FORESIGHT & INSIGHT

The Future of Mass Affluence

Client

Scotiabank

Scope of Work

Horizon Scan
Scenario planning
Trends impact analysis
Engagement
Strategic implications

Market Opportunity Research
To continue growing and adapting through turbulent and rapidly shifting economic and social conditions, Scotiabank required a deep understanding of the future of a potential new market sector. The Mass Affluent group is the high-end of the mass market. As opposed to households with above average incomes the mass affluent are also defined through liquid assets such as stocks, bonds, cash, and mutual funds. Fixed assets such as real estate are not commonly counted.

Scotiabank is the third largest bank in Canada by deposits and market capitalization. It serves 19 million customers in 55 countries and offers a broad range of services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. It has assets of over $750 billion.

We were asked to outline possible realities for both Scotiabank and a particular group of Canadians ten years into the future. This work involved deep research and facilitated engagement of key stakeholders.

The research, workshops, reports, discussions and material we provided prepared Scotiabank for a detailed examination of some of the characteristics of three personified customers (‘personas’). We investigated the impacts of potential futures on their lives and their banking needs, and specifically how that might provide opportunities for Scotiabank’s banking offerings. Could the bank use the research to develop new products, services or systems for this untapped market?

It was important for Scotiabank to suspend their objections or disbeliefs as to whether the future would unfold exactly as we described it in the narratives outlined. We used logical and plausible constructs to imagine how things might be different in an unpredictable future. We looked for opportunities and threats to Scotiabank’s business through the lens of human-centered changes in behaviour, values and social systems.

A Collaborative Approach
We met with 20 senior leaders at the bank in six different departments. We interviewed 40 representative customers in person or by phone. We conducted 2 highly successful workshops, analyzed significant quantitative data and created data visualization tools that identified several key insights.

We delivered a 90-page written report and gave three presentations of our findings to senior bank leadership. The report provided the groundwork to explore innovative approaches to the development of new and appropriate products, services and spaces to meet the potential future needs of the identified market sector with respect to their financial well-being and their changing lives.

Strategic alternatives to current practice were uncovered that will allow the bank to expand its offerings and better serve this transforming segment. This will mean that Scotiabank is preferentially positioned to gain traction with this new audience.

Waterfront Toronto Marketing

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KerrSmith Design
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Toronto, ON M5A 1V2
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