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.

M&T Bank - Small rollout?

Although it is not clear what (or how far) this program has been deployed, we were very impressed with this prototype branch for M&T Bank in the greater Washington D.C. area. M&T, who are partly owned by Allied Irish and who operate a ~700 branch network along the eastern seabord and into western New York, commissioned its new branch design last year following a refresh of its overall visual identity and target customer experience.

As is evident from the photos, digital signage is the key merchandising element in the new branch design. Screens are located behind the teller counter--nicely offset by a simple gradation in the paint color--as well as near the checking writing desk, both of which are visible from the bank lobby (while unrelated to our topic, we can't help but also appreciate the back-lit acryllic surrounding the ATMs...quite the visual impact!). Content on the screens consists of bank messaging interspersed with frequently updated,news, weather, and sports information.


Since the launch of M&T's new branch prototype, we understand that the design has been incorporated into 50 or so denovo branches and that a number of the merchandising elements have been deployed to the network. While the extent to which the digital signage elements have been deployed is not clear, we had heard word of a mid-size pilot (15-25 branches) in the M&T network previously. As always, any confirmation or additional information would be much appreciated!

Branch design, the merchandising system, and communications strategy were provided by BrandPartners, and digital signage software and content services are believed to be provided by Inlighten.

(Photos taken from the BrandPartners website)

St. George Bank (Australia) - Partial Rollout

Over the past few years a number of the leading Australian banks--many of whom are now consolidating--invested heavily in upgrading their branch infrastructure in an effort to regain direct relationships with their customers, as the 'broker' model had made inroads in home lending, small business, and other key customer/product segments. St. George Bank, long viewed as the "fifth" of the "four pillars" (the four large banks who control >80% of most financial product categories), was chief among them.

Starting with its branch-of-the-future prototype in 2007, St. George began investing in branch upgrades and refurbishments across their ~500 branch network, with the key objective being to create an environment more conducive to sales / exploratory discussions. Elements of the new plan included a more open floorplan which minimized barriers between customers and staff, better training for sales personnel, and both dynamic and interactive digital signage elements to prompt enquiries and facilitate sales conversations.

Screens displaying product promotions, community news, and providing updates on customer queue position ("now serving...") are located above teller stations, and large-scale plasmas (50-65") are placed in windows in high-traffic locations. St. George's digital signage content engine is integrated both with its queue management software (to drive queue prompts) as well as its CRM engine, which dictates what product advertisements should be displayed at what location.

Larger, higher-volume locations also receive a "lifestyle wall" treatment--grouped into themes such as simplification and retirement--which includes a series of interactive touchscreens, which enable customers to access product information on a self-directed basis or, more commonly, serve as sales tools for staff to conduct more detailed product conversations. Interactive screens are supported by collateral materials, located proximately on the wall.

It is not known what branch design, software, content, and integration partners St. George uses, nor is it clear in the wake of St. George's acquisition by Westpac (who have their own digital signage solutions) how far the program will continue to be deployed. It is, however, an excellent example of how digital merchandising elements can play a pivotal tactical role in changing the nature (and/or frequency) of important branch interactions.

If our Australian readers have additional information to share, it would be much appreciated!

BankWest (Australia) - Partial Rollout

While it is unclear what will occur post-acquisition by Commonwealth Bank, we thougt it merited noting for now that BankWest (Halifax Bank of Scotland's Australian subsidiary) adopted digital signage as a key component of its merchandising strategy when it unveiled a new retail branch format two years ago.

The branches, which were designed to capture attention and generate interest in "true" retail locations -- shopping malls and highly pedestrianed urban areas vs. sharing a parking lot near grocery stores or standing alone at intersections -- adopted a number of concepts pioneered by Commerce Bank in the US, including a bold color palette and better lighting, longer hours, free coin counting, and more promotional marketing. The stores also sell related non-financial merchandise, such as piggy banks ("money boxes"), personal accounting software, and financial advice books.

Scant information is available about the marketing and technology partners who support(ed) the effort, nor does the single but it is believed that the digital signage network made it into 50-100 locations.

