Capital One Bank - Network Rollout (600 branches)

Yet another of the large US retail banking networks goes digital...

Word on the street is that Capital One, who operate a retail branch network of roughly 600 locations primarily in New York, Texas, and Louisiana (a geographically disparate combination of the former Hibernia and North Fork banks purchased by Capital One over the past few years), are in the process of deploying digital signage on a network-wide basis.

As seen in a grand re-opening photo above, we understand that screens will be located primarily behind the teller counter, and will display a mix of Capital One promotions along with the omnipresent information feeds (news, weather, etc.). In New York, where North Fork had liberally deployed LCD screens playing network news in ATM vestibules, street-facing windows, and waiting areas in addition to teller counters, we would (logically) expect the use of digital signage to be more pervasive.

It is believed that New Ground, the venerable bank-focused retail design and merchandising firm, will provide software, content, and integration services.

Lehman Brothers LED (now Barclays blue)

During the current financial crisis, one unexpected benefit of digital signage has come to the forefront -- the ability to rebrand corporate branding and promotional messaging immediately following an acquisition.

In the wake of Barclays' takeover of Lehman Brothers' prime brokerage and investment management businesses a few weeks ago, Barclays immediately washed the LED spanning the block-long facade of Lehman's headquarters with Barclays blue.

Unless Barclays retains Lehman's creative department, passersby will greatly miss the element of visual drama the sign added to its block. Animations--which were coordinated across all the LED panels--incorporated news feeds, corporate branding writ large, and visually appealing full motion video, often of landscape or nature scenes (eg. fields of wheat swaying in the wind, waves).

The original LED design and installation was overseen by Untwist Technology, a NY-based A/V integration firm. The LED manufacturer and content processor vendors are not known.

(Photos taken from news publications and Untwist Technology website)

HSBC - Times Square LED

While our primary area of interest is branch-related digital signage (as the blog title would suggest), we will be covering a few especially impactful out-of-home installations over the next few weeks, the first of which is HSBC's 45' x 52' LED sign, located at the heart of Times Square in New York.

In use for the past 5-6 years, with a significant technology refresh in 2005, HSBC is currently employing it to reinforce its "The World's Local Bank" brand positioning, and to rasie awareness of its direct bank offerings (high-yield savings, online checking). Content is made up of full-motion video and animated versions of HSBC's print advertisements, including time-sensitive rate offers. One recent content example is featured below:

Content development, software, operations, and technology support are provided by New York-based Show & Tell Productions.

(content storyboard taken from Show & Tell website)

Charles Schwab - Network Rollout

Five years ago Charles Schwab, one of the largest retail brokerage firms in the US, would not have been considered a bank by most standards. However, the firm recently made a bid to attract core deposits through a high-yield online checking account linked to its internet brokerage platform, and is making significant headway in the mass affluent segment (among the most valuable to banks). One of the prototypical clicks-and-mortar success stories, Schwab operates a network of more than 300 full-service branches and, along with them, a nifty little digital signage network.

Installed in roughly 125 high-visibility street-level locations concentrated in the largest urban markets across the US, Schwab's digital signage network includes window-mounted and interior facing lcd "posters," and a interactive kiosks positioned a few paces after the entry to the lobby. Schwab clearly went all-out on the integration of the screens--even in their existing retail locations--as they blend seamlessly into the overall retail environment, often surrounded by back-lit acryllic panels or built directly into the woodwork.

The window displays are typically made up of multi-screen arrays (either 2 x 1 in portrait format or 4 x 1 banners) and broadcast content consistent with Scwab's mass-media advertising campaigns. Of particular interest are the "Ask Chuck" spots, picking up a theme developed in Schwab's TV and print media, which provide answers to common questions asked by Schwab customers via the firm's web portal.

The internal screens are generally single-screen "posters," which provide information on new product features, investment advice, and current stock market updates, and one of which can be used to make powerpoint presentations to customers during lunch or after hours. Given the strength of the content for the other applications, the interactive kiosks are a bit of a letdown, but they do provide nice functionality to search upcoming branch events and seminars throughout the regional area, and the ability to print out information otherwise stored in paper brochures.

The overall retail environment was designed by Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, and content is developed by Schwab's internal team along with support from its interactive agency. According to my sources, the network is managed using a proprietary system Schwab developed internally--a first for the digital signage industry given the size of this installation?--which appears to run smoothly.

