Reflection – Investing made easy - Storytelling

Challenge & Selection     My challenge is in the scope of the banking industry, in particular I work in the Marketing department of the  largest bank in Belgium, serving more than 3 million (equals to 30% of the Belgian population) customers. We  have a digital ambition to do 50% of the sales increase KPI’s within digital channels and this can only succeed if  we drastically simplify our products & services, make them more transparent and so we need a shift towards a  client-centricity. My job is to understand the jobs to be done of a retail & private banking client regarding his  savings & investments for later, in particular to shift clients from saving to investing.     Through lean start-up & business design techniques such as ideation, client need interviews & persona creation,  we have identified the client’s (un) identified needs and pivoted solutions resulting in a concept prototype. This  prototype helps clients to understand the basics of investing of an amount, risk, return and horizon and so  “demystifying” its risk & complexity. The big challenge was to simplify the complex product & buy process to  the very core and this towards a big group of people we call them “virgin investors”, a mass retail market of  people that are looking for some more interest on their savings than a savings account. This in order to fulfill  their dreams, their concrete projects or just to have enough aside for later welfare. An environment where most  people prefer the status quo of a savings account, with in today’s economical environment no (or negative)  returns but at least having the assurance not being risky and having the money always available.     I have selected the Storytelling tool because the first user tests are positive for our new solution, which will be an  investment plan as from 30 euro a month people can automatically invest in a fund. Nevertheless, the majority of  our clients think rationally and therefor still doubt to change their status quo, even if this means they will have  less leverage to fulfill their dreams, projects & later welfare. If they would want to change, at least they want to  talk to a sales rep in one of our branches to get more confidence if this is really a good thing to convert to.  Basically, what does a sales rep do: he talks with his client and re-assures him in “human” ways that we could  perfectly do in a digital “feeling” context. And that’s also the scope of my challenge as part of the increasingly  digital challenge of the bank. Next to making simpler, more intuitive products & services also – probably even  more important - convert clients in this digital sales funnel: from social media towards subscription.     The environment is positively set to organize a workshop (see below) to build our story. We tell already since  the beginning of this project that storytelling will contribute to the fail or success of our go-to-market. The  problem is that we miss these core skills in marketing as usually we work with an intense documentation process  filling in campaign briefing documents and throwing them behind a wall to a different department, called  Business Communication & Quality who has contact with the large media agencies, coming back with 1 (or if  you’re really lucky 2-3) proposals of communication stories to go-to-market with the fallacy to be far off the  intensions of the designers of the solution. In an exercise of shortening this process, it is also one of the first  times in marketing that we try this out ourselves with an empowered core team that truly lives the value  proposition. We know already a few months that storytelling will be key – because there is a lot of information  to process in a digital way – on different intuitive levels - but we don’t succeed in taking steps towards actually  starting with something. I believe that if we can’t tell the story internally, how are we able to translate the story  externally? I feel also a bit of exhaustion in the core team because we have worked on the solution and are fine- tuning it to be ready for an approval of the regulator, which means we are digging in details of the “what” of  facts and data while losing our sense of “why” & “how”. So let’s have this workshop!      Application     I organize a workshop with stakeholders from communication, product, value proposition, campaign and digital  sales, including the people from the core team that went through the other steps of the design thinking process  and created the solution but also with the heads of the teams who can bring in experience and fast decision  taking. I remember from the course that good stories are brief, focused on a hero, and rich with imagery. Good  stories are not value propositions, personas or elevator pitches.     We first thought about our cause: We are on a mission to empower Lucy to get more out of her money. This will  become as well the central “theme” across our client communication from awareness towards solution.

To build a story of our project, we implemented the outline with a sequence of events from the book and put  ourselves in the shoes of the client. Because we did all the other exercises together, somehow we came very  quickly up with the story: Meet Lucy, She is saving money like you on a savings account but wont achieve all  her dreams & projects of putting aside a capital for her children, having a comfortable amount of money ageing,  a dream of a big vacation for herself & husband around the world, a second flat at the coast, ... only with the low  return of a savings account! One day she breaks her piggy & decides to take action: instead of saving she  discovers investing is simple, each project can just follow a risk, return & time horizon. Because life is full of  surprises, she could need the money sooner and she fears it wont be accessible. So we answer her question to re- assure her that she stays always in control to change her plans or withdraw money so she is convinced this is a  good direction. Today she is able to complete her projects faster and we visualize her even achieving one goal.     We effectively used visualizing the details, rooting for the protagonist and investing in the outcome. Resulting in  these draft images for a video that we will further finalize and use for the website page, social media campaign  & others.

Insight & Approach     I would use the storytelling technique as part of the value proposition, persona and pitching exercise, so really in  the beginning of the business design ideation. It would help to have this story from the beginning to connect all  stakeholders around a common idea. During a project, I experienced that the team can lose energy and focus and  having this story is also a very effective way of putting the noises again in the same direction. Especially in a  complex siloed environment, like banking, we are very often pulled back into product, technical & legal  constraints which make us go into details and again lose the story to bring to the clients which often results in a  bad solution which never goes to market. In my view, storytelling can help as internal change tool for innovation  to make a solution “living” for all the stakeholders and get peoples noises in the same direction to do “great”.


