PNC Bank - Network Rollout

A reliable source from PNC Financial Services, who offer banking, lending, insurance, and wealth management services through nearly 1,100 branches on the Atlantic seabord, has confirmed that the bank is in the process of rolling out digital signage as part of a comprehensive merchandising program to its entire branch network.

PNC, which began experimenting with digital media in its flagship branches as early as 2002-3, made the decision to move forward with the new program after a lengthy pilot test earlier this year, which produced impressive results. While the exact figures were not provided, key decisioning metrics included lifts in awareness and recall (~2x better than the current merchandising system), as well as a noted lift in the percentage of customers asking questions about promotions they saw while in queue. The new merchandising system has since been expanded to the bank's ~200 Washington, DC-area branches, recent denovos, and flagship locations already outfitted with plasma screens, with plans to extend the program to the remainder of the branch network over the next 1-2 years.

One notable element of PNC's program is that the digital screens are but a single element in a broader, fully integrated merchandising program. Other elements include a variety of environmental elements, a promotional fixture which holds 3-dimensional graphics to attract attention to the bank's most important current promotion, and a clever queue fixture that houses product brochures, flyers detailing community events, and other branch-related information. According to the source, each of these elements is reinforced by messaging on the digital screens (the ubiquitous behind-the-teller-counter and waiting-area varieties), and localized to fit each branch's surrounding community. This mutually-reinforcing approach--rather than the "fish out of water" screen which shows information unrelated to other branch promotional material--is exactly how all institutions should be including digital media in their retail communications mix.

Gensler provided the new environmental branch design for the PNC program, but the merchandising system and digital signage network are being handled by John Ryan, using its ScreenRed software platform.