, ensuring profitability; post-DDEP, research guided sustainable focuses.
Mitigate Risks and Forecast Trends: Anticipates changes like economic shifts. Example: BoG-aligned research prevented liquidity issues. Discussion: Uses external data for resilience.
Measure Effectiveness of Marketing Efforts: Evaluates campaigns via feedback. Discussion: Improves resource allocation, updating community changes for better reachability.