ING - Orange Cafe (additional photos)

After our initial post on the ING Cafe in Chicago, a reader was kind enough to share a few additional photos -- this time of locations in New York and St. Cloud, MN -- and some information on the technology solutions supporting it.

Having experimented with a number of different vendors over the years (Gensler, John Ryan, etc.), ING seems to have settled on Rise Vision, of Toronto, as the provider of software and integration services for its digital signage network. Rise Vision nows drives the screen network in each of ING's North American locations, with a number of others (Honolulu, a 2nd Manhattan location) on the books for the coming year.

In terms of screen positioning, the common elements for all stores are digital merchandising placed in proximity to the cafe counter, and internet kiosks for online banking located in the seating areas. In recent stores, ING has also experimented with exterior signage and interactive elements, which enable users to select from a series of informational / educational content. No common screen vendor was identified.

Key Bank - 650 branch (slow) rollout

Sorting through the inbox this weekend, we noticed that Diebold have quietly announced a substantial rollout at KeyBank (long rumored), starting with 8 of the bank's recently refurbished upstate-New York branches. The rollout, which is slated to address ~650 of the bank's 950 branches over the course of three years, is part of a broader upgrade of the bank's customer-facing electronic interfaces--including large-scale electronic displays behind the teller counter (visible displaying Key's logo, above), enhanced ATMs, and self-service deposit machines.

According to the press release, the core objective of the program is to migrate customers to more self-directed service options, freeing up branch staff to provide more in-depth assistance on more complex, consultative issues, and ultimately reducing transaction-driven branch traffic.

Once deployed, much of the content on the screens will be centrally developed and directed, but each branch will also have the flexibility to program its own community content (e.g. uploading images from community events) and provide customized local offers. Content will be delivered over the bank's existing network infrastructure, and managed using software provided by Diebold. Ostensibly, content will also be delivered to the ATM screens, where offers can be customized using the bank's CRM data.

This is one of only a few cases we are aware of where an ATM provider such as Diebold is also providing digital signage infrastructure and software, but it would seem to us to be a logical extension of the existing service agreements such companies provide.

Bank Leumi - a smart approach

We turn our attention next to the hot digital signage market in Israel. Bank Leumi, one of Israel’s oldest and biggest banks, has implemented a digital signage system in roughly 170 of its branches. The network was installed in June 08 by TVeez and used TVeez' Marketing Intelligence Platform and Minicom’s Audio Visual Display System (AVDS).

A unique feature of the Leumi network is the identification of key customer information and the automatic targeting of content based on a marketing profile.

The signage platform is linked into the bank teller stations and key information regarding customers is passed to the TVeez platform and matched to a profile. Using the banks own defined marketing rules the TVeez platform then pulls promotional and educational content relevant to the customer. The content is then displayed on the teller channel for the customer to view while waiting to finish their transaction. This is a more sophisticated approach of targeting content to screens to increase relevancy to the customers in the branch than the more commonly used approach of programming a loop.

Additionally the platform has the capability of displaying content of different lengths depending on the time of day and volume of customers in the branch.

TVeez has made available some results from the network that we are displaying here- more detailed information regarding the project is available from the TVeez website.

* Targeted messages at the teller station resulted in 120% more enquiries at the
teller
* An increase of 23% in purchases of financial services – loans, credit cards, CDs, securities, and more
* 42% increase in sales revenues
* 57% increase in customer satisfaction

We think this is an exciting approach to a digital signage solution. In the same way that the internet industry developed smarter ways of marketing through making content more relevant to the viewer, digital signage must follow suit. We must also congratulate Bank Leumi on having the vision required to implement a more advanced solution.

Watch this space for more from TVeez.

Banc Sabadell - Audience measurement pilot

Wututu, the audience measurement company based in Spain, has been selected by the Banc Sabadell to implement its audience measurement system Person Counter in the newly installed digital signage network in Banc Sabadell locations. Banc Sabadell, currently with more than 1,100 branches in Spain, will initially carry out a pilot in more than 30 branches, and will study the viability of deploying the system across the network.

