Mass customisation has been on the horizon as long as marketing textbooks have existed (In my lifetime anyway). The problem is that apart from selecting the colours of, and getting my initials stitched into my latest pair of Nike’s I just don’t currently see it happening on a big scale; and I want it.
Let me start with education — A computer science degree if you will – There are always a number of modules that always seem to include the words history, introduction and fundamentals. Areas in which sign ups will most probably already know. They are charged in the region of £3,000 a year for this filler, and then as a nation we expect innovation, and the future of our country. Out of all industries I hope education changes first, and I do believe education in the UK is an industry that in too many cases pushes students along like a Model T on a production line.
Mass does not work any more – I would have liked to learn C#, Ruby, new product development, a little bit of an MBA and some public speaking thrown in for good measure. Now that would line me up well for a job in industry…. Today’s cost for my choice educational elements; £51k for tuition alone. (Circa £9k for Bsc + £40k for an MBA + £2k or so for a public speaking course) No student should have to do a module they are not interested in and pay for it to get letters after their name. As a customer they should pay for the study they want – exactly what they want..
Now that I have bored you all with my views re education I can move on to the main subject of my blog; banking. The bank I work for is currently making money through what we call the AVA or added value account, they go somewhat like this:
Not bad account: £10 per month inc phone insurance, car breakdown cover etc…
Slightly better account: £15 per month inc international phone insurance, international car breakdown, hol insurance and airport lounge access thrown in for good measure.
And what if I don’t have a car but actually like everything else on offer?? Don’t get me wrong, if the customer actually needs everything that is bundled with an AVA they can be great value. We bundle industry leading products at a discount to the customer while making a profit – Win/Win you may say, just not for me.
I wish I could offer my customers banking pick n mix / mass financial customisation along the lines of:
Current account, Amex, MasterCard, airport lounge access, 5 shirts ironed a week, virtual assistant, gym membership and a new iPOD every time the product range is updated. Now I’d definitely pay for that if I could get it as a package cheaper than buying each component separately. In essence I would be redirecting my purchase of recurring services through the bank for a discount. The killer app is being able to chooses exactly what I want from everything I would have purchased anyway, not pre-set AVA packages.
Actually I do this already through Quidco. The process is not as streamlined but allows me to purchase what I would have anyway at a discount for redirecting my shop through them, yet still allowing me to use the retailers I wish. These portal owners are redefining the way young people shop on the Internet. The UK has some of the most sophisticated affiliate infrastructure in the world to allow these relationships to take place. All that is required is for a bank to notice, capitalise on the size of their customer base and create a real win / win situation. Mass customisation at its simplest……..
