In a competitive banking landscape, it is often difficult to stand out and truly connect with customers. Financial services are challenging to promote. They are complex and mostly conceptual, and can lead to financial institutions all seeming the same. Branding can help solve these issues. It can differentiate a financial institution by expressing an identity […]
Three Visual Strategies to Connect with Banking Customers Read More »
For almost 30 years, our firm has been involved in foodservice design and worked with clients ranging from small independent operators to the large multinational chains. Through these many years of experience, we have always strived to push the envelope of our designs to ensure our clients not only remained relevant, but more importantly that
Eight Foodservice Design Trends Influencing Your Customers Today Read More »
The branch of the past is dead. The strategies that used to reliably bring in customers have gone the way of the floppy disk and it’s finally time to move on. Connecting with customers in a new financial services industry won’t be easy, but it will be rewarding – as long as you can target
How to Attract Your Target Customers Read More »
We recently spoke at the BAI Beacon conference held in Chicago about the work we completed for Regions Bank, a large regional bank with roots in Birmingham, Ala. The conference was well attended by more than 1,500 bank leaders and executives covering a wide range of relevant topics providing insights into what is top of
Brace for More Changes in the Banking Industry Read More »
The latest issue of Retail Merchandiser featured a detailed profile of the recent overhaul of M&M Meat Shops. M&M CEO Andy O’Brien shared details about the ideas behind the new retail design as well as Shikatani Lacroix’s role in creating M&M Food Market. M&M Food Market worked closely with Shikatani Lacroix Design, a Toronto-based strategic
M&M Food Market: More than Meats Read More »
Boston Pizza is unveiling a new restaurant bar concept, designed by Shikatani Lacroix, on March 31 that highlights Boston Pizza’s unique family dining and sports bar experiences under one roof. The newly renovated space is located in Toronto’s downtown core at the corner of Front and John Streets. “With this new design concept, Boston Pizza
News: Boston Pizza Reveals New Urban Concept Read More »
The financial industry is very focused on leveraging the right efficiency tools such as VideoATMs, back-of-house system automation, universal bankers, AI, and big data management. These come with big capital expense budgets and attention from senior management but have yet to prove their effectiveness at growing market share. Having a clear focus on finding efficiencies
Finding the Right Fit – A Hidden Opportunity for Banks Read More »
A brand cohesion study was conducted in the spring of 2013 with over 120 companies participating across the globe. Representing twenty business sectors including healthcare, respondents clearly identified a significant lack of strong brand cohesion, with only 38% of companies having a high level of brand integration within their organization. Adding to the lack of
Do Your Employees Understand Your Healthcare Brand? Read More »
Foodservice operators are always looking to find growth, and current success is being achieved for many by low-risk changes such as filling in the need for breakfast offerings, to more involved strategies such as a concept refresh. The most coveted driver for growth is of course also the riskiest: expanding beyond your current network into
Six Strategies for Moving into New Foodservice Markets Read More »
It’s never good news to hear about the debt load carried by the average North American. The increasing cost of living and the lack of a corresponding increase in wages, the increasing costs of post-secondary education, the demise of workplace pensions, and medical costs for U.S. citizens all add up to put the populace in
How Banks Can Fill The Financial Literacy Gap Read More »
With over 30 years of experience in a variety of client and business development senior roles, Mark Mantha brings a vast knowledge of various industries to Futurpreneur Canada as a mentor, including healthcare, IT, consumer, communications and digital media. Mark has won awards for his outstanding history in his business development efforts, program launches, sales
Talking Sales with Expert Mark Mantha Read More »
In the world of banking, customers’ priorities are shifting. Omni-channel banking services, though still desirable, are giving way to highly curated and differentiated experiences that create deeper emotional connections. Recent research conducted by our firm for the banking industry clearly identified the branch continues to play a pivotal role in building relationships, with branch staff
What Agile Banking Means to Today’s Customer Read More »
Do you need your take-out delivery business to serve up more impressive returns? Perhaps it’s time to take a bite out of online food delivery. Food delivery apps are addressing the changing preferences of time-starved customers who want a better and larger variety of food on demand. Whether you have two restaurant locations or 200, food
Grow Your Take-Out Food Delivery Business Read More »
Once you’ve gotten the board of directors, C-Suite and everyone on the management team on board with the decision to rebrand, there’s one more hurdle that publicly traded companies need to clear: their investors. Ensuring that investors don’t lose faith in management requires that you justify every major decision your company makes and a rebrand can
Get Investors Excited About Your Corporate Rebranding Read More »
CZ Bank has won a 2017 iF Design Award in Communication for the rebranding of its corporate identity. The new logo, designed by Shikatani Lacroix’s Shanghai-based partner MetaThink, was part of a larger brand repositioning. Shikatani Lacroix partnered with MetaThink to design flagship and community branch formats to reflect the bank’s new brand position. “We’re
CZ Bank Concept Wins iF Design Award 2017 Read More »
Shikatani Lacroix Design is conducting a study of North American healthcare organizations to determine the level of brand consistency and coherence across the industry. In 2013, we conducted a similar study on the retail industry and found groundbreaking results. This short survey will help us to understand: • The level of positioning within the organization
The fast food industry is recognizing what we all now know to be true: high-fat, sodium and sugar laden processed food isn’t very good for us. At the same time, the demand for quick, affordable, delicious meals has increased with the rise of the millennial demographic, longer work weeks, working parents and fast-paced modern lives.
Are Healthy Food Menu Offerings Viable for the Fast Food Industry? Read More »
What is Digital Experience and Why It Matters When: Tuesday, March 21st, 5-7:30pm What: Centre for Digital Experience (CDX) Where: Marriott Hotel, Toronto The Centre for Digital Experience (CDX) is a non-profit program for digital media use development. The event attracts members of the brand, retail, end users and supply communities. Join Richard Dirstein, Shikatani Lacroix’s Principal and EVP Design and
Centre for Digital Experience Read More »
During the past twenty years, the global trend of mergers and acquisitions has been steadily increasing, with both the number and value of those transactions breaking records in 2015. This whitepaper argues that the role of brand strategy early on, and throughout all 5 stages of the M&A framework process would help address many of
How to Make Your Mergers or Acquisitions a Success Through Brand Implementation Read More »
The foodservice industry has seen slow growth for the past decade and the competition is heating up with new brands entering the marketplace. In addition, the growth of mobile and online digital channels are changing the way consumers are ordering and eating out-of-home meals. Our work helping foodservice brands remain relevant and meaningful has allowed
Drive Foodservice Growth with These Transformative Strategies Read More »
