Friends and foes

Picking an enemy is a compelling way to differentiate yourself.

Read on to learn why:

① Having an enemy gives your brand purpose.

② Data from research almost guarantees you press coverage.

③ The reports of ESG’s death are greatly exaggerated.

④ Savvy money is on stablecoins, not crypto, tokenised deposits or even CBDCs.

⑤ Authenticity and trust are more important than ever to attract people online.

⑥ You can forget about your career; today an inheritance is what matters.

⑦ Great CMOs are so customer-centric they should be CCOs.

📸 But first, flashback to December 2024 when I told you that the decline of the UK’s capital markets is a deep-rooted cultural problem. This week, David Schwimmer, the CEO of LSEG, downplayed the extent of the listings exodus, insisted the exchange was not for sale, while - to his credit - smashing expectations with strong growth.

What's new

Britain’s top banks are ‘rigging the system’ against consumers, fintech Wagestream claimed this week, CityAM reports.

In short:

“Financial wellbeing platform Wagestream found 90 per cent of Brits believe they should be saving money but nearly half fear they won’t save a single penny in 2025. The fintech’s ‘State of Financial Wellbeing Index’ exposed a fractured relationship between banks and their customers. Indeed, 69 per cent of respondents believe their bank does not have their best interests or care about their financial and mental health.”
“Wagestream’s founder, Peter Briffett, told City AM: ‘The government’s response to this remains woefully inadequate. This lack of action, even with sustained public and media attention on the UK’s savings crisis, shows a concerning indifference to the financial wellbeing of working Brits’.”
“The research described Brits as trapped in a ‘Savings Stockholm Syndrome,’ as respondents recorded ‘loyalty’ to their provider, despite ‘knowing they aren’t giving them the best possible deal’. However, 91 per cent said they still choose to stick with their bank and have no plans to switch accounts.”

Why it matters

If my summary has left you in any doubt, reading the entire article confirms it: Wagestream’s message, when you actually stop to think about it, is - at best - rather weak and - at worst - somewhat disingenuous. It oscillates between blaming banks then the government for something that arguably is the responsibility of consumers themselves. It also conveniently ignores the plethora of information freely available to them via scores of personal finance and price comparison sites, uses inflammatory (but headline friendly) language like ‘Savings Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘rigging the system’ to dramatise the situation, and ends up suggesting that employers should somehow ‘plug the gap’ to address the issue - seemingly oblivious to how that clashes with a pro-economic growth stance.

The story matters though because - despite the porous nature of their supporting argument - Wagestream have got themselves featured in one of the City’s best read newspapers. They did so by applying two principles regular IMTW readers will be familiar with: picking an enemy and substantiating with data.

① Having an enemy gives you a story to tell, a purpose, it means you have a reason to exist that people can easily understand and it serves as a way to start conversations about what makes you special. Your enemy doesn’t need to be a competitor, it can be the status-quo, it can be an inefficient incumbent system, an outdated technology model. In doing so, you push your audience into getting off the metaphorical fence, they have to take a side. And, as any newspaper editor will tell you, conflict creates interest. It will get you noticed.

② Having data from research at your disposal is a surefire way to secure press coverage. This is more true today than it has ever been because media outlets are starved of budget to do their own investigations and under pressure to produce stories with headlines that will generate traffic.

What to do about it

Take action

Here are two questions to ask your CMO this week:

Who is our enemy? When thinking about your brand purpose, I encourage you to define it in terms of what you’re fighting against. What problem, broken system, inefficient incumbents are you delivering salvation from?
How do we make people care? What fact-based statements can you make that give your ‘fight’ credibility? How do you articulate it in a way that is positive and aspirational for your customers? Research certainly helps. Better still, can you create an ‘index’ you can be associated with, one that you can return to annually for comparison and regular press coverage?

Get help

Two ways I can help you: 1) hire me as a full-time member of your team; or 2) use InMarketing, an advisory service for senior leadership teams in finance and tech.

🔎 Audit 🧭 Strategy 🖋️ Positioning ✅ Planning 🤷🏻 Problem-solving ☎️ Counsel

Visit InMarketing

Top stories

The other articles that are worthy of your time.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

State Street loses £28bn of assets to Amundi and Invesco over ESG goals

③ The reports of ESG’s death are greatly exaggerated.

