Using internal marketing to ignite the corporate brand: The case of the UK retail bank industry

Abstract

Starting from the premise that there are critical issues that should drive brand success, the way the UK retail banking industry has sought to build and sustain a strong brand by launching an internal marketing (IM) programme throughout its branch network was investigated. The discussion sheds light on the themes of branding in the financial services industry and the relationship between IM and branding. The study was qualitative and exploratory in nature since the aim was to explore employees’ views and experiences of IM within 35 business units that were part of the branch network of seven UK retail banks. The researchers collected data from 35 business units from seven UK retail banks. After a presentation of the research methods that underpin the study, the findings of the study with respect to four core themes that have emerged from the data as constitutive of IM are presented, namely: (1) internal customers, (2) training and education, (3) quality standards and (4) rewards systems. One can conclude that these four themes are enacted on a constant basis in order to construct a certain sort of organisational reality, one that sets the foundation on building and sustaining a strong corporate brand by changing the organisational culture to a more ‘people’, service and customer oriented.