What a Difference a Bank Makes

Abstract: Nowadays, the service industry, especially banks, faces increasing competition. In such environment, differentiation is necessary. The general purpose of this thesis is to understand how a bank can achieve differentiation based on a marketing approach. Two research questions will respectively examine the three additional P’s of the marketing mix (People, Presentation or Physical Evidence and Process) and the Customer Relationship Management as possible differentiators. To fulfill the purpose, the authors of the thesis introduce an extended model of the CRM concept, including the three additional P’s. Further, the researchers of the thesis interview the four major banks in Sweden SEB, Svenska Handelsbanken, FöreningsSparbanken and Nordea, to test their model. After an analysis of the interviews, the authors come to the conclusion that the extended model of the CRM concept is actually used as a differentiator. However, as the four major Swedish banks have a similar strategy; it then appears really difficult to differentiate to a large extent.