(Photos taken from Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill website)

Commerce Bank - Network Rollout

Virtually since it began its aggressive branch expansion, Commerce Bank has relied on digital media to communicate to its customers. The bank, whose 450+ branch network spans the Atlantic coast including the key markets of Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey, Washington DC, and Florida, is well known for its commitment to service excellence and differentiated branch experience. It has been well-documented that Commerce was the pioneer of extended hours, having branches open seven days a week, and including customer-friendly ammenities such as coin counters and bowls of water for accompanying dogs; what is less-commonly identified is that Commerce can be largely credited for the inclusion of flat-screen monitors behind the teller counter in the thousands of denovo bank branches that have been built in major markets across the US in the past few years.

The Commerce network is simple and focused in its strategy and execution. All branches receive 40"-42" monitors behind the teller counter showing Commerce promotions, educational pieces on financial needs and banking products in general, and some general community information. Additionally, branches located in areas where there is substantial pedestrian foot traffic also receive a large-screen installation of either a 64" plasma, or an array of rear-projection screens, which is designed to operate like a rotating billboard. Where content on the screens on the teller wall is clearly oriented toward cross-sell or retention, the "billboard" screens focus entirely on brief, focused acquisition messaging, with common themes including the number of branches Commerce is opening or has open in a given community, or enticements to visit the branch like the coin counting machines or events. The simplicity and clarity of purpose of the network has enabled Commerce to operate it seamlessly for years in the absence of a large media production budget or high-speed network bandwidth (or, in some cases, any network connectivity at all).

Given the level of integration with the overall branch design and the low-cost of ownership, imagine my surprise when a few years ago I heard Jeff Porter of Scala identify Commerce in his annual 10-worst digital media installations for being able to manage some updates using a cd-rom, rather than the internet...a classic case of a misguided technologist (and in this case with an agenda to peddle network software) forgetting that what really matters is the impact of an installation, not the means to achieve it.

It will be interesting to see the fate of Commerce Bank's digital signage network with their recent acquisition by Toronto Dominion, who have experimented with digital signage using Canadian service providers but have never rolled it out. For the time-being content, network management, and site installation/maintenance is provided by New Jersey's Diversified Media Group (a small gem of a network service provider who I was not aware of until recently, but who manage digital signage networks for Nike and JC Decaux, among others). Software for networked sites is provided by C-nario.

Hey, Hey BofA...

...do something about your content in New York, and stop mixing it with a live broadcast feed!

This article deserves to be expanded more broadly to encompass the general "crisis of content" plaguing so many bank digital signage networks today (well documented here, as well), but I couldn't help but comment on the Bank of America branch in Grand Central this morning, which includes at least a dozen screens of different shapes and sizes.

There, broadcasting on all screens during the morning subway rush, I watched a fanastic advertisement for E*Trade's new high-yield checking account. Not a bad idea, Bank of America...maybe I'll close my account with you and open one up there.

E*Trade Financial - Flagship Stores

E*Trade made a pretty big splash a few years back, when they announced they were moving from "clicks to bricks" by building flagship retail trading locations in San Francisco and New York. If you never had the opportunity to visit one, they were literally littered with plasma screens, LED tickets, and big-boards flashing stock quotes and providing E*Trade's own closed circuit television feed. As quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle back in 2000, someone close to E*Trade said about the stores,

This is anything but a branch strategy...this creates a concept store that presents the brand. (Full article: here)

Are these high-concept retail financial services "branded experience" stores worth the money? Not to me, and apparently not to E*Trade.

While E*Trade has continued to open branches across the US--undoubtedly buoyed by their burgeoning deposit business, as well as the core trading offer--the Manhattan flagship location (pictured above), has long since been shuttered and is now a Wachovia or a Chase branch (can't remember which). The San Francisco flagship on Market Street is still operational, but I suspect that has more to do with closing an office in your hometown in a location with landmark status than it does with any sort of break-even.

The lesson for all of us? The "branded experiences" not linked to any tangible service or communications functionality just don't cut it for customers, and don't cut it as ROI justification long-term. (One potential exception: ING Direct's coffee shops, which we'll address in an upcoming article)

(Photos taken from E*Trade Annual Report)

Sovereign Bank - New York Branches

They're not terribly memorable, but for the sake of completeness a quick entry on the digital signage installations in Sovereign Bank's 15 or-so NYC branches. Frankly, while the screens themselves are attractively integrated into the surrounding millwork, due to their placement within the branch--on the back of greeter station, facing a tiny, never-occupied waiting area--I doubt that the vast majority of customers who visit many of these branches have no idea they even exist!

