With CMOs under pressure to deliver both brand building ‘fame’ or productivity gains from performance and conversion, this morning’s breakfast panel focused on how to untangle the messy middle and reduce the gap between trigger and purchase.

‘Messy middle’ is a term first termed by Google to describe the chaotic, non-linear journey from trigger to sale, a journey especially tangled in B2B and financial services.

The invited panel represented a broad mix of FS sectors - and maturity across the martech stack:
- Jane Parry, Group Chief Marketing Officer, Canaccord.
- Kathryn Lewis, Head of Asset Management Brand & Digital Marketing, M&G Investments.
- Ailsa Graham, Head of Brand and Channels, Tesco IMS.
- Marko Katavic, Director of AI and Decision Intelligence, Moneybox.

Setting the scene, the panel gave an overview of their current situation and challenges. 

With 2025 data from Gartner revealing that only 22% of marketers report a high customer data platform utilisation (despite high expectations for personalised experiences due to the likes of Amazon, Netflix and Spotify), the panel discussed key stumbling blocks involved - and how to unblock them1. 

For some, getting tech stacks to talk to each other and getting changes through compliance remain evergreen, often insurmountable challenges. For others, being clear about different data sets helped hugely operationally, with existing customer data kept distinct from prospect data.

### Is friction a positive or negative influence?

The conversation then moved on to friction. Despite a friction-free business being the holy grail for many marketers, the panel discussed how a certain amount of friction can have a positive effect on customers at the right time. Acknowledging that the FCA’s guided advice requirement is intended to be a catalyst for reducing friction, it was discussed how too smooth and fast a journey can lead to user distrust. 

With only 14% of banking customers describing their banks as being ‘extremely effective’ at delivering contextually relevant experiences, we moved to discussing the importance of humanity in influencing an ‘in market’ audience2.The panel discussed the importance of finding data analysts that could keep the experience human-centric, and deliver insights in a timely fashion that added value. Another panelist reminded us that as only 5% are ever in the market to purchase, there is a meaningful role for ‘always on’ content and thought leadership.

This neatly led into discussion around AI changing the rules of the game, especially around search. For most marketers on the panel AI was being explored to take away some of their business’s more mechanical tasks, enabling employees to fulfil more value-added activities.

Final thoughts turned to taking an approach to AI that can help the business strategy. All agreed that the need for well-branded assets and thought leadership, from trusted sources was even more vital than ever. 

With thanks as always to our brilliant panel for their candour and insight; to Ruffer for hosting in their fabulous new offices and to the Financial Services Forum for convening best practice.

If you would like to discuss your messy middle please get in touch at hello@teamspirit.co.uk.

### Sources
1. Gartner’s 2025 [Magic Quadrant for Customer Data Platforms survey.](https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/6296015)
2. [https://blend.com/blog/thought-leadership/personalization-in-banking/](https://blend.com/blog/thought-leadership/personalization-in-banking/)

An expert panel explores how to deliver productivity gains for performance and conversion.  From reducing speed bumps to harnessing 'useful mediocrity', and always embracing humanity.

Industry experts untangle the messy middle

__Every once in a while there's a shift in the digital landscape that seems to unify the clients we work with in a kind of collective terror. __

And the thing we seem to be talking to all clients about right now is the drop off in traffic instigated by the shift to knowledge gathering with the Large Language Models (LLMs like Chat GPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini) and particularly since the launch of AI overview and AI mode in Google search. 

But frankly it’s a return to the olden days of the internet, when Search was first pioneered, and we were all collectively invited to 'Ask Jeeves'? The only problem being that people did exactly that: they asked questions. In natural language. And the internet, as was, wasn't able to answer their questions. Because that's not how it was built.

So along came Google, and retrained us with their beguiling simplicity. To not ask questions, but to use Boolean Operators and Keyword Strings. And so our content was optimised to capitalise on that new behaviour.  Keywords were stuffed. Links were backed. Authority was established. The Search algorithms adapted, and the content arms race escalated. And with it everyone consigned Jeeves as a comical footnote in Internet history.

But now, the technology has caught up and it turns out Jeeves was right all along. There is undeniably a fundamental change in the way people are finding their information because we’re human and we like asking questions. That’s how we always wanted to use the web.

So now we’re back there and the technology has caught up, your visibility now requires a new approach or maybe more pertinently a little bit of a new approach but with a whole heap of old practices thrown in.

