Brand Delivery

CZ Bank Snags Distinction Award from REBRAND 100

CZ Bank has won a Distinction Award from 2018 REBRAND 100® for its comprehensive rebranding. The reimagined brand, brought to life in partnership between SLD and our Shanghai-based partner MetaThink, touched every part of the bank ecosystem. “We’re thrilled about all of the positive attention this project has garnered,” said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, president of SLD. “Being recognized by REBRAND is […]

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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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Bank Customer Experience Summit 2018

Leave a Comment / Sebastian Maynard

Products, processes and people: The key to successful branch transformation Advanced self-service capabilities and innovative new business processes are fine and good, but if your employees aren’t buying the concept of tech-driven service delivery, you can be sure they’re not selling it, either. Some never will, but others just need effective tools and training to come up

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Channel Strategy and the Bank Brand

Leave a Comment / Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

The longevity of bank branches and other legacy channels have been called into question. As channel strategy shifts, so must the ways that financial institutions interact with their customers. In this white paper, independent banking adviser David Cavell explores the value of bank brands, branches, and channel strategy. Fill out the form below to download

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Three Great Ways to Welcome Branch Customers

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

The customer journey is one that starts well before customers open an account, and continues, repeats, and ideally builds loyalty throughout the relationship. Certain touch points along that journey can become routine experiences or signals that customers come to expect and associate with the brand. Pleasant rituals can help to build stronger relationships with consumers and repeated

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Are Smart Banks a Smart Idea?

Leave a Comment / Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

“Smart banking” is a catchy phrase that implies that the banking experience is better for customers. But the reality is that smart banking isn’t any smarter than banking used to be. This white paper explores the limits and possibilities of the smart banking trend and will help you decide if it’s right for your financial institution. Fill out

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What Drives Customer Loyalty?

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

The biggest challenge in any industry, from foodservice to banking, is the fact that customer loyalty is always diminishing. With new start-ups, disruptive platforms challenging the status quo, and aggressive competitors who want to win at any cost, the quest for customer loyalty has never been more difficult. It’s not that the factors or metrics

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How Retailers Will Compete with Amazon Go

Food Service / Sebastian Maynard

The convenience of Amazon Go – a completely automated shopping experience, free of cashiers, queues, and check-out counters – hasn’t quite materialized as quickly as promised. When the retail giant first announced its ambitious concept, it promised to bring the idea to the public by early 2017, but so far the project seems to be floundering. While

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Predictions for Retail Banking in 2018

Leave a Comment / Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

2017 marked a strong shift in the political climate with the election of a controversial American president. Nationalist and liberal factions are widening around the globe, climate change is lashing out at the planet with increased flooding, hurricanes, and wildfires, and NAFTA appears to be hanging by a thread. What does all this mean for banks?

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Who Customers Turn to for Financial Advice

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

If you had a problem with your mortgage, which of these experts would you trust for advice? A) A bank advisor; B) a television personality; C) your parents; D) the internet. The answer might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people would have trouble figuring out the solution. We’ve talked before about the advice

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No, Your Bank Doesn’t Need a Coffee Shop

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

There is a growing trend for banks to partner with millennial-friendly retailers in the hopes of driving traffic and relevancy for their branches. From credit unions to large banks, such as Capital One’s foray into cafe experiences that rival some of the best coffee chains, the allure of finding a complimentary partner to drive branch

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What Will Channel Strategy Look Like in 2025?

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

Defining the future of banking is a difficult endeavor we have decided to take on, and one key aspect we are often asked about is whether or not the channel structure will resemble anything we are familiar with, or if it will drastically change. Before we look at how we believe the channel strategy will

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What Not to Automate

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

There is no question that automation can provide banks with benefits beyond efficiency. However, in the excitement around the new possible efficiencies that more intelligent machines can offer, banks may be inclined to jump the gun and invest in a “smart” system that will end up costing them in the end. Not only is there

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7 Novelty Experiences for Retail Banks

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

Virgin Money got some well-deserved attention this week for its new UK retail space, which features bowling, air hockey, pool, and other lounge elements to redefine the banking experience. In an industry often seen as stodgy and old-fashioned, Virgin Money did the unthinkable – it made banking fun. So, whether you’re planning your own exciting new branch

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Branch Transformation 2017

Leave a Comment / Sebastian Maynard

Avoid Branch Disruption The death of branches is a topic of many boardroom discussions, but has been greatly misunderstood and even exaggerated. From channel restructuring to branch footprint downsizing, as well as the use of new digital technologies to reduce the cost of transactions, banks have done a great job of reducing the customer experience to

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How Banks Can Drive Growth for Small Businesses

Leave a Comment / Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

Small businesses are the epitome of what has been called the American Dream. Entrepreneurship, the idea that anyone who has something to offer can set up shop and earn their living contributing to their community, is in many ways a cornerstone of the American cultural identity. It is more relevant today than ever before, with

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Branch Transformation by Design

Leave a Comment / Sebastian Maynard

Suzanne Cluckey of ATM Marketplace wrote about Jean-Pierre Lacroix’s presentation at the 2017 Bank Customer Experience Summit: Some years ago, the president of [SLD], a company that specializes in brand strategy and customer engagement, sat in a meeting with senior leadership at Kodak, a client company. He was there to present research on a promising new business segment —

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BAI Beacon 2017

Leave a Comment / Sebastian Maynard

Breaking Branches – Learning Lab For the unprepared, branch transformation can be a Herculean task. That’s why Jean-Pierre Lacroix, an expert in brand transformation, and Stephen Griffin, who led the transformation of Regions Bank branches, will lead a workshop on breaking (and rebuilding) branches at BAI Beacon. A select group of attendees will have the opportunity

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Building Privacy into the Branch Experience

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

With the Equifax hack dominating headlines, consumers are once again reevaluating the relationships they have with their banks. It can be difficult enough for customers to trust large financial institutions when they think everything is working fine, but in a new age of cybercrime and insecurity, it is harder than ever to convince the public that your

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How Banks Should Start Preparing for 2050

Financial Services / Sebastian Maynard

Nobody can predict the future, but Apple and other forward-thinking companies have demonstrated that you can help create it. The banking industry is faced with numerous changes that are challenging banks to envision a future that looks quite different from the way we bank today. Before banks can seize the opportunity, embrace change and shape the future

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CZ Bank Snags Distinction Award from REBRAND 100

Rating the Curb Appeal of Your Bank Branches

Bank Customer Experience Summit 2018

Channel Strategy and the Bank Brand

Three Great Ways to Welcome Branch Customers

Are Smart Banks a Smart Idea?

What Drives Customer Loyalty?

How Retailers Will Compete with Amazon Go

Predictions for Retail Banking in 2018

Who Customers Turn to for Financial Advice

No, Your Bank Doesn’t Need a Coffee Shop

What Will Channel Strategy Look Like in 2025?

What Not to Automate

7 Novelty Experiences for Retail Banks

Branch Transformation 2017

How Banks Can Drive Growth for Small Businesses

Branch Transformation by Design

BAI Beacon 2017

Building Privacy into the Branch Experience

How Banks Should Start Preparing for 2050

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