Issue № 88 | London, Sunday 10 March 2024
Read on to learn why:
① Good intentions can be frustrated by ill-thought through corporate responses.
② Diversity, equity and inclusion are not marketing issues.
③ You should behave on social media as you would anywhere else.
④ Blockchain really can make finance faster, cheaper, and safer.
⑤ Local banking brands are stronger than global brands.
⑥ If you want flexibility, you’re better off working for a European bank.
⑦ Regulation stopping European banks growing allows US rivals to dominate.
What's new
It was International Women’s Day on Friday. Marketers reacted accordingly.
In short:
The worlds’ brands took to social media with posts celebrating women to ride on the #IWD #InternationalWomensDay and #InvestInWomen hashtags.
Many of the world’s women took to social media to express their frustration at what little real progress has been made towards gender equality.
The House of Commons Treasury select committee backed them, issuing a report on sexism in the City. It makes damning reading.
Why it matters
① No one would argue that inspiring inclusion is not a positive sentiment - certainly not this privileged, middle aged white man - but is posting platitudes one day a year the way to achieve it? And is it really what women want in the first place? IWD matters because it highlights how easily good intentions can be frustrated by ill-thought though, lazy corporate responses to them.
The select committee makes it clear what the real issues are:
Many of the barriers identified in 2018 remain stubbornly in place. We heard that many firms still treat diversity and inclusion as a ‘tick box’ exercise rather than a core business priority, despite clear evidence that diverse firms achieve better results. There have been only incremental improvements in the proportion of women holding senior roles in financial services firms, and some sectors have seen no improvement at all. Similarly, there has been only a small reduction in the average gender pay gap in financial services, which remains the largest gender pay gap of any sector in the UK economy.
It is shocking to hear how prevalent sexual harassment and bullying, up to and including serious sexual assault and rape, still are in financial services, and how poorly firms handle allegations of such behaviours. We were particularly concerned to hear of the widespread misuse of non-disclosure agreements, which have the effect of silencing the victim of harassment and forcing them out of an organisation, while protecting perpetrators and leaving them free to continue their careers and go on to abuse others.
It’s no surprise then that some of the smartest women in our sector are simply exasperated. Sharon O’Dea wrote this week:
UK mothers earned £4.44 less per hour than fathers.
Women-led businesses receive just 3.5% of equity investment.
Globally, over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men.
1 in 4 women have been sexually assaulted or raped as an adult.
Over 100 women are killed by men in the UK every year.
How should marketers be tackling this then?
What to do about it
Take action
② Diversity, equity and inclusion are not marketing issues. They go to the very heart of how you run your business. Good marketing can amplify your message, it can clarify it, it can’t hide a lack of substance or meaning in your actions.
Although I’m not suggesting your marketing team eschew days like IWD, the key is that you’re actually doing something tangible, not just paying these issues lip service.
Do I need to tell you what those things are? Women don’t need inspiration. They don’t need celebrating. They need money. The same money a man would receive for equivalent work. And they need to feel as safe, secure and respected as any man in your organisation.
Hire women.
Pay women.
Promote women.
Protect women.
Advocate for women.
Invest in women’s companies.
Buy from women.
Oh, and stop using NDAs to silence victims and protect perpetrators. It’s morally bankrupt.
When you’re doing all of that systematically, by all means have your marketing team tell the world about it. If you’re lucky, there are talented women out there who might want to work with you as a result.
Get help
Join the InMarketing community on Substack (you’ll need to download the Substack app and head to the chat tab) to ask questions of me and fellow IMTW readers.
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Top stories
The other articles that are worthy of your time.
FINANCE
Financial services staff may need to disclose social media profiles as regulator ‘absolutely committed’ to doing more on misconduct
③ You should behave on social media as you would anywhere else.
“Staff at financial institutions may be asked to disclose all social media profiles can be monitored for behaviour as the Financial Conduct Authority focuses on non-financial misconduct increases.”
“Insurers have received a letter that seeks them to provide instances of non-financial misconduct over the last three years, what category they are in and what action was taken.”
“Martin Pratt, partner at RWK Goodman added: ‘Managers and Tribunals have, for over 15 years, reviewed anything posted [online] as potentially reflecting on relevant employers and professions. It’s inevitable that the FCA would take an increasing interest in activity they see as bringing the financial services sector into disrepute’.”
TECHNOLOGY
How tokenisation can change investing
④ Blockchain really can make finance faster, cheaper, and safer.
