Marketing Research
KBC Bank put consumers at the heart of the design process for its new pension app. Emily Styles explains what the process involved
Core Research didn’t leave much to chance when developing a new pension app for KBC Bank
Effective marketing isn’t just about a large and targeted advertising spend. For a new product, what goes into research during the development stage is just as important. Research that informs marketing is recognised in annual awards organised by the Marketing Society, which recently presented the product innovation award to Core Research for its work on behalf of KBC Bank.
In Ireland, KBC is positioned as a digital-first, challenger bank, and last May the bank enabled customers to plan for their retirement savings using an app. John Gethin, manager with KBC Life and Pensions, says the bank’s goal is to demystify pensions. “Codesigned with customer involvement at every stage of development, our pension product incorporates deep sectoral expertise and academic research, as well as behavioural, economic, and psychological theories and insight,” he says.
When the app went into development, the starting point for Core Research was that while people know it is important to save for retirement, limited engagement with pension products can leave them confused.
The research agency firstly conducted quantitative and qualitative research among c.1,000 consumers, to find out the types of pension products and services consumers expect, and what the product and service propositions could look like. This part of the research identified the target groups, knowledge gaps, and pain-points.
As the blueprint for the pension product proposition was developed, Core undertook 6-7 weeks of circular development and testing. Weeks 1-5 brought the same two groups of eight people back every week. After each session, the working group met to discuss the latest insights and actions required. In week 6, two control groups were recruited to test the final design.
Core told the Marketing Society judging panel that their approach was informed by “Cialdini’s principles of influence to maintain engagement”. This meant that research participants were incentivised, and felt appreciated and central to the design. “The methodology allowed us to achieve optimum engagement,” says the agency.
When the app was ready, 20 people were asked to open a KBC PRSA pension via the app. In the one-to-one sessions, the participant had their smartphone linked to the moderator’s laptop, so the moderator could review the onboarding journey. Meanwhile the moderator’s screen was linked up to a TV so KBC executives could assess the sign-up journey too.
Core research informed the inclusion of the ‘MyAutoinvest’ feature in the KBC pension app. This is default investment strategy with a focus on the customer’s retirement age. The research had found that while people recognise that saving for retirement is important, they’re not so enthusiastic about deciding on which investment fund suits them best. However, after the initial launch, later in the year KBC decided to widen the choice of available PRSA products for customers.
After refinement arising from testers’ feedback, the application process was piloted among KBC customers. Again the focus was on drop-out points in the sign-up journey. As a reassurance measure, it was decided to develop ‘Pensions 101’ education content.
According to Core: “We learned that communicating the explicit benefits of the digital journey, as opposed to promoting a new digital journey, would be critical. Simplicity, ease-ofuse and expert guidance would win over customers.” KBC says that almost two thirds of customers are now servicing their pension through the app.