Publications & Resources
March/April 2008
Focus: Building Franchise Value
Differentiating Your Bank Through The Five Senses
By Kevin Blair
To differentiate a bank in today’s saturated market, financial institutions must create a multi-sensory experience for customers.
Dan Pink, writing for Yahoo Finance, says “Today, utility is abundant. We have more products and services than we can handle, and most function just fine. To stand out in a crowded marketplace, sellers must make a dramatic leap in utility — or stand out in some other way. They can try to compete on price, but that usually ends in a downward death spiral. So the alternative is to compete not on left-brain attributes like price and functionality, but on right-brain qualities such as emotion, meaning, and look and feel. Case in point: Target sells toilet brushes and vegetable scrubbers designed by superstar architect Michael Graves. Even the most mundane, utilitarian objects in our lives have been turned into objects of desire.”
So how does this work in the banking environment? How do banks create customer experiences that bring forth emotion and meaning?
By playing to the customer’s senses.
Points of Experience
To successfully position a bank in today’s market, financial institutions are infusing their branches with “Points of Experience”. These multi-sensory touch points are designed to engage customers and develop a more personal bond between the customer and the product or service.
When sensory touch points are leveraged during a staged customer experience, a higher number of sensory memories are activated, resulting in a stronger bond between the bank’s brand and the customer.
Much has been written about using sensory branding in the retail environment to make a connection with customers. According to Martin Lindstrom, author of Brand Sense, branding has always been about establishing emotional ties between the brand and the consumer. “As in any relationship, emotions are based on information gathered from our senses. Sensory branding aims to stimulate your relationship with the brand. You could say it optimizes impulse purchasing behavior, sparks our interest and allows emotional response to dominate our rational thinking. A branded stimulus not only motivates impulsive behavior, it also directly connects emotions to the brand.”
So it’s not enough to just create a fulfilling customer experience, rather the experience must also create some form of differentiation from the competition. Financial institutions can do this by utilizing five senses to brand their story more effectively.
Smell, Taste, Hear, Touch, Feel
Entice the olfactory sense by branding your own aroma. Scent is the strongest sense tied to memory. And for years, retailers have capitalized on this by piping everything from the scent of chocolate chip cookies to the smell of a new car through retail spaces. Financial institutions can acquire help from scent service companies, or mixologists, as they’re referred to in the industry, to create a signature smell.
Taste can be manipulated through branded coffee, water, or other refreshments. Many banks have already caught onto this trend with coffee bars and café seating in their branches. Elements such as these are designed to provide a comfortable atmosphere. One that is unhurried and relaxed, encouraging customers to take their time and consider all of their financial options.
Financial institutions are also starting to brand music. As with anything, the music must match the bank’s brand and their targeted customer base, but once it’s aligned and channeled throughout the retail environment, the impact is profound.
Visually, every customer touch point within the branch should be branded. There are more vehicles in which to do this than can be listed here — brand graphics, a history wall, digital signage, light boxes, product displays, etc.
And finally, the sense of touch. In a myriad of ways, this sense can be activated within the branch environment. The most successful application lures the customer to pick up a product and use it. For instance, some banks are using mobile kiosks in branches where customers can pick up a cell phone, order new cellular service and set up their on-line banking account.
Speak to Customers
The objective is to modify your customers’ behavior
within your branches. What will entice them to browse, shop and buy? What will
engage or “wow” them? If you’re not creating Points of Experience within
your facilities that stimulate all five senses, then you are missing the
opportunity to differentiate your bank, cross sell products and services and
develop a more fulfilling customer experience. Speak to customers through the
five senses to build deeper client relationships, and in turn, increase your
bottom line.
Kevin Blair is president and COO of NewGround in
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