During the first phase of the pilot, Banc Sabadell will incorporate two screens per location, one inside and another one behind the glass display nearby the entrance which will broadcast varied information and advertisements about the bank and its products. Person Counter will capture and report on how many people look at the screen and for how long each person watches the messages being displayed. The system can also identify which message was view and tie this back to product sales. This data will be used to measure the effectiveness of the system and content being displaed.

Person Counter uses a camera and high speed wireless or 3G to send the data back to the central application.

It will be interesting to see how this pilot develops. There are many companies in the space of audience measurement but so far high investment costs in the equipment and software has prevented any network wide implementations. Some of the newer products on the market now use standard web cameras to lower the cost, as well as shifting the pricing model to a one time payment for the software.

This coupled with the argument that the measurement system is only needed in a small % of the network to generate solid results could mean we see more projects of this type in the near future

HSBC France / SMC - Network Rollout

I was recently informed that HSBC, and its subsidiary Societe Marseillaise de Credit, have embarked on a networked digital signage rollout to their 160+ offices across France. HSBC's premier banking offices in Paris will be the first to receive the networked solution, and the remainder of the network will receive treatment as branches are built and/or renovated.

SMC has long maintained an in-branch TV network, distributing bank advertising content via dvd's to screens located behind the teller counter. According to an SMC marketing manager, the decision to move forward with a networked solution was made based on the continued reduction in technology costs, the need to simplify distribution, and the desire to feature more time-sensitive information such as branch events.

Network management software will be provided by GL Trade (the product is called "GL TV"), a relative newcomer to digital signage but long a global leader in supplying financial markets data and trading platforms to financial institutions.

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.

Lloyds TSB - 2007 POPAI award winner

POPAI, the largest point-of-purchase industry association, recently announced the winners of its awards for excellence in the global POP market. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded annually in categories ranging from cosmetics to telecommunications, with the notable omission of retail financial services (no surprise when one considers the generally poor management of branch environments). This year, however, Lloyds TSB and its in-store digital media partner, Immedia, were the recipients of not one but two gold medals in the digital content and digital network categories, the first time in my memory that a financial institution has received such an honor!

Until recently little was known about Lloyds TSB's digital marketing program, with the exception of a highly publicized but relatively unsuccessful deployment of 3M's vikuti screens in the windows of certain high visibility locations, but in conjunction with Immedia they certainly seem to be getting it right. The branches outfitted with Immedia's proprietary "RadioVision" network broadcast an integrated audio-video programme where the audio track, which features music and news updates in addition to Lloyds adverts, is timed to trigger relevant digital content on strategically placed plasma screens. The network has been in place for the better part of two years at this stage, and judging from the responses of POPAI's panel and the customers and staff canvassed in the video on Immedia's website (obviously biased), it has been quite well-received. The testimonial video may be accessed by clicking on the screen capture below:

It is unclear at this juncture how many of Lloyds TSB's branches have been outfitted with the technology, or what future plans may be, but I would be keen for an update if any reader can provide it. Immedia, as mentioned, provides the proprietary software platform, integration, and audio/video content development services.

(Photos taken from the POPAI and Immedia websites)

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.

Permanent TSB - Network Rollout

As reported initially on Adrian Cotterill's "Daily DOOH," Permanent TSB, the retail banking arm of insurance giant Irish Life and Permanent PLC, has announced a nationwide rollout of digital signage to their 106 retail branches. Impressively the deployment, which had been rumored for some time and commenced near the end of September, will be completed by the end of this month.

Scant information has been shared with regard to Permanent's intent for the network, other than using the screens to communicate product information to customers on-hours, and to provide training to staff off-hours. Interestingly, however, the network will also extend beyond branches to Permanent's corporate offices and call centers, so training information and corporate communications content can be shared there as well.

Radiant Ireland will supply the bank with Ryarc's CampaignManager software platform, and the network will be operated by long-standing Irish print merchandising supplier SL Graphics.

Amazing to think we're at a point where a 100-branch network barely cracks the rollouts honor roll, isn't it?