Reflection – Investing made easy - Storytelling Challenge & Selection My challenge is in the scope of the banking industry , in particular I work in the Marketing department of the largest bank in Belgium , serving more than 3 million ( equals to 30 % of the Belgian population ) customers . We have a digital ambition to do 50 % of the sales increase KPI ’s within digital channels and this can only succeed if we drastically simplify our products & services , make them more transparent and so we need a shift towards a client - centricity . My job is to understand the jobs to be done of a retail & private banking client regarding his savings & investments for later , in particular to shift clients from saving to investing . Through lean start - up & business design techniques such as ideation , client need interviews & persona creation , we have identified the client ’s ( un ) identified needs and pivoted solutions resulting in a concept prototype . This prototype helps clients to understand the basics of investing of an amount , risk , return and horizon and so “ demystifying ” its risk & complexity . The big challenge was to simplify the complex product & buy process to the very core and this towards a big group of people we call them “ virgin investors ” , a mass retail market of people that are looking for some more interest on their savings than a savings account . This in order to fulfill their dreams , their concrete projects or just to have enough aside for later welfare . An environment where most people prefer the status quo of a savings account , with in today ’s economical environment no ( or negative ) returns but at least having the assurance not being risky and having the money always available . I have selected the Storytelling tool because the first user tests are positive for our new solution , which will be an investment plan as from 30 euro a month people can automatically invest in a fund . Nevertheless , the majority of our clients think rationally and therefor still doubt to change their status quo , even if this means they will have less leverage to fulfill their dreams , projects & later welfare . If they would want to change , at least they want to talk to a sales rep in one of our branches to get more confidence if this is really a good thing to convert to . Basically , what does a sales rep do : he talks with his client and re - assures him in “ human ” ways that we could perfectly do in a digital “ feeling ” context . And that ’s also the scope of my challenge as part of the increasingly digital challenge of the bank . Next to making simpler , more intuitive products & services also – probably even more important - convert clients in this digital sales funnel : from social media towards subscription . The environment is positively set to organize a workshop ( see below ) to build our story . We tell already since the beginning of this project that storytelling will contribute to the fail or success of our go - to - market . The problem is that we miss these core skills in marketing as usually we work with an intense documentation process filling in campaign briefing documents and throwing them behind a wall to a different department , called Business Communication & Quality who has contact with the large media agencies , coming back with 1 ( or if you ’re really lucky 2 - 3 ) proposals of communication stories to go - to - market with the fallacy to be far off the intensions of the designers of the solution . In an exercise of shortening this process , it is also one of the first times in marketing that we try this out ourselves with an empowered core team that truly lives the value proposition . We know already a few months that storytelling will be key – because there is a lot of information to process in a digital way – on different intuitive levels - but we do n’t succeed in taking steps towards actually starting with something . I believe that if we ca n’t tell the story internally , how are we able to translate the story externally ? I feel also a bit of exhaustion in the core team because we have worked on the solution and are fine- tuning it to be ready for an approval of the regulator , which means we are digging in details of the “ what ” of facts and data while losing our sense of “ why ” & “ how ” . So let ’s have this workshop ! Application I organize a workshop with stakeholders from communication , product , value proposition , campaign and digital sales , including the people from the core team that went through the other steps of the design thinking process and created the solution but also with the heads of the teams who can bring in experience and fast decision taking . I remember from the course that good stories are brief , focused on a hero , and rich with imagery . Good stories are not value propositions , personas or elevator pitches . We first thought about our cause : We are on a mission to empower Lucy to get more out of her money . This will become as well the central “ theme ” across our client communication from awareness towards solution . To build a story of our project , we implemented the outline with a sequence of events from the book and put ourselves in the shoes of the client . Because we did all the other exercises together , somehow we came very quickly up with the story : Meet Lucy , She is saving money like you on a savings account but wo nt achieve all her dreams & projects of putting aside a capital for her children , having a comfortable amount of money ageing , a dream of a big vacation for herself & husband around the world , a second flat at the coast , ... only with the low return of a savings account ! One day she breaks her piggy & decides to take action : instead of saving she discovers investing is simple , each project can just follow a risk , return & time horizon . Because life is full of surprises , she could need the money sooner and she fears it wo nt be accessible . So we answer her question to re- assure her that she stays always in control to change her plans or withdraw money so she is convinced this is a good direction . Today she is able to complete her projects faster and we visualize her even achieving one goal . We effectively used visualizing the details , rooting for the protagonist and investing in the outcome . Resulting in these draft images for a video that we will further finalize and use for the website page , social media campaign & others . Insight & Approach I would use the storytelling technique as part of the value proposition , persona and pitching exercise , so really in the beginning of the business design ideation . It would help to have this story from the beginning to connect all stakeholders around a common idea . During a project , I experienced that the team can lose energy and focus and having this story is also a very effective way of putting the noises again in the same direction . Especially in a complex siloed environment , like banking , we are very often pulled back into product , technical & legal constraints which make us go into details and again lose the story to bring to the clients which often results in a bad solution which never goes to market . In my view , storytelling can help as internal change tool for innovation to make a solution “ living ” for all the stakeholders and get peoples noises in the same direction to do “ great ” .