Abstract:

The paper is a case study of the ABN-AMRO Freedom credit card, born of a journey of understanding the consumer using a multi-pronged and iterative process. The research exercise involved studying the cultural context of saving and finance; understanding consumer needs and gaps, attitudes and usage of credit cards, observing the consumer's interactions with the product; developing and fine-tuning concepts that revolve around consumer needs and evaluating the communication pre-launch. Subsequently the product and communication were intricately woven around the findings of the research. The card born of these efforts met with great success in the months following the launch.