Ways In Which Forces Within The Macro Marketing Environment Affect The Essay

Ways In Which Forces Within The Macro Marketing Environment Affect The Companys Ability To Market Its Products Successfully. Royal Bank of Scotland - Essay Example Marketing includes all the activities of the organization which are geared at identifying market opportunities, satisfying the customer needs and gaining competitive edge in the industry while at the same time maintaining an acceptable level of profitability (Kotler 2003). Financial services include the satisfactions and benefits which are connected to the functions of money which customers receive from the financial institutions. They include bank accounts, debit cards, loans, and mortgage facilities and other financial related value like interest payable and capital appreciation of the bank deposits (Kotler 2003). The development of financial services marketing has been slow due to the unique nature of the services. Financial services are perishable, inseparable and lack standardization in the service performance. This paper shall discuss the strategies which Royal Bank of Scotland in overcoming the challenges of financial services marketing. The paper shall also address the macro marketing environment forces which affect the banks ability to market the financial services (Kotler 2003). The paper shall also review the market segmentation approaches which the bank has implemented. In the final part, the paper shall discuss some components of the banks marketing mix and how the bank has incorporated them in the marketing mix. Question 1: Strategies used by Royal Bank of Scotland in financial services marketing Financial services have certain unique features which presents challenges to the marketing team. Financial services are characterized by intangibility, heterogeneity, fiduciary responsibility, and contingent consumption, duration of consumption, perishability and inseparability of the services from the consumer. Financial services are intangible since they cannot be seen or touched by the consumer. In dealing with intangibility challenge, the Royal Bank of Scotland provides physical evidence to the consumer by providing debit and credit cards to the consu mers (Kotler 2003). The bank also gives cheque books to the consumers and ensures the staffs are properly dressed and present themselves professionally while dealing with the customers. The bank also emphasis on the benefits of its services like low interest rates in order to reduce the customer perceived risk (Kotler 2003). The bank has overcome the intangibility challenge by building good working relationships with al customers hence this helps in attaining customer loyalty. Financial services marketing experiences the problem of inseparability since they are produced and consumed at the same time in presence of the consumer and the service provider (Kotler 2003). Royal Bank of Scotland has implemented s