ABA Banking Journal
No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
SUBSCRIBE
ABA Banking Journal
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Retail and Marketing

Time is the New Currency

October 17, 2017
Reading Time: 3 mins read

By Kevin Dulle

Since the late 1950s, the history of branch banking in America has been all about being in the midst of the population. No bank could survive without being accessible in a timely fashion. Convenience became one of the prime factors for locating a branch. The focus was to reduce the time it takes to get from point A to the branch.

If it was by car, banks planned around the flow of traffic. If it was a pedestrian environment, banks planned the location along the path. This was all about convenience of doing business with the bank and to ensure that the customer did not have to go out of the way. If a bank was in the path, it made sense for a customer to bank there—it experwas about how to better save time.

 

Enter technology.

Now, being in the path of customers means being readily accessible in their hands. Most transactions are not performed in person, but online and through mobile devices. Technology quickly became the ultimate time saver.

This opens the question, ‘”Where do you locate now and what should the branch become?”

The best way to address this is to change the framework of the question. Before, branches existed to perform the services that customers could not accomplish on their own. Now that consumers have the tools to complete their own routine transactions, branches need to rethink what they to bring to the table.

In other words, branches can’t compete with technology when it comes to convenient service. So the value they add is no longer about saving customers time.

It’s about providing a place where time is well spent.

The only way to do this is by moving beyond a service model—that is, doing things for the customer—to an experience model that provides things to do with the customer. Stage an engagement that is memorable and shareable—something that the customer does within the branch.

Ing the thing.

Here’s an idea: Identify a particular thing that is frequently used at a bank, and create some activity around that object. Think beyond the normal use of the thing to build an engaging activity around it that people will come to participate in—or watch while others do. Exaggerate the concept to make it a spectacle. This strategy is called “ing the thing,” and it’s a principle in the experience economy.

 

Need some examples?

The Classic Piggy Bank – This is a great thing to “ing.” First, make it worth looking at and photographing. That could mean unexpectedly beautiful—or humorous. Maybe it’s created by a local artist or craftsman. But it should definitely be oversized.

Now, stage an activity around the oversized piggy bank that generates interest. Maybe it squeals when people put coins in it—or produces some other unexpected response. It becomes a photo- or video-worthy opportunity for your visitors and becomes a great fund raiser. Make it “The Piggy Bank That Is Saving….” Use whatever best applies. Saving—the action word—now takes on a new meaning and purpose.

 

Cracking the Safe – Turn the idea of robbing the bank upside down by inviting customers in to try their luck as a safe cracker. Place a simple combination lock safe in the lobby and give visitors the chance to open it up and win something. You could even offer props and costumes to create a fun photo opportunity. Add mock newspaper headlines or “Wanted” posters to the photo op, and you have sharable content that your customers will distribute on their social feeds.

A couple of years ago, Premier Bank in Washington, D.C. promoted the grand opening of a new branch with an electronic “Crack the Vault” game, using a personal combination number and a branch-based iPad instead of an actual safe. Even so, with a grand prize of $1,000 and a variety of smaller prizes, they brought 185 people into the branch to play over the six days of the promotion.

ADVERTISEMENT

Any object or thing can be a source of an experience if you take the action related to it and leverage it as the activity. Now the branch becomes a stage for an experience and a place to engage customers and make memories. Then you change from time well saved into time well spent.

Kevin M. Dulle, Certified Experience Economy Expert (CEEE), is Director of the Experience Innovations Strategy Team at NewGround, an experiential design build firm. He has spent over 25 years serving the financial industry with strategic planning, visual thinking, and experiential business development. With visual translations and graphic thinking techniques, Kevin guides clients in discovering unique strategic solutions, develop long-term planning options and organize complex concepts into cohesive strategies.

 

Tags: Customer experienceIn-branch marketing
ShareTweetPin

Related Posts

#PracticeSafeChecks campaign wins two Telly Awards

#PracticeSafeChecks campaign wins two Telly Awards

Compliance and Risk
May 21, 2025

An ABA public education campaign warning consumers about the risks of check fraud has received two awards for video and television excellence.

Sanctions Compliance Pitfalls for Banks

How one bank’s ‘stop and think’ message slashed customer fraud losses

Compliance and Risk
May 20, 2025

What constitutes effective fraud prevention strategy? One path to success is a larger, strategic program.

FDIC: Number of unbanked households drops to new low

Kansas City Fed economist: Bank On may have reduced unbanked rates

Community Banking
May 19, 2025

An increase in the number of financial institutions offering Bank On-certified accounts may have contributed to the decline in unbanked households by lowering barriers to account ownership, according to new research.

Bank marketers double down on AI

Bank marketers double down on AI

Retail and Marketing
May 19, 2025

Bank marketers will continue to test the AI waters and find efficiencies and scale.

CFPB proposes to regulate large nonbanks in personal loan market

Survey: Customer satisfaction with personal loans holds steady

Mortgage
May 16, 2025

Overall customer satisfaction with personal loans has remained largely flat, according to J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Consumer Lending Satisfaction Study.

Directors Briefing: Millbury National Bank marks 200 years  of independence with CEO transition

Directors Briefing: Millbury National Bank marks 200 years of independence with CEO transition

Directors Briefing
May 14, 2025

“Millbury National has always been about serving our community, and that will never change.”

NEWSBYTES

Survey: Majority of financial institutions deploying generative AI

May 22, 2025

#PracticeSafeChecks campaign wins two Telly Awards

May 21, 2025

Proposed amendment would add credit card rate cap to Senate stablecoin bill

May 21, 2025

SPONSORED CONTENT

Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

April 25, 2025
Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

April 5, 2025
Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

March 15, 2025
AI for Banks: A Starter Guide for Community and Regional Institutions

AI for Banks: A Starter Guide for Community and Regional Institutions

March 1, 2025

PODCASTS

Podcast: Accelerating banking for quick-service restaurants

May 8, 2025

How a Georgia community bank supports government-guaranteed lending nationwide

May 1, 2025

Podcast: Quantum computing’s shakeup in payments, cybersecurity

April 24, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT

American Bankers Association
1333 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
1-800-BANKERS (800-226-5377)
www.aba.com
About ABA
Privacy Policy
Contact ABA

ABA Banking Journal
About ABA Banking Journal
Media Kit
Advertising
Subscribe

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.