Overcoming Compliance Issues in Financial Services
This Life and Pensions brand was facing the prospect of having its products suspended by the FSA for failing to comply with its Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) Initiative.

The Challenge
This Life and Pensions brand was facing the prospect of having its products suspended by the FSA for failing to comply with it’s Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) Initiative which requires all consumer product information to be clear and balanced – irrespective of the channel by which it is communicated.
The Solution
We developed a scalable, qualitative / quantitative communications development research solution for assessing multi-channel product information rapidly, cost-effectively and at a highly granular level. Where information was found not to be TCF-compliant the necessary remedial action was specified. Some 30 products were assessed in this way.
The Outcome
The results of each project – along with the proposed improvements – were presented to the FSA. As a result, no products were suspended and no fines were levied.
Lastly, Brandspeak devised a ‘best practice’ product communications guide for all future products. All communications are now developed in accordance with the guide’s contents.
Client Feedback

We worked with Brandspeak on a brand awareness project and we were extremely pleased with the quality of service and the process. They understood the complexity of the briefs and asked plenty of questions to make sure they fully understand the objectives. They interacted with all levels of people in our business and understood the differences within the market and suggested ways to tie the research together so it was still comparable. The results were delivered with easy to digest summaries that could be used across the business. We would highly recommend using them.
Lauren Williams
Very informative, easy to work with and a really friendly team. I would recommend Brandspeak to help any business grow. They are great quality for money, help niche sectors and present their findings in an understanding manner. They have provided a brand review, market review post-covid to ensure we are still up to date, along with two very valuable website reviews. Working with them for qualitative and quantities research has a been fantastic for us. Thank you for all your help!
Sarah Twist – Marketing Manager
It's been an absolute pleasure to work with Brandspeak on our qualitative assessment of different ads across 5 EU markets. Throughout this project, Brandspeak have been expert, professional and so flexible with our requirements and timings. The research analysis that they provided us with was extremely valuable and insightful. I look forward to working with them again – highly recommend!
Zanya Fahy

Great service from Brandspeak – highly recommend for thoughtful and detailed brand measurement and tracking.
Georgie Burks, Brand Marketing Lead
Brandspeak have been fantastic to work with. They are a very professional agency who really understand the importance of quality research. Their team were very responsive, knowledgeable and easy to work with and provided us with excellent insights.
Mark Wilson

We wanted to understand how elements of our brand were perceived by consumers and identify opportunities where we could make improvements. Brandspeak clearly understood the brief and worked closely with us to develop a research approach that would answer our questions. The insight has been used to inform the development of our creative and also applied to other areas of our marketing communications. It was a pleasure to work with Brandspeak.
Strategy & Insight Manager | Animal Friends Insurance
Brandspeak helped us with getting invaluable market insights! They showed great flexibility and professionalism throughout the entire process and provided us exactly with the results we needed. I would recommend working with Brandspeak to anyone and anytime.
Tom Suberg
From the moment I contacted Brandspeak I can't thank Jeremy and his team enough. Offering a professional approach they took the time and effort to make the whole process easy and effortless. I highly recommend Brandspeak and look forward to working with them again in the future.
Verity Kimber
From their initial proposal they displayed an understanding of financial services and a clarity of thinking that made them stand out. Since then they have consistently delivered to demanding timescales. But what really sets them apart are their actionable and business focused recommendations which give them the credibility to influence senior internal stakeholders. I have really enjoyed working with them and look forward to doing so again.
Leading life and pensions provider
It is always a pleasure – and a relief! – to work with researchers who get the whole thing – effortlessly... a heartfelt thanks.
DLKW
