New York, L.A., Honolulu, Chicago … St. Cloud, Minnesota?
We were as surprised as anyone to discover that ING Direct, the online bank with 7.5 million customers and $82 billion in assets, had one of their famous ING Direct Cafes here in Minnesota — not even in the state’s major metro area, but in university town of St. Cloud. What gives?
A couple of emails and we had an invite to stop by and interview Brian Myres, ING Direct’s head of U.S. sales. So we went on a road trip to meet Brian and tour the cafe. What follows is a paraphrasing of our conversation:
Brian Myres, head of U.S. sales for ING Direct
Brian, what in the world is ING Direct doing in St. Cloud?
St. Cloud is where we have our Midwest Operations center, which houses over 500 people who work in mortgage, deposits and sales. This location was once part of ReliaStar Financial and was acquired by ING in 2000.That makes sense. But why the Cafe? This isn’t exactly a high-profile location like Manhattan or Chicago.
The cafe is here for the workforce and the community. It allows us give the company a visible presence.Does it generate sales?
Actually, it does. But that’s not why we have cafes. It’s about bringing the customer experience to life.What’s available in the cafe?
Coffee, food and merchandise at a reasonable price, free Internet, a reading lounge with magazines and books and a free meeting space for anyone in the community. Our “orange” merchandise, includes clothes, coffee mugs, soccer balls and more.What’s the catch?
There isn’t one. People have a hard time believing it, but we don’t ask for anything in return. We don’t try to sell. But we will answer any questions they have about ING Direct.Are the staff able to service accounts?
Absolutely. Most of them are customer service reps who rotate through the cafe. In fact, when they’re not busy, they take customer calls. So, they’re qualified to answer account questions. If someone wants to open an account, they’ll take the customer over to an Internet station and walk them through the process.
What kind of traffic do you get?
This location gets 500 visitors per day. The Chicago cafe, which I also run, gets 800 visitors a day.Does any of that traffic translate into deposits?
Yes, although that’s not the primary purpose. The Chicago store in particular does a good job generating deposits. We run promotions, for instance going out onto the street and handing out water bottles on hot days. It works great.This is a cool space. How did you go about designing it?
The guiding principle was bringing the brand to life. However, each cafe is a unique brand experience in the market it exists with the orange and blue as the common theme, along with the merchandise and point-of-sale marketing.
Did you use a retail agency?
We didn’t use any experts. We made our own choices. For example, our logo is an orange ball. We thought, what if we had a big orange ball in the space? So, we put one in — it’s our amphitheatre, where we play financial education media. In Chicago, we created “Orange at Work,” in which people can see phone reps at work. The message is “these are the people you get when you call.”What about all the products? Do people really want orange ING Direct fleece wear?
You’d be surprised. Many of our customers really identify with the brand. We get some customers who come in and tell us, “I love you guys. You’ve been my bank for years!”It’s hard to believe that people would get that excited about a bank.
Yeah, but we’re not like other banks. We don’t charge fees. There are no balance minimums. We’re the anti-credit card, anti-debt bank. So, we attract people who are independent and who want to take control.
Big thanks to Brian and the staff at ING Direct Cafe in St. Cloud for taking the time to talk to us.
For more information on ING Direct’s unconventional approach to retail banking, here are some additional resources:
- Photos from our visit to ING Direct Cafe in St. Cloud, Minn.
- Video of ING Direct CEO Arkadi Kulhmann speaking at an Authors @ Google (hint: jump past the long intro to hear Mr. Kuhlmann at 15:00)
- The Orange Code: How ING Direct Succeeded by Being a Rebel with a Cause
, by Arkadi Kuhlmann & Bruce Philp
- Finally, below you can watch Arkadi Kulmann’s make a pitch for ING Direct in his own “wiseguy” style. (This spot also plays on the Cafe’s digital signage system.)
From “Say aloha to cappucinos, t-shirts and ING’s newest café”:
“When, Arkadi Kuhlmann first started ING Direct, he had people visiting the ING Direct building on a regular basis to make sure the bank actually existed. It was the first time that anyone had heard of a bank without any branches. People drove from miles away just to make sure the place was legit. Kuhlmann figured the least he could do was invite them in for a cup of coffee and answer any questions they had. The concept stuck, so when he brought the ING Direct concept to America, he decided to open ‘touchpoints’ for the public…ING Direct says the cafés are profitable retail operations, but they are more concerned with how the cafés build the bank’s brand image and awareness.”
http://thefinancialbrand.com/2008/11/14/ing-direct-cafes/
Basically, these cafes do two things: 1) Serve as big, giant billboards for the ING brand. Except you can actually walk in and around these billboards. 2) Serve to reassure a nervous public anxious about a virtual bank paying almost too-good-to-be-true rates — “Yes, we really do exist. And yes, we really do have tangible, valuable assets.”
When are you going to bring a Cafe to Houston ?
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