Rumor: Commonwealth Bank Network Rollout

Ring the bell! Rumor has it that another market leader has adopted digital signage as its primary form of branch communications, and if true then we have our next entrant in the rapidly expanding 1,000-site network category.

Commonwealth Bank, the largest of Australia's "Four Pillars," is said to have begun network-wide digital signage deployment to its more than 1,000 retail branches. Although details are sparse at the moment, the bank is said to have made the decision after a lengthy pilot process, and that Fujitsu Australia (long a player in the Aussie digital signage market) is the lead supplier, which suggests that TelEntice could be the software engine behind the network.

More information as it becomes available--please email it if you have it!--and hopefully I'll be able to come upon some photos while in I am in Australia later this month.

Bank Hapoalim - Network Rollout

The Middle East has been a hotbed for financial services digital signage networks lately (albeit mostly on a small scale) but Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest consumer bank, maintains the largest. Starting nearly two years ago, the bank began a rollout of a comprehensive digital communications system to its 250 branches. According to a press release at the time, each location is now equipped with digital signs in four different zones--the teller counter, the business banking zone, the retail lending zone, and the personal banker zone--each showing a unique "channel." Content consists of 30% entertainment and 70% advertisements, as well as displaying customers' positions in queue (a clever "now serving" application), and a permanent Reuters information ticker on the bottom of the screen. Ad targeting is done generally on a regional basis, but also using attributes such as branch size, services available, and customer mix.

Note to bank marketers: Including news/stock price tickers on the bottom of the screen is a bizarre obsession of many network operators and, according to at least one test, an absolutely dismal idea. Results from a pilot I conducted on content effectiveness showed across-the-board declines in standard media measures (awareness, recall, etc.) for the "main" content displayed when tickers were present, likely a by-product of the increased visual clutter and distraction of customers who read the news instead of watching ads. Even forgetting the test for a moment, intuitively, if you want customers to watch your ads, why would you provide them with a competing alternative?!

As well as its use as a marketing vehicle, Hapoalim also uses its network to communicate to its staff before- and after-hours. Content is developed by the bank's internal marketing department, and the network is managed using C-nario's software application.

(Photos taken from C-nario website)

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)

Washington Mutual - Occasio Branches

Washington Mutual's digital signage network spans roughly 250 of the bank's 1,700+ branches. Referred to internally as "WM TV," the network is another of the industry's earliest and most well-publicized (at least within digital media and A/V circles).

Installation began in 2001-2 with a lengthy pilot, and has continued in earnest, albeit very slowly and most in denovo locations, ever since. WaMu has cited a number of reasons why they adopted digital signage as a component of their Occasio branches (more on them in a minute), but most accounts include:

1. The pilot proved that the medium greatly reduced wait-line fatigue, increased product awareness, and was consist with WaMu's "un-bank" brand image.
2. By at least one account, published in a local business journal at the time of the test, WaMu believed they had statistical evidence that customers were switching their primary service activities to branches with screens because they were so much more pleasant to visit.
3. Quicker time to market or, per Les Gruner, the bank's VP of media and production, "the beauty of (the) system is that we can craft messages...that speak to products we may be featuring this month."

The bank has utilized a number of different (read: inconsistent) display formats and placements, including 42" plasmas behind the teller podiums/area, a "what's new" information wall, 3-wide banner displays above product walls, and short-lived above-ATM screens. With the exception of the banners, which run a substantially shorter loop, all the other screens I've seen run a roughly 20-minute show, half of which is daily-updated syndicated news and the rest of which is devoted to brand-building or soft promotion.

It's unclear why WaMu hasn't opted to deploy the system beyond a few core locations in Seattle and its denovo builds, but at least one explanation is the fact that the network seems inextricably linked to the overall "Occasio" retail format, which the bank launched as part of its national branching push in 2001. This is in many ways very unfortunate since, despite the silly show the bank made of patenting the format and the press it received in industry rags, anyone who has visited an Occasio branch knows they've been a pretty blatant failure.

