Barclays: The Difference between Index and ‘Buzz’

Date Posted: 27 June 2008

Barclays was the last of the major UK banks to follow regulators’ demands to boost their capital. Barclays avoided conducting the rights issue, the path followed by HBOS, Bradford & Bingley and Royal Bank of Scotland; but decided to issue new shares for investors.

These financial manoeuvres were widely published in the British press and they left a trace in consumer perception.

On the top chart, Barclays’ Index scores (an average value of the 7 BrandIndex measures without ‘Buzz’) show a stable position just under 0%, moving up slowly as the month progressed, finishing June just above 0%. The ‘Buzz’ scores for Barclays, on the other hand, show a different story and mirror the news stories. Starting at -4%, they fall back to -7% on the 8th of June with a slight increase to -3% on the 11th only to see the scores fall back to -7% on the 19th. Barclays’ ‘Buzz’ finishes the month with -5%, showing a hopeful picture for the brand.

The mindshare (bottom chart) shows how many people made either a positive or negative identification with the brand. Knowing this, the drops in ‘Buzz’ scores on the top chart are even more important, as the mindshare chart shows that there were more people who had something to say about the brand in both occasions.

Barclays confirmed a cash injection, as Quatar Investment Authority took a near-8 per cent stake in the high street bank on the 25th of June. BrandIndex will continue to follow the bank’s scores in the future.

Agi Zabo, BrandIndex Research Executive

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