Case Study: BBFG Brand Image – itracks Board

Business Challenge

In 2008, the world was hit with a Global Recession and by late 2009 the economy finally started to see a slight upward trend. In early 2010, itracks was approached by a leading investment institution wanting to delve into how market volatility was affecting the approach and attitude of high income-investors, both retired and employed. With the movement out of the recession, the client wanted to assess their brand image and how to provide relevant services during the slow return to economic stability.

Approach

The first step that needed to be taken was to determine the processes in which the high-income investor goes through in deciding on investments and investment services. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. A recruitment survey was launched to initiate the project and to select participants for the qualitative study. The qualitative study was broken down into two Bulletin Board Focus Groups (BBFGs). The first BBFG was for individual journal entries and the second BBFG was based on group discussions. Following the discussion group in-person interviews were conducted to wrap-up the study.

Result

Through the use of the online study the client attained a better understanding of brand perception and gained insight into how market volatility impacts the approach and attitude of high-income investors. The study led the client in developing a more flexible offering to investors during the turbulent investment period. Investors now have the ability to pick and choose services/investments that are best suited to their current needs. The client also found a need for the simplification of online trading, a problem that the client was previously unaware of.