Developed to be unlike any other branch format, Occasio, or "favorable opportunity," promised to eliminate lines, provide more personal service, and improve efficiency. Tactically, this manifested itself in a rotunda shaped interior where no staff are hidden behind desks or walls, the installation of free-standing service "podiums" rather than a teller counter, and cash dispensers along the wall, all wrapped in a garish color palette and dropped by the dozens in the bank's new markets across the US. A link to a virtual tour of an Occasio is available here: Link.

In practice, which is readily observable during any lunch hour here in New York, the design (completed by retail agency Design Forum) actually created two lines--one for the teller podiums and one for the cash dispensers--and a massive amount of confusion, as customers figure out where to wait. It's telling, by the way, that the three executives responsible for the concept are no longer with the bank (two are at Barclays plc...enjoy, my English bretheren), and many of the branches have since been shuttered. But I digress...

Impart provides software, network management, and syndicated news services for WaMu and, as I understand it, most of the content is handled largely in-house these days. Design Forum designed the Occasio branch format.

(Photos taken from Impart, Washington Mutual websites, Digital Signage Quarterly magazine)

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)

Citizens-Charter One - Network Rollout

With "video merchandising" deployed in roughly 850 of its 1,600 total branches, until recently Citizens-Charter One maintained the world's largest financial services digital signage network. While the network has been profiled in a couple of different industry publications over the years, it origins have often been confused. It also merits re-visiting due to its sheer breadth, both in terms of size and usage, and the number of learnings that have come from it over the years.

The network as it exists today consists of two separate digital signage initiatives, assembled when Royal Bank of Scotland purchased Citizens Financial Group (RI), and later Charter One Financial (OH). Citizens had begun to deploy digital signage in their "NICE" concept branches and had built a network of roughly 75 locations, less than 10% of the total footprint. Charter One, on the other hand, had made the decision to use their "digital communications network" (DCN) as their primary branch communications medium, and had deployed it to their entire network of 650 locations.

Screens (generally 42") were located above the teller counter and on kiosks in the branch lobbies of Citizens' branches, whereas they were located behind the teller counter in most Charter locations, as well as in a large "feature wall" dioramma facing the waiting area and the lobby. Both banks, and especially Charter, also maintained in-store locations, where larger screens (up to 84") were frequently mounted on the exterior wall facing the checkout counter or toward co-located Starbucks locations. In both cases, the bank's conducted a number of tests in select pilot branches, with results indicating that:

1. Improved the impact of promotional messaging (increased recall)
2. Improved customer perception of key brand attributes
3. Increased the number of products which could be put on display
4. Reduced perceived wait-time and improved satisfaction

In terms of content strategy, in a recent interview, Bill Harrison, director of branch marketing for Citizens-Charter One, commented that the network is aimed at making a three-tiered impression on customers,

It starts with the brand. The first impression when people walk in is 'This is a nice branch.' Their second impression is 'This bank has everything I'm looking for today.' And their third impression is 'I need to go and check that out now.' This exhibits itself through brand spots, spots that show product breadth and spots that tell you what to do next. you need to give consumers enough content that it's...entertaining and worthwhile.

Based on a few select branch visits over the past few years, Citizens-Charter uses a roughly 15-20 minute playlist of 20-30 second spots, although the timing of the loop is deceiving as a number of key spots are repeated more than once. News, weather, and sports updates for 21 unique regions appear prominently in the mix, and I would say that brand interstitials are featured more prominently than in other, more promotional networks. In addition to customer communications, the bank also uses the network to reach its employees , delivering training videos, product launches, and other corporate communications before- and after-hours. Sound does not seem to factor prominently in the multimedia experience, although ambient music does play in the "NICE" branches, and I can remember seeing content in the old Charter One branches that included an audio track.

The Citizens "NICE" branches were originally designed by Lippincott, and employed Impart software and content services to manage the network. Charter One's branches were designed by John Ryan and managed using the company's ScreenRed software and content services.

(Photos taken from ScreenRed, Impart, and Lippincott websites, ABA Bank Marketing article)