DMA: DMA View on ... Assembly focuses on trust

Richard Cole, sales and customer management director at Egg, is speaking at the event and is in no doubt that the industry needs to work harder to improve consumer trust. "UK financial services companies are lagging behind in their brand values," he says. "Brands that try to build trust over the next five years will have a significant advantage."

The industry certainly seems to be knee-deep in allegations of misselling, collapsed pension funds and poor performing investment plans. Not only that, but the prolific use of direct mail by some financial services companies has also attracted its fair share of unwanted publicity.

But there is evidence that standards are improving, helped by the Financial Services Authority's 'Treating Customers Fairly' initiative. In recent months the selling of insurance and mortgage products has also fallen under its remit. Two new rule books have been produced for these areas with a strong focus on providing the customer with more information prior to the sale.

Many of the principles behind effective communications are common sense, says John Goddard, marketing director at M&G Investments which has won a number of awards for its DR campaigns. "Consumers are keen to do business with a company that is upfront and honest in everything that it does. There is absolutely no benefit in hiding information," he says.

M&G invests a significant amount of time and money in understanding its customers. According to Goddard, M&G has five different types of customer research going on at any one time, ranging from focus groups to customer satisfaction surveys and brand-tracking measures.

This focus on the consumer's needs is shared by Egg. Richard Cole describes the company as a "consumer-sided financial services brand". He adds: "One of the reasons why brands such as ours or First Direct can do so well is that there is a clear gap in the market for consumer-focused brands."

To book your place at the conference contact Jessica Ritchie on 020 7291 3344.

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

- Nausicaa Delfas, head of financial promotions, FSA: an overview of the FSA's regulatory approach, focusing on compliant financial promotions

- David Palmer, director of marketing, Citibank UK Consumer Group: practical ways the industry can re-establish trust in financial services

- Martin Aylward, marketing planning manager, More Than: the secrets of More Than's success in terms of integrating brand and direct response marketing

- Paul Coxhill, head of insight, UK Banking, Barclays: how can companies monitor their trust levels and why is it such an important issue?