In-store marketing: Bank on a warm welcome

Banks may not be a place to browse, but parallels with the retail environment are growing. Banks that have a strong retail link are actively seeking to exploit this. The Co-op is currently instigating a brand overhaul across all of its businesses and bringing its bank into line with other high street offerings.

"We've consolidated our approach across food, pharmacy, travel and finance with each sector taking a trademark colour. Banking has been given a soft blue," says Co-op Financial Services project manager John Chrimes. "We want to encourage people to use all of our services at the moment. Many see these different outlets as separate businesses."

As every retailer knows, increased dwell time means increased sales, but banks have had a tough time finding common ground, says Christopher Brooks, planning consultant at financial advertising agency The Gate Worldwide. "We had the Abbey trying to graft on sweeteners like Costa cafes, but it's not a natural fit as it is with a bookshop. You don't buy a cappuccino, sit down and flick through a credit card application as you would a book."

A rethink of the fundamental design and layout of banks is also underway across the industry. Simon Cotterrell, partner in Goosebumps Brand Consulting, which was recently hired by HSBC for ad hoc strategic branding projects, says: "Banks were traditionally modelled on castle keeps with a portcullis that drops down at 5pm. Now they are moving towards the open model of a hotel lobby."

The advantage of a hotel lobby format is that it encourages interaction. If banks are to use their branch networks to grow business, then they have to become places where cross-selling can take place. At the moment, customers looking for products are often faced with a wall of brochures, which is completely at odds with the retail model. "As a nation, we are not natural savers - we need someone to persuade us," says Cotterrell.

A number of techniques have been used to bring customers and bank staff together - including the trusty leaflet. "Customers like leaflets as they help them to benchmark products when talking to staff," says Andy Jarvis, group account director at Billington Cartmell. "In turn, staff are more confident if they have a reference point to work from. When we trialled radio in Lloyds TSB last year, staff found that this gave them a platform for sales and they could reference messages from this when serving customers."

Beyond the leaflet there lies direct action by staff - a step many banks are now taking. Cotterrell says: "Someone has to meet and greet, acting like a triage nurse in A&E, sending you to the right person as you enter the branch."

Looking ahead, if banks are to retain their branch networks in the face of online and direct banking competition, they will have to think of ever more imaginative ways of engaging customers. "Branches are no longer community hubs with queues around the block every Friday as people cash their wages cheques," says Brooks. "They need to become high street recreations of the brand people see in TV ads and online."

STORES OF WEALTH: THE HSBC APPROACH

Two years ago HSBC embarked on a programme of revamping its 1,600 branches. It introduced a retail feel, with branches now referred to as stores.

"In the past, banks were designed to be intimidating to create the impression that your money was safe," says HSBC head of retail design Richard Newland. "This meant that 50 per cent of space was back office and 50 per cent public space. By centralising operations, we've reduced that to a 20/80 per cent split, or even 15/85 per cent in some stores."

That 80 per cent of public space is also a much brighter place to be. "We've done away with frosted glass and cluttered windows and brought in clear glass to attract customers in."

These open plan "stores" offer a customer contact zone and are divided into functions such as express or business banking, with floor markings to direct customers. For those seeking a quick turnaround, automated facilities are on hand, with 65 per cent of customers migrating to self-service banking where it's available. Those seeking a face-to-face approach are offered a "matchmaking" service - on arrival, they're told who they need to see and how long they'll wait.

Location has also been taken into account. Newland says: "Many locations were chosen in the 19th century and the town centre may have shifted as it developed, leaving the bank off prime pitch. Where possible we've moved to locations that are prime pitches."

To date, 200 branches have been overhauled, with the remainder expected to be completed in the next four years.