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/

1. The Visual Language of Banking.
Presented at Next Bank Asia 2012.
10.05.2012

2. A quick reality check.

3. We opened a studio in Singapore
and needed a bank account …

4. … so naturally we went to the
world’s global bank first.

5. “The account opening fee will
be $1,000 please.”

6. “F*** that.”

7. The world’s local bank.*
* With the exception of Singapore.

8. Next door they’re here for good.
Sounds promising.

10. “Could you send your application
to Singapore yourself please.
I’m very busy you know!”

11. “WTF?”

12. “DHL is pretty good.
If we send documents
internally they often
get lost.”

13. “Well can you fax it?!?!”

14. “Actually my fax is broken”

15. “Supervisor!”

16. Where for good?

17. Banks are making visual
promises they can’t live
up to.

18. Let’s take a look at the
top 100 and see what
patterns emerge.

20. The 9 visual promises
of banks.

21. 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

24. 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

27. 1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

30. 1 2
4 5 6
7 8 9

33. 1 2
5 6
7 8 9

36. 1 2
5 6
7 8 9

39. 1 2
5 6
7 8 9

42. 1 2
5 6
7 8 9

45. 1 2
5 6
7 8 9

48. 1 2
5 6
7 8 9

49. There are two
problems with these
visual promises.

50. First, nobody really believes
them any more.

51. Second, they don’t reflect what
today’s banks need to be about.

52. Today’s banks need to be:
1. Personal
2. Motivating
3. Human

53. Today’s banks need to be:
1. Personal
2. Motivating
3. Human

57. Most of today’s banks
are over-branded.

59. So what if we got the
identity out of the way?

66. Today’s banks:
1. Personal:
Get the identity out of the way

67. Today’s banks need to be:
1. Personal
2. Motivating
3. Human

81. Today’s banks:
1. Personal:
Get the identity out of the way
2. Motivating:
Give bite-sized offers
their own identity

82. Today’s banks need to be:
1. Personal
2. Motivating
3. Human

83. Singapore Airlines

84. Comms

85. Comms Web

86. Comms Web Mobile

87. So why haven’t banks
created any icons of
service?

91. 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

92. www.shiftpartners.com
BEIJING HONG KONG SINGAPORE
Shift. Shift. Shift.
中国 3&3A Upper Station Street 73A Duxton Road
北京市朝阳区东大桥SOHO尚都北塔 Sheung Wan Singapore
A座1205, 100020 Hong Kong 089532
Contact: Contact: Contact:
Yvonne Yu Zoran Svetlicic Toby Johnston
Partner Partner Partner
+86 137 0116 9250 +852 9859 6726 +65 8342 7142
yvonne@shiftpartners.com zoran@shiftpartners.com toby@shiftpartners.com