Three things you already feel — but can't yet measure
01 — Buyers no longer call. They search and ask AI. "Best ISA UK", "fixed-rate mortgage near me", "transfer my pension easily" — every one of these queries shows what's wanted, in real time. Most FS brands don't see this signal continuously.
02 — App is the new brand. The single biggest predictor of brand sentiment in FS today is app experience. A −0.52 sentiment on "mobile application" is a strategic crisis. We can quantify it for you in 4 weeks.
03 — Aggregators are eating direct-channel share. MoneySavingExpert. Moneyfacts. Compare The Market. They sit between you and the buyer. Your visibility share against them is the most under-measured digital KPI in FS.
The four outputs Theia delivers for FS
| Output | Question it answers |
|---|---|
| Demand map | Where does category demand actually sit, by theme, by season? |
| Visibility map | Where do we rank vs aggregators + peers, weighted by click share? |
| App + UX perception | What do customers actually say about the experience? |
| Brand momentum | Is brand interest rising / falling / steady — and how fast? |
Plus, optionally:
- Niche identification — defensible positions no peer owns
All delivered in 6 weeks. Continuously refreshed.
The anchor proof — Principality
The framework, applied to a real UK building society:
01 — Invisible where demand lives 12.9% keyword coverage / 2.6% click visibility in organic. Aggregators and Nationwide own the channel.
02 — The app is the weak point −0.52 sentiment. Account access / withdrawal close behind. The drag is specific, not the whole digital story.
03 — Brand is the fastest-growing in the category +86% over the period — vs Nationwide −25%. Convertible momentum.
04 — Service and rates are genuine strengths Customer-service sentiment +0.71. Setup speed +0.80-0.90. The foundations of a stronger funnel exist.
Read the full Principality case → /cases/principality-bs
The 4-finding framework — visibility / experience / momentum / niche — generalises to every regional FS brand.
Replication across FS peers
| Brand | What we'd build first |
|---|---|
| Coventry / Yorkshire / Skipton BS | Same framework. Different position on the visibility + experience axes. |
| Nationwide | The trajectory analysis — they're losing on momentum despite scale. |
| Tier-2 banks (Metro, Starling, M&S) | Challenger positioning — what's defensible vs being eroded. |
| Insurance (Hiscox, Direct Line, AA, RAC) | Comparison-site visibility war + claims-experience perception. |
| Wealth / Investment (Hargreaves, Vanguard, AJ Bell) | Educational-content visibility + AI Overview citation share. |
Same engine. Different category. Adaptation is methodological config, not custom engineering.
Methodology — the bit regulators like
- Public sources only. Observational, descriptive. No proprietary or commercial data feeds.
- Evidence base: enriched snippets from web articles + AI Overview citations + Trustpilot + Smart Money People reviews.
- Demand series: multi-month, Google-Trends-calibrated for de-seasonalisation.
- Sentiment: model-extracted per snippet on a −1..+1 scale, corroborated against independent star ratings.
- Reproducible: same evidence base + same methodology = same findings. No "black box."
For a regulated industry, this matters. The methodology pack ships with every engagement.
Commercial — three phases
| Phase | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 (weeks 1-6) — Strategic Audit | The Principality-format strategic deck. 8-12 slides. 4 findings + 4 strategic moves. | £45-60k |
| Phase 2 (months 4-12) — Continuous monitoring | Monthly dashboard refresh. Quarterly executive review. AI Overview citation tracking. App sentiment trajectory. | £6-9k / month |
| Phase 3 (year 2+) — Embedded | Continuous monitoring + Strategy Agent outputs feeding your digital team monthly. Content production on request. | £10-15k / month |
Most FS clients start with Phase 1 and decide on continuous monitoring once they've seen the findings.
6-week strategic audit
- Week 1 — Sign · agree thematic scope · select peer set · access requirements
- Weeks 2-3 — Build · keyword universe + evidence base + 87-month demand series
- Week 4 — Collect · web articles + AI Overview citations + Trustpilot + Smart Money People baseline
- Week 5 — Analyse · demand / visibility / experience / momentum frameworks computed
- Week 6 — Deliver · 11-slide strategic deck + methodology pack + recommended moves