Sebastian Maynard

Emerging Industry Disruption Trends and New Business Models

Every industry, from trucking to healthcare, is being disrupted by non-traditional competitors, or by direct competitors that have reinvented their business model. To ensure relevancy, it is critical to create effective strategies and to understand the driving factors fuelling this disruption. Disruption happens in two different varieties, each driven by specific dynamics in the marketplace. […]

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Defining Your Bank’s Personality with the Big Five

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

When we meet someone new, their appearance, voice, and behavior quickly form our first impressions. As we interact more with that person, their traits and flaws become clearer. So, if your bank was a person, who would it be? This anthropomorphic question can help clarify your brand identity. It can also help your customers relate

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Packaging Design: Why Typography Matters For Branding Success

Packaging Design / Sebastian Maynard

Consumers may find it difficult to navigate the aisles of a grocery store, and trying to find the right product may feel like a game of Where’s Waldo? Consumer purchasing decisions are frequently influenced not by the name of the brand or the price of the product, but by the packaging in which the product

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How to Leverage the Notoriety of Cryptocurrencies

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

The bitcoin bubble might be deflating, but that doesn’t mean banks can afford to ignore the larger growth of cryptocurrencies. Even if they’re not the world-changing disruptor that some advocates trumpet, cryptocurrencies at Bitcoincenter are changing the way that consumers think about currency, investment, and the influence of blockchain on our financial system. Customers are

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Packaging for City Life

Packaging Design / Sebastian Maynard

It is estimated by the UN that by 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas. This shift will affect shopping patterns as these densely populated urban environments influence their residents’ behavior; they are, after all, quite different than the less compact suburban and rural spaces. In communities with a high population

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Digital Transformation Checklist for Banks

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

The Financial Brand Forum is one of the most attended banking conferences in North America. It is a leading event globally, as it focuses on current and future trends in banking. This year’s conference, held in May, was attended by more than 2,000 banking professionals, in addition to more than 50 keynote speakers covering all

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What Retirees Need from their Banks

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

Seniors are about to take over the world. Between 2025 and 2050, the number of seniors on the planet will double, and for the first time in history, there will be more people over 65 than children under age 5. How this massive demographic change will impact us is not entirely clear, but industries need

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What Retirees Want from their Banks

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

2016 was the year an unprecedented shift happened in Canada’s demographic make-up: for the first time in recorded history seniors outnumbered people under 14 – and the US is likely to follow suit in the next 5 years. By 2050, seniors who may heed the help of professionals like Burzynski Elder Law, will make up

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How Digital Can Help Employees Deliver Better Service

Digital Experiences / Sebastian Maynard

Robots, chatbots, virtual reality, and geofencing are some of the hottest new tech trends that retailers are testing out — but how do you know what’s just a fad and what investment will deliver lasting results? Retailers know they need digital experiences, but at the current pace of change it’s easy to put the cart

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What is the Lifespan of a Supermarket Design Concept?

Digital Experiences, Food Service / Sebastian Maynard

The investment in developing a new supermarket design is significant, and the risk is enormous. With most supermarket and grocery chains consisting of thousands of locations, converting to a new concept can be laborious and span many years. On average, most good operators renovate about 5 to 10 percent of their stores per year, putting

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Major Banks Excelling at Customer Service

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

Most banks claim they put the customer first – but who is really delivering on this claim? Every year J.D. Power, Forbes, and industry publications like The Financial Brand research which banks are doing the best job at putting consumer’s needs first. They don’t always agree on which bank is top of the list, but common

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Write So Designers Will Listen: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Design Brief

Brand Strategy / Sebastian Maynard

Getting what you want from your design agency can sometimes feel like a game of Broken Telephone – you think you’re being clear and helpful, the creative team thinks they’re offering solutions that work, but at the end of the day, the final deliverables aren’t quite right and no one knows who is to blame.

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The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

For many years, banks have contributed to established charities, sponsored artistic events and institutions and, in many cases, created their own foundations or charities. However, Millennial and Generation Z consumers are less likely than previous generations to view these efforts as being authentic, and they may have a point. These contributions, many of which come with tax benefits and

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Why Ugly Design Can Lead to Enormous Growth: Exploring the Strategic Benefits of Ugly Branding

1 Comment / Environmental Design / Sebastian Maynard

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it makes sense that ugliness should be as well. However, some brands are almost universally regarded as unappealing when compared to competitors. Many of those ugly packages, websites, and environments develop cult followings from loyal customers, much to the frustration of brand managers who pour their

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Helping Customers Navigate Your Grocery Store

Food Service / Sebastian Maynard

Digital technology has impacted almost every industry in recent years, including the grocery category. You can now use your computer or phone to have someone else pick up your groceries and deliver them to your doorstep. These delivery and shopping services, such as Instacart and AmazonFresh, are meeting a key need for convenience and putting

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Does Your Bank Have a Compelling Brand Story?

Digital Experiences, Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

When customers think of your bank, does it have a narrative? Does it stand for something? If not, it may lack a compelling brand story – that means that it’s becoming lost in the competitive financial institution landscape. Not standing out can be a problem, especially when banking is a service that often has a reputation as

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Will Your Customers Love or Hate Automation in 2025?

Food Service / Sebastian Maynard

With Amazon Go’s “just walk out” grocery store finally up and running as of January 2018, everyone in the supermarket industry from cashiers to CEOs are watching with bated breath. Is Amazon intending to implement throughout the Whole Foods network? Will other grocers adopt the same strategy? Will governments start taxing and regulating automation with rollouts

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Attracting High Value Customers with a VIP Experience

Customer Experience / Sebastian Maynard

Banks are beginning to recognize that high value customers, if they are to be kept, increasingly demand recognition of their special status. Though this may be irksome to those of us with little more than a mortgage, credit card, and checking account, the reality is that banks are no longer in a position to be

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Rating the Curb Appeal of Your Bank Branches

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

Our recent stealth attrition study identified that customers today are more willing to switch banks or consider purchasing a new service from a competing bank. This behaviour is exacerbated by increasingly easy account opening and on-boarding processes thanks to technology and improved back-of-house systems. With so many elements to consider when it comes to growing your bank’s

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Embrace Social Responsibility with New Ethics Standards

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

Banks have been offering ethical funds as part of their investment offerings for some time now. However, the same way that packaged goods companies have been criticized for greenwashing, (using language that suggests environmentally-friendly qualities that a product does not actually possess), banks are also going to find themselves under increasing scrutiny when it comes

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Emerging Industry Disruption Trends and New Business Models

Defining Your Bank’s Personality with the Big Five

Packaging Design: Why Typography Matters For Branding Success

How to Leverage the Notoriety of Cryptocurrencies

Packaging for City Life

Digital Transformation Checklist for Banks

What Retirees Need from their Banks

What Retirees Want from their Banks

How Digital Can Help Employees Deliver Better Service

What is the Lifespan of a Supermarket Design Concept?

Major Banks Excelling at Customer Service

Write So Designers Will Listen: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Design Brief

Why Ugly Design Can Lead to Enormous Growth: Exploring the Strategic Benefits of Ugly Branding

Helping Customers Navigate Your Grocery Store

Does Your Bank Have a Compelling Brand Story?

Will Your Customers Love or Hate Automation in 2025?

Attracting High Value Customers with a VIP Experience

Rating the Curb Appeal of Your Bank Branches

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