“Blockchains and other distributed ledger technologies can tokenise almost any asset — real or imaginary. The finance industry may stand to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of this stage of the digital revolution. Clear benefits are beginning to overcome the establishment’s inertia. Of these benefits, the largest, and most immediately obvious, is short settlement time, and the lower costs associated with that.”
“Breaking assets down into smaller chunks is just the first step to unlocking tokenisation’s potential. A token that contains details of ownership corresponding with a blockchain — and backed with the proper legal protection — then becomes a bearer instrument for whoever owns the private key that controls that token.”
“Standardisation could mean that legal and other advisory fees all fall, because all that information is contained within the token itself. Secondary trading liquidity should also then increase, and market data would be made more readily available, and timely.”
MEDIA & MARKETING
The world’s top 500 banking brands
⑤ Local banking brands are stronger than global brands.
“The combined value of the world’s top 500 most valuable banking brands has reached a record level of USD1.44 trillion, almost double what it was a decade agor.”
“The Chinese banking sector demonstrates a notable recovery, with the 'big four' banks remaining well ahead of their US counterparts. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China maintains its position as the world's most valuable banking brand for the eighth consecutive year, boasting a 3% rise in brand value to USD71.8 billion. China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China secure second, third, and fourth positions respectively, following single-digit percentage increases in each of their brand values.”
“Despite experiencing a minor decline (4%) in brand value, Bank of America retainsthe title as the leading US banking brand for the fourth consecutive year, and is ranked fifth position overall, boasting a value of USD37.3 billion. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo, positioned sixth overall, is narrowing the margin with its American competitor, marking a 9% increase to achieve a brand value of USD35.8 billion.”
WILDCARD
The banks on the frontline of the remote working battle
⑥ If you want flexibility, you should work for a European bank, not a US one.
“Banks and other financial services companies have stood out in recent weeks for the battles they are still having with staff. Several lenders have upset employees by demanding they return to the office more days a week, with workers complaining of draconian measures, such as monitoring their attendance and threats of disciplinary action for non-compliance.”
“A stark divide has also opened up between some Wall Street lenders, some of which — Goldman Sachs, for example — require bankers to be in the office five days a week, and their European rivals, which are more relaxed about home working.”
“18 per cent of lenders globally offer full workplace flexibility, where staff can be at home five days a week; 50 per cent have hybrid structures and 32 per cent require staff to be in the office full-time. Employees in heavily regulated roles, such as trading, were required to work in the office throughout the pandemic and still have little flexibility.”
The Artificial Intelligence Spotlight 🔦
Wix’s new AI chatbot: Build websites in seconds based on prompts.
Stori: Create unique brand identity, generate and publish content consistently.
Poe: Test and compare multiple chatbots.
Off cuts
The stories that almost made this week’s newsletter.
FINANCE
🤦🏻♂️ Nationwide agrees to buy Virgin Money for £2.9bn
🥇 What has replaced Silicon Valley Bank as start-ups’ favourite banker?
🧭 Government NatWest share sale remains on course
💳 J.P Morgan joins France’s Cartes Bancaire payments network
🏪 Citi invests in bank-to-bank marketplace
TECHNOLOGY
🦄 Top fintech CEOs form body to unlock growth and shape policy
⛓️ Why Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures embraces public blockchain
💰 Monzo hits $5bn valuation with new funding round led by Alphabet’s CapitalG
🇺🇸 US digital dollar is “nowhere near” development, says Federal Reserve chair
🐝 Fintech Pensionbee announces US expansion as firm expects first annual profit
MEDIA & MARKETING
🪤 Yes, AI promises to transform marketing. But what’s the catch?
🤷🏼♀️ Why Gen Z follows people not brands—what marketers are doing wrong
🌱 B2B SaaS marketing: 11 proven strategies for growth
🗞️ BBC’s Amol Rajan says future is “up for grabs”
♻️ 17 sustainable marketing techniques to reuse and repurpose content
The last word
⑦ Sergio Ermotti, UBS chief executive, on European banking regulation:
“[There is] still a lot of parochial thinking in Europe about being big banks. So each [country] wants to have their own national champion, forgetting that winning the national championships doesn’t take you very far in terms of global [dominance].”
Don’t settle for marketing.
Strive for InMarketing: innovate, interact, influence.
Wishing you a productive week,
P.S. Refik Anadol’s use of AI has made him the artist of the moment. I was underwhelmed when I visited yesterday.