Awards: this year ClearScore, next year you?
Have you entered the CIM Marketing Excellence Awards 2018? With 18 award categories and an overall Chair’s award, there are opportunities for organisations large and small, client-side or agency, and individual’s or teams to be recognised for their achievements. Amongst the 2017 winners London-based ClearScore scooped the award for New Product/Service Innovation for its work in the FinTech sector. The brand is a digital disruptor that’s changing how we understand and manage our money.
Wat doin’?
You’ve seen their ads by now. With the aim of educating consumers about personal finance, TV ads feature big-eyed ‘moose’ the dog together with humorous treatments that make the ClearScore ads stand out. Your average advert for financial services is rarely fun with oh-so-serious treatments that focus on the less attractive human motivators of fear and greed. ClearScore’s ads position credit-checking as an easy, everyday, sensible activity.
How to win the innovation award
The CIM award recognises the innovative development of a new product or service. To win you must show how a customer-centric approach has led to an outstanding value proposition, setting you apart from the competition and mutually benefitting your business and customers.
Enter the CIM Marketing Excellence Awards
Spotlight on ClearScore’s story
The brand launched in 2015 and was the first company to give consumers free ongoing access to their credit score and credit report. ClearScore uses technology and data to provide consumers with innovative tools which enable them to take more control of their finances, alongside offering tailored suggestions for financial products.
From a standing start, the brand has become the UK’s primary credit-checking service for consumers with over 4 million users. In the process it’s growth has triggered relocation from a start-up office in Hammersmith to Lambeth Road near the Thames and now it’s based in Vauxhall where Matt Hancock the Minister for Digital and Culture officially opened the new offices in February this year.
Market need
Anyone over 18, with a bank account and some form of credit agreement, such as a credit card or loan, will have a credit score. This score is checked by finance providers when considering offering loans, mortgages, credit cards and other forms of credit. But according to a study by Conlumino and Affinion International, only one in five UK consumers surveyed knew their credit score. That means the majority of people are not aware of their score and therefore they aren’t actively managing their financial status. Yet securing cost-effective finance and even a home can be dependent on credit scores.
Proposition
ClearScore exists to debunk the mystery around credit scores and ‘solve money’ for consumers. It aims to change the way people can manage their finances, and create their best possible ‘personal financial CV’ beginning with access to their credit score and report, free of charge.
How a free service turns a profit
ClearScore provides credit reports and credit score data through its partnership with Equifax, one of the top three UK credit referencing agencies alongside Experian and Callcredit. It provides its product offers through the white label product matching system provided by TotallyMoney. The brand earns commission when consumers choose to take up any of these targeted offers.
Customer experience
Whilst TV advertising drives up awareness, converting interested consumers into customers relies on providing the right customer experience. The brand has invested in developing its front-end website and mobile app so that its intuitive for customers to use, whilst maintaining data security. A large priority is placed upon how information is presented, so that it is as clear and uncomplicated as possible, enabling users to properly understand their results. In addition, the brand is committed to educating consumers about money issues.
Product matching algorithms take the raw data which customers provide and use it to recommend financial products which customers are most likely to benefit from, and where providers are likely to accept them based upon their risk profile. That in turn means customers are spared the bother of applying for products they are unlikely to be eligible to have.
The brand uses TrustPilot to gather and share reviews from customers. It enables the brand to moderate reviews, for example checking that they are genuine customers and also allows ClearScore to respond directly to resolve customer issues. This openness fits the brand ethos and adds to the customer experience.
Marketing metrics
With a raft of activity around brand building, digital acquisition, SEO, content management and PR, key measures of success for the marketing team at ClearScore are:
- Brand strength
- Web traffic
- New registrations
- Return users
That also means that every other metric is also under constant scrutiny including advertising response rates, SEO performance, app downloads, engagement rates, user reviews and net promoter scores.
Find out more from Anna Kilmurray, ClearScore’s Head of Marketing in this Econsultancy interview.
Data opportunities
ClearScore takes the information which customers give it permission to see and uses it to offer a secure service. The recent data breach at Equifax in the USA has raised consumer concerns, albeit it does not impact on ClearScore’s UK consumers. Successfully interpreting data will allow the brand to open up new ways of targeting consumers with products that suit their financial circumstances and their lifestyles.
Time to get your Data Right
In response to low levels of consumer trust over how their data is used and the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which applies in the UK from 25 May 2018, CIM has launched the Data Right campaign.
Learn more about consumer attitudes to data and the principles for successful data management:
CIM Marketing Excellence Awards 2018
CIM’s prestigious Marketing Excellence Awards recognise and reward brilliance in the field of marketing, celebrating the finest minds within the profession. These awards raise awareness of the creativity and originality delivered by marketers. The entry deadline is 17 November 2017 with the awards ceremony taking place on 12 April 2018.
Introduction to new product development
If you’re impressed with ClearScore’s innovative approach and want to hone your own skills then there’s an introductory CIM training workshop on new product development. It’s suitable for those who are or expect to be involved in the development of new products (goods and services) and the innovation process within their organisation.
Next course dates in London are: 01 December 2017 and 16 April 2018.