the visual language of banking
DESCRIPTION
Presentation given in May 2012 at Next Bank Asia in Singapore on the visual promises that banks make through their identities, and how they need to evolve to stay relevant.http://nextbankasia.com/2012/01/tjohnston/TRANSCRIPT
10.05.2012
The Visual Language of Banking.
Presented at Next Bank Asia 2012.
A quick reality check.
We opened a studio in Singapore
and needed a bank account …
… so naturally we went to the
world’s global bank first.
“The account opening fee will
be $1,000 please.”
“F*** that.”
The world’s local bank.*
* With the exception of Singapore.
Next door they’re here for good.
Sounds promising.
“Could you send your application
to Singapore yourself please.
I’m very busy you know!”
“WTF?”
“DHL is pretty good.
If we send documents
internally they often
get lost.”
“Well can you fax it?!?!”
“Actually my fax is broken”
“Supervisor!”
Where for good?
Banks are making visual
promises they can’t live
up to.
Let’s take a look at the
top 100 and see what
patterns emerge.
The 9 visual promises
of banks.
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
1 2
4 5 6
7 8 9
1 2
5 6
7 8 9
1 2
5 6
7 8 9
1 2
5 6
7 8 9
1 2
5 6
7 8 9
1 2
5 6
7 8 9
1 2
5 6
7 8 9
There are two
problems with these
visual promises.
First, nobody really believes
them any more.
Second, they don’t reflect what
today’s banks need to be about.
Today’s banks need to be:
1. Personal
2. Motivating
3. Human
Today’s banks need to be:
1. Personal
2. Motivating
3. Human
Most of today’s banks
are over-branded.
So what if we got the
identity out of the way?
Today’s banks:
1. Personal:
Get the identity out of the way
Today’s banks need to be:
1. Personal
2. Motivating
3. Human
Today’s banks:
1. Personal:
Get the identity out of the way
2. Motivating:
Give bite-sized offers
their own identity
Today’s banks need to be:
1. Personal
2. Motivating
3. Human
Singapore Airlines
Comms
Comms Web
Comms Web Mobile
So why haven’t banks
created any icons of
service?
Banks of the future:
1. Personal:
Get the identity out of the way
2. Motivating:
Give bite-sized offers
their own identity
3. Human:
Give me princess Leia
www.shiftpartners.com
HONG KONG
Shift.
3&3A Upper Station Street
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
BEIJING
Shift.
中国
北京市朝阳区东大桥SOHO尚都北塔
A座1205, 100020
SINGAPORE
Shift.
73A Duxton Road
Singapore
089532
Contact:
Toby Johnston
Partner
+65 8342 7142
Contact:
Zoran Svetlicic
Partner
+852 9859 6726
Contact:
Yvonne Yu
Partner
+86 137 0116 9250