Note to any/all bank marketers considering (or consultants recommending) deploying a digital signage system: Spend a day monitoring traffic patterns in one of your busy branches, and you'll find that 85-90% of visitors head from the door right to the teller counter. Of the remaining 10-15% customers who come to see a CSR, whether to buy a product or for service, only 2-3% will be required to wait (generally during the lunch hour, or late in the day). That means of the 300 or-so customers who enter a busy branch, 6-9 per day will spend so much as a minute in the waiting area. In other words, from a marketing standpoint, this is not exactly valuable real estate...

It's unclear who made the recommendation to install these displays where they are, nor is it clear that Sovereign has deployed digital signage elsewhere in its 800+ branch network (these were inherited in the Independence Community Bank acquisition). OpenEye Displays manages the network using software from 3M Digital Signage, and content is likely created by Sovereign's in-house ad-agency, 601.

(Photo taken from OpenEye website)

Bank of America - Collated Pilots & Rollouts

With nearly 6,000 locations, Bank of America possesses by far the largest retail network of any US retail bank. While the bank, which prides itself on technological innovation, has been making waves in the digital signage industry for years now--including this 2004 article in Business Week, which many at the time believed (incorrectly, it turns out) was the bellwhether moment for the digital signage industry--but has yet to make any large-scale commitment to date.


That said, over the past 2-3 years a number of "small scale" rollouts have occurred among within the bank's network (the largest of which was inherited in the acquisition of FleetBoston), and many of these would dwarf a full rollout for almost any other client. The bank is notoriously tight-lipped about results from any of its pilot tests, but rumor has it that customer satisfaction improved dramatically in RBSi branches, where Teller Zone Media was originally tested, and that branches with the interactive mortgage fixtures witnessed a 10-15% increase in applications during a limiting pilot test (if that's true, it's shocking the bank didn't deploy those babies everywhere, as 6-12 additional mortgage sales per year would easily cover the cost of ownership).

Rather than detail them individually over time, I have attempted to provide a comprehensive list below:

• Teller Zone Media (400-500 sites) - 19"-42" screens located above or behind teller counters, displaying live news feeds interspersed with bank content, primarily in New York, Washington, DC, and in denovo (RBSi) locations from the past 3-4 years
• Lobby/Media Wall (300-400 sites) - a 42" screen located in the waiting area of denovo (RBSi) branches, playing the same mix of news and bank content as the teller area
• External LED Signage (<10>sites))- massive LED banners and walls serving as external signage, primarily in high-visibility locations in New York
• Digital Windows (10-20 sites?) - 19"-60" Screens located in windows of high-traffic New York locations, some in 'portrait' mode and some in 'landscape' mode, primarily playing the same news/content mix as the interior screens (where they're even working these days)
• Investor Centers (40-50 sites) - 1-2 42" screens located in the Banc of America Securities offices, mostly in California and Texas, showing financial news almost exclusively
• ATM Vestibule (~50 sites) - primarily small screens in New York branches, frequently incorporated into the ATM surround itself
• Interactive Web Kiosks (~300 sites?) - all over in New York, DC, and Boston (although rarely being used and with less pomp than those displayed in the photo below), touchscreen kiosks enabling customers to access account information, print out information, and use various "tools" available on the Bank of America homepage
• Interactive Mortgage Centers (15-20 sites) - a very cool application, which since may have been de-installed, the interactive versions of the ubiquitous "Mortgage Center" fixtures allowed customers to learn about mortgage products or watch informational videos, and were located primarily in Las Vegas and Florida
• Interactive Window (1 site) - an ersewhile pilot test in Chicago, probably designed to generate buzz (which it did: link), which played primarily the same content used on the mortgage fixtures

As you would imagine, this many projects takes a small village of suppliers to manage and complete, including Prism Technologies, Creative Realities, Planar/CoolSign, R/GA, GestureTek, Convergent, and Sony, among others I'm sure.

The Provident Bank (NJ) - Jersey City Flagship

Not much to say about this installation, other than to say its a nice looking branch, to add another to the talley of 3-wide banner display installations, and to encourage The Provident Bank (the one in New Jersey, not the one in DC) to update its content more frequently than once every two years.