Brands have to be present in the authoritative, structured, and trusted content that AI models use to build their responses. 

- AI-generated answers have become the dominant force in Google Search, __influencing 84% of all queries__ and reshaping how users receive information online(1).
- While overall site traffic may fall in the AI search era, the visitors who do arrive are far __more valuable__. Ahrefs data shows __AI search users convert 23 times better__ than traditional organic visitors(2).

## We believe there are 5 fundamental things you could be looking at now to ensure that your online brand presence is LLM ready:

### A quick online brand health check
How is your brand presence and sentiment doing online. It's all very well focussing on what you're saying on LinkedIn but what are others saying about you in places like Reddit and Glassdoor which are where LLMs will be looking to understand how your brand is perceived. Understanding where your brand is being mentioned and how is more important than ever.

### Is your content strategy LLM ready?
For example attributed research; deep topic led insight; and in depth FAQs. Authored thought leadership on your site, linked to fleshed-out LinkedIn pages and a range of editorial/ earned coverage will all help bolster credibility - which requires a strong proactive PR programme and coordinated spokesperson strategy to boot. 

### Employee advocacy is even more important
How ready are your colleagues to represent and bolster your brand's sentiment ratings online? What’s your employee communications strategy to help turn the dial? 

### Is your website LLM ready?
Is your site your crawlable? Is your metadata AI ready? How well optimised is your knowledge graph? 

### Are you measuring the right things?
Are you using tools such as WAIKAY or Similarweb's AI measurement framework to identify how well you’re performing in AI and identifying how you can do better in the topics you want to index for.

Collective terror is probably misplaced because Jeeves was right all along... but in order to ensure you can answer the questions users are asking, quick action is imperative to ensure you remain visible in the new knowledge gathering era. 

__If you fancy a chat about this email me on [cheath@teamspirit.co.uk](mailto:cheath@teamspirit.co.uk).__

---

1. https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/blog/google-sge-seo
2. https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-search-traffic-conversions-ahrefs/#conversions

Every once in a while there's a shift in the digital landscape that seems to unify the clients we work with in a kind of collective terror... read more on the importance of elevating your digital presence in a LLM dominated landscape.  

Come back Jeeves, all is forgiven

Creating personalised experiences is now a critical business necessity. 

Consumers expect brands to understand their needs, preferences and behaviours, rewarding those who do so with increased loyalty and engagement. Almost two thirds of customers now say they expect companies to adapt experiences to match their changing needs and preferences1 and more than half that they’d likely become repeat buyers after a personalised experience2. Businesses that don’t adapt will find themselves outpaced by competitors and at odds with regulatory mandates including Consumer Duty. 

Despite 80% of financial institutions seeing personalisation as essential to meet the expected and required standards3, many still underinvest and deprioritise this within marketing strategies. With fewer than one in four businesses having the required technology to deliver consistent personalised experiences across channels2, the risk is customer disengagement and shallow, transactional relationships.

__The importance of cross-channel__

AI-driven data processing is fast-tracking personalisation across all customer touchpoints, further raising expectations. Without an accurate, cross channel view, insights are limited. 63% of buyers say experiences fall short of what’s possible4 – the same percentage stated they’d stop purchasing following poorly executed personalisation5. Businesses must invest in the right tech and test rigorously sooner rather than later. 

Prioritising personalisation will boost revenue, strengthen brand loyalty and support meeting regulations. This means building targeted, impactful and well-executed personalisation strategies that evolve with customer needs, fostering trust and differentiation. Investing in these efforts will outweigh potential losses, positioning brands for success in an increasingly regulated, customer-centric landscape.

This blog comes from our recent insight paper ‘Signals’, which includes fourteen thought pieces from departmental experts at Teamspirit on emerging trends, opportunities - and how marketers can stay ahead of them. You can download the full ‘Signals’ report [here](https://downloads.ctfassets.net/sxw14dxmazhg/6BG5pebjty67CF7a8VnEAk/fe62e6890db19c99797987852c736d94/TS_2025_Signals_Report.pdf).

