Barclays was found in 1690 and is a multinational financial services company and investment bank (Barclays, 2018). Its headquarters are in London. The various services of the company include wealth management, asset management, investment management, corporate banking, and personal banking. Over the years, Barclays has acquired various banking and financial organizations to grow itself and beat the competition. Today, it is one of the most dominating financial organizations in the world and influences global economics. The company has faced various reputational crises as well where it has been blamed for various economic crises seen in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. In 2018, the company generated revenue of 21.136 billion Pounds and had more than 80,000 employees across the globe (Barclays, 2019). The company has 4750 branches in 55 countries across the globe (Reuters, 2008).
Following are the four dimensions of the Ansoff Matrix for Barclays Bank
Market Penetration
Market penetration is the strategy to increase sales in existing markets by promoting existing products. Barclays does this by offering its existing customers with various other services it offers to motivate them to try them out. It interacts with each customer and customizes the offers to develop their interest in the products. It secures dominance in the market by increasing the number of branches in existing markets. The various services it offers are also revised from time to time to improve their benefits for the customers. It ensures that its customer service is excellent to satisfy current and potential customers. It enters strategic alliances with various organizations to encourage them to use the services of Barclays for their assets, wealth, or funds management. Augmented promotions are also used to penetrate the market. These measures help increase revenues from existing markets.
Market Development
For Barclays, market development is in two ways. The first way is to enter new geographic markets and establish outlets. The company has to understand the financial market of the region before investing in it. Once it decides to invest, it has to establish numerous outlets and market its presence. It also has to ensure its rates are lower to attract customers from competitors. The rates must also motivate customers to contact the bank for their financial needs. The second strategy that Barclays Bank adopts is to offer new products that are aimed at attracting a certain segment of the existing market. For example, luxury or premium services aimed at targeting the upper class. Various products, such as wealth management, are already targeted only in the upper class. In any case, the company works to gain more customers from new markets.
Product Development
This is the strategy to promote new products in existing markets. Barclays does this by offering new services in its existing markets. These services include banking and financial services at different rates. The services can be an amendment from the already offered services. The improvement in the earlier services creates an entirely new product. One such example is the effort to motivate parents to create bank accounts for their children at an early age to help develop the habit of saving. In banking and financial services, any new product creates can easily be imitated by competitors. Any new service created is also marketed aggressively to gain the attention of customers. Since each service is a contract between the company and a customer, it has to research extensively before it can launch a new service in the market because it cannot withdraw it once it is launched and customers start using it.
Diversification
Diversification refers to the act of promoting new products in new markets. Barclays Bank has already horizontally diversified into numerous financial segments to create diversity in the company. Vertical diversification is not useful in the financial services as the bank is already offering various services that suppliers or investors provide. The best diversification for Barclays is conglomerate diversification in which it can enter into unrelated industries such as automobiles, media, printing, apparel, sports, and so on. The company has an impressive cash flow that allows it to the ability to take such risk. The chances of success are impressive for Barclays.
References
Barclays, 2018. A Quick History. [Online] Available at: https://www.archive.barclays.com/items/show/5419 [Accessed 02 Jan. 2020].
Barclays, 2019. Annual Report 2018. [Online] Available at: https://home.barclays/content/dam/home-barclays/documents/investor-relations/reports-and-events/annual-reports/2018/2018-barclays-plc-annual-report.pdf [Accessed 02 Jan. 2020].
Reuters, 2008. FACTBOX: Key facts about Barclays. [Online] Available at: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-barclays-facts/factbox-key-facts-about-barclays-idUKLG49160920080916 [Accessed 02 Jan. 2020].