Source: The Financial Times, 27 February 2025

“One of the UK’s largest pension funds has pulled £28bn from State Street, in a high-profile example of an asset owner pushing back against the retreat from ESG among the biggest US asset managers.”
“After a review of its responsible investment policy, The People’s Pension decided to hand a £20bn developed market equity mandate to Amundi and £8bn of fixed-income assets to Invesco.”
“The scheme, one of the UK’s largest multi-employer defined contribution schemes, said the two companies would run the funds ‘with a focus on responsible investment’. It retained just £5bn with State Street, which had previously managed all of its assets.”
“The move comes amid rising tensions between long-term investors and US asset managers, which have downgraded so-called environmental, social and governance investing after Donald Trump’s election. Money managers have also been targeted by rightwing campaigns opposed to corporate action to limit global warming and promote diversity.”

TECHNOLOGY

Stablecoins improve the 'usability of money', Stripe founders John and Patrick Collison say

④ Savvy money is on stablecoins, not crypto, tokenised deposits or even CBDCs.

“Stripe, the payments company that reportedly generated $1.4 trillion in total volume in 2024, said stablecoins are one of the most innovative areas of the ‘internet economy,’ in an annual letter published on Thursday.”
“The Collison brothers note that stablecoins represent an ‘improvement’ on the ‘basic usability of money,’ much in the same way that banknotes were an advancement from coins and fiat currency was an upgrade from the gold standard. ‘Stablecoins have four important properties relative to the status quo,’ the Stripe founders write. ‘They make money movement cheaper, they make money movement faster, they are decentralised and open-access (and thus globally available from day one) and they are programmable’.”
“‘The top stablecoin use cases today involve tangible, real-world activity,’ John and Patrick write. ‘CFOs use stablecoins to manage corporate treasury, immigrants use them for remittance, citizens of countries with unstable currencies use them for dependable savings, and payments teams use them to enable customers from countries with low card penetration.’ In the same way that the Stripe co-founders attribute much of the company’s success to their foresight in investing early in AI solutions, they argue that being a leader in stablecoin services could drive Stripe’s next phase of growth.”

MEDIA & MARKETING

The future of the internet is likely smaller communities, with a focus on curated experiences

⑤ Authenticity and trust are more important than ever to attract people online.

“As brands look to hold onto the internet of the past, the term ‘community’ will become a loaded word, with brands and platforms trying to use it more often to reach their ideal consumer. Here are some key takeaways from the survey:

Big platforms are losing trust, and disruption is here.
Digital spaces are coming up short compared to relationships.
Content drives community, even for digital experiences.
AI is powerful but not always welcome.
Smaller, purpose-driven communities are the future.”

WILDCARD

How to get rich in 2025

⑥ You can forget about your career; today an inheritance is what matters.

“By the end of the 2010s inheritances were worth, on average, 10% of GPD. This year people across the rich world will inherit on the order of $6 trillion. In many countries the share of wealth that comes from inheritance is also rising. UBS, a bank, suggests that in 2023 53 people became billionaires by inheriting money, not far short of the 84 who did so by working. As a share of national output, annual French inheritances have doubled since the 1960s. Germany’s have almost tripled since the 1970s. In Britain they are twice as important, relative to earnings, for those born in the 1980s as for the generation before.”
“In America today, for every $100 employers pay a year in wages, the dead leave behind $20. And such figures understate the shift to an inheritocracy. The average family size has fallen sharply in recent years. A given inheritance is therefore spread over fewer people. Falling inheritance taxes also increase the share of a bequest that an heir can keep. […] Several places, including Australia, Canada, India, Norway and Russia, have abolished them entirely. Many in America would sorely like their government to do the same. More than 20 American states binned their wealth-transfer taxes between 1976 and 2000.”
“The rise of the inheritocracy reflects three factors: increasing wealth, changing demography and slower economic growth. […] The inheritance boom is set to continue for a while yet. […] In a world of higher interest rates, someone who inherits and puts the money in the bank or buys government bonds can do pretty well as a pure rentier. Meanwhile, governments keep cutting, rather than raising, inheritance taxes. Over the coming years, the world could see the emergence of an inheritor class that is even more enduring than the gentry of Austen’s day. What a fine thing—for some.”

Off cuts

The stories that almost made this week’s newsletter.

The last word

⑦ Claire Blackwell, on the evolving role of the CMO:

Claire Blackwell. Source: Carter Murray, 17 February 2025

“The CMO role has expanded into the CCO role. This is because customer experience has become such a key factor in brand differentiation that I don’t think it can be split from the brand and marketing function.
Consumers are increasingly emphasising personalised experiences, convenience and authenticity. They prioritise brands that align with their values and expect experiences that meet their desires rather than those a company dictates.”

Don’t settle for marketing.

Strive for InMarketing.

Wishing you a productive week,

P.S. I’m so glad you read IMTW to the end but, please, now put your phone down.