The installation consists of two 3-wide digital signage banners, one of which is positioned behind the teller counter, and the other of which serves as the center-piece for a "financial solutions" center, visible from the street and the nearby Manhattan-New Jersey ferry terminal. For more, I'll quote from the BrandPartners case study:

The “Provident Hub” communications strategy came to life with six 40-inch LCD displays, fitted together to create two sets of seamless banners, each hung in designated zones. The new Digital Signage Network projects financial facts, brand positioning, product offerings and local news....the solution improves the customer experience as it promotes brand recognition and communicates product campaigns and financial services information. As a result, The Provident has been able to transition from a traditional, transaction-oriented bank to a full-service provider of expert financial solutions.

Branch design services and content are supplied by BrandPartners, and local integrator OpenEye Displays manages the network using 3M Digital Signage software.

(Photos taken from BrandPartners website)

Bank of New York - Park Avenue Flagship

Another 3-wide LCD digital signage banner installation, this time in the ATM vestibule at Bank of New York's flagship Park Avenue location. B0NY's 400+ retail branches were recently acquired by JP Morgan Chase and are in the process of being re-branded, but this branch (a one-off in the BoNY network) should fit nicely with the ones Chase has been building or renovating elsewhere in the city.

To be honest, I'm not sure what the architect's or marketer's intent was with this sign originally, as it's positioned well to be visible from the street--where employing need some sort of short flashy 'attract' sequence with 3-5 second content bursts would make the most sense--yet too high to be seen as you wait to use the ATM, where devoting 45 minutes or so of every hour to talking-head style Bloomberg financial news (does anyone other than a banker, stock analyst, broker, or trader actually choose to watch that on their free time? Granted, those guys were probably BoNY's target market) might otherwise make a modicum of sense.

The screen is broken up into multiple quadrants, one showing a live Bloomberg feed, one a ticker, one a separate text-based news panel, and one with an ad, but cuts to Bank of New York advertising whenever the telecast cuts to a commercial break. This solves one major problem faced by the myrriad of banks here in New York who have installed televisions in their denovo branches, only to broadcast thousands of their competitors' ads to their own customers as they wait for service (read: dumb). I'm assuming that Chase, who I'll profile at some point in the future, has since replaced this feed with the same content they run in their own legacy branches, but I'm guessing content/software was originally provided by Bloomberg Financial Network and The Affinity Group.

HSBC - 5th Avenue Flagship

These photos come from HSBC's flagship branch/brokerage center here in New York. As retail formats go it's certainly not among my favorites, but it is one of the earliest branches to employ digital signage and proto-interactive applications (circa 2000?) here in the city. The branch, to my knowledge, remains unique among HSBC's 400+ retail locations in the US.

There are three core electronic communications elements in the branch: 1) the three 2 x 2 arrays of plasma monitors in the windows, which glow by night but are exceedingly difficult to see during the day, 2) an LED stock ticker that weaves its way throughout the interior of the branch (the rotating barbershop pole of brokerage centers here in New York), and 3) a forrest of interactive "web terminal" totems for customers to check their account balances and make trades in the lobby.

The branch cuts a striking figure at night, when the entire lobby and the digital windows glow from the street, but due to glare--a factor known and accounted for today--the leigibility of the plasma screens is maligned substantially during the day, to the point where I've never actually seen someone stop to read them. The content probably also has something to do with that...it alternates between network news (without sound, what's the point in watching a talking head?) and the same sequence of 4-5 content spots that has been playing since the signs were installed. Nor have I ever seen more than 1-2 people checking their account balance at the preponderance of interactive banking terminals. Perhaps their value is more strongly brand-oriented; when the facility was built I suspect offering internet banking and account access still seemed like the vanguard of retail banking and brokerage. I would like to see the bank come up with some more inventive ways of using the fixtures, however, as they send a different, unintended message ("nobody banks here") today.

In summary, HSBC and its design agency, BrandPartners, are to be applauded for their early adoption of electronic communications media, and for the ambition displayed in the variety of applications employed. It's time for a refresh, though, guys...even if it's just a few new content spots! Retail format design was supplied by BrandPartners, content is produced by DDC, and the signs are managed using software from 3M Digital Signage.

(Photos taken from BrandParnters, DDC websites)