### Sources
1. [https://www.salesforce.com/uk/resources/research-reports/state-of-the-connected-customer/](https://www.salesforce.com/uk/resources/research-reports/state-of-the-connected-customer/)
2. [https://www.twilio.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-state-of-personalization-2021](https://www.twilio.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-state-of-personalization-2021)
3. [https://www.dynamicyield.com/personalization-maturity-report-for-finance-2023/](https://www.dynamicyield.com/personalization-maturity-report-for-finance-2023/)
4. [https://www.salesforce.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience/](https://www.salesforce.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience/)
5. [https://www.smartinsights.com/ecommerce/web-personalisation/consumers-personalized-marketing-engagement/](https://www.smartinsights.com/ecommerce/web-personalisation/consumers-personalized-marketing-engagement/)

How can financial services best respond to customers’ growing expectations of personalised experiences?

The power of personalised experiences

Since the TV era was born, celebrities have played an integral part in building brand awareness and loyalty. 

Over the years, the financial services sector has also learnt to take advantage of celebrity stardust. Not only can a sprinkling of celebrity help build familiarity and trust, it can also help with cut-through in a noisy media landscape where media consumption habits evolve at speed. 

While some have relied heavily on the ‘national treasure status’ of celebrities, others have been the vehicle to put a celebrity right at the heart of British culture.

Over the last thirty years, these campaigns have typically fallen into four different groups:

__Campaign cut through__
1. [Big Zuu](https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/embed/video/2767205.html) / [Timmy Mallet](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-3020805/Video-Timmy-Malletts-nostalgia-gameshow-promote-pensions.html) / [GC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhefWZx26qs) – ABI/ PLSA ‘Pension Attention’
2. [Myleeen Klass](https://x.com/KlassMyleene/status/1816084462985244830) – Bupa Mental Health
3. [Dame Judi Dench](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTPKlyEKpo) – MoneySuperMarket

__Familiarity through wit__
1. [Ant & Dec](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr_aHaq8Eno) – Santander
2. [Rowan Atkinson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RylTP_5fG0s) – Barclaycard
3. [John Cleese](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J50wR1KB17s) – Avalon

__Reassurance & expertise__
1. [George Clarke, Scarlette Douglas & Jason Fox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02XMe4xUGN8) – AXA UK
2. [Michael Parkinson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMm00NaDvw) – Sun Life 
3. [Carol Vorderman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw7kezrUGIQ) – First Plus

__Building a national treasure__
1. [Sergei & the meerkat family](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI_J-MZ6fiY) – Compare the Market
2. [Churchill (the dog)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_eCLJglhy4) – Churchill Insurance
3. [Workie the pension monster](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1222999/Meet-pensions-monster-latest-government-ad-campaign.html) – Department of Work & Pensions, Workplace Pension campaign

With financial services providers especially reliant on establishing and growing long term relationships with customers, the transformative potential of these partnerships for a brand is significant.

But as culture continues to fragment, those brands looking for a ‘one size fits all’ celebrity may well struggle. While larger than life campaigns will still help build brand fame, it is those that are more tactical and bespoke to demographics that will likely bear the most fruit.

*Read our report, ‘[NoticeMe! Why financial services need fame](https://downloads.ctfassets.net/sxw14dxmazhg/3f5Ii0cJv8Dxd1x76biHyq/8f3217202291e6c5e2a6be8f395d2349/9988_TS_Notice_Me_Report_2025_RGB_UK_AW4_MO.pdf)’, to read our view on why financial services need to unashamedly chase fame; our definition of what we mean by fame; a host of noteworthy examples from within and outside the sector; and how to create it with behavioural science tips aka CHESS.*

With financial services providers reliant on establishing and growing long term relationships with customers, the role of celebrities to strengthen that bond continues to evolve.

Looking for a celeb in finance

Time Out has acquired [YPlan](https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/21/time-out-for-yplan/), the four year old, London-based event discovery and booking platform for £1.6m.

This deal looks like a great fit for Time Out, which is looking to build its global footprint as retailer as well as recommender, as it will benefit from YPlan’s relationships, app and online infrastructure, and product development team.

But the news may not be quite so good for the venture capital firms which have collectively invested around £31m in the startup. Well-known VCs including Octopus Investments, Wellington Partners and General Catalyst all stand to make a loss from the sale.

We think this story is a fascinating insight into the risks inherent in tech venture capital, as well as the every-changing events market.

YPlan sells to Time Out

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Thu 25 Sep 2025

Industry experts untangle the messy middle

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Come back Jeeves, all is forgiven

Sun 17 Aug 2025

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Tue 29 Jul 2025

Looking for a celeb in finance