Chief Marketing Office

The Chief Marketing Office (CMO) supports Barclaycard and the wider Group Central Functions environment with expertise in strategy, innovation, product development, customer insight, brand and communication. The teams include Brand & Advertising, Payment Innovations, Internet Channel Services (ICS), Strategy Insight & Business Development, Corporate Affairs and Loyalty Marketing. The vision of CMO is to enhance and build Barclaycard’s brand, reputation and business results by delivering products, channels and communications that engage customers and colleagues alike, and help us to stay ahead in meeting their changing needs in all of our businesses and markets.

The Chief Marketing Office (CMO) is an integral part of delivering on our vision and achieving Barclaycard’s growth ambitions. To achieve this, CMO leverages expertise in customer insight, strategy development, new product inception and launch, and it’s track record in building and deploying innovative channels (online and mobile). Increasingly, the brief expands to focus even more proactively on global markets so that Barclaycard benefits from the expertise globally.

In terms of the teams you could work in, CMO provides a depth of experience. Find out more about the different teams you could work in below:

Brand & Advertising
This team makes sure that Barclaycard’s brand positioning is relevant to all our customers, both in the UK and overseas, and to individuals as well as businesses. This brand positioning is not just reflected in our highly successful advertising and sponsorship strategies but also in the way we do business – even right down to how our automated telephone answering system sounds. The team also sets standards for the different business areas to apply in their own marketing campaigns.

Payment Innovations
In a fiercely competitive market, our Payment Innovations team reinforces a long history of innovation that started when Barclaycard became the UK’s first credit card. One of the more recent breakthroughs to hit the market is Barclaycard OnePulse. This combines an Oyster card (the easiest, cheapest way to travel round London) with credit and contactless cards. The ‘next big thing’ will be payments by mobile, something we have already been successfully developing through our partnership with Orange.

Internet Channel Services (ICS)
With Barclaycard now acquiring over 60% of its UK card customers through the internet, the ICS team is vital in developing a world-class internet offering that attracts new customers and offers existing customers an outstanding service. And they do that on a world stage. Innovation in this area is key, and advances include Live Chat. This gives customers real-time help through a chat facility on Barclaycard’s website and on sites that support products such as Barclaycard OnePulse and Barclaycard Breathe.   

Strategy
The CMO is responsible for establishing business strategy for Barclaycard as a whole, including deciding which businesses and which countries we should invest in. In addition, the strategy team works with the Managing Directors of the different Barclaycard businesses, helping them think through the strategy for their particular area.

Insight and Product Development
Everything we do starts with the customer and our understanding their needs. The Customer Insight team thoroughly assesses what matters most to customers in every part of the Barclaycard business, and we use this knowledge to set our future agenda.

The Product Development team uses customer insights to devise and refresh products across the Barclaycard business, and to make sure we help customers in different countries benefit from products that prove successful in other parts of the world. A good example is Barclaycard Breathe, which donates 50% of its profits to environmental causes. This card, which was initially devised and launched in the UK, has been adapted for other European countries.

Corporate Affairs
Corporate Affairs protects and enhances Barclaycard’s reputation through a number of channels:

• public relations – dealing with the media
• internal communications – helping our business leaders communicate their message to our 10,000 colleagues
• public affairs – influencing the development of relevant government policy
• corporate responsibility – making a positive and sustainable impact in the communities in which we operate

Loyalty Marketing  
Loyalty Marketing is the division that focuses on our customers and ensures we consistently deliver new and exciting offerings to keep us one step ahead, in our customers’ eyes. In 2010, Loyalty Marketing will launch an exciting and unique rewards based proposition to millions of customers and thousands of retailers.

Join us here and you will experience three placements. These placements will allow you to develop the skills and insight to establish a successful career in Marketing. You could be involved in a number of different roles across CMO such as learning about our specialised branding function, ensuring the Barclaycard image is accurately portrayed worldwide, to becoming an advertising specialist, looking at innovative ways we target new and existing customers. As your experience grows, so will your responsibility. Take a look below to see some of the responsibilities you could be involved with:

• Building strong partnerships with key media and creative suppliers, exploring unique and innovative solutions for selling products successfully.
• Working directly with customers, colleagues, and partners to help create industry leading, award winning e-channels.
• Development, management and delivery of campaigns across all channels – managing to deadlines and budget, ensuring campaigns are customer focused and follow industry best practice, making sure communications feature the right product messaging, brand values and adhere to all regulations.
• Working with colleagues and customers in Barclaycard and GRB to assess and develop Customer experience improvements, developing customer journeys and ensuring channels guide customers to the right products online and offline.
• Partnering with other strategic business units to develop innovative ways to communicate our products to consumers where understanding is lower.