06 Nov Re-imagining the community hall
For years, shopping centres & department stores have used themed events as clever marketing tools to attract customers who then spend money they otherwise wouldn’t have. We’ve all seen the stampede for Santa’s Grotto, the celebrity chef book signing or X-Factor auditions. Now another category is getting in on the act and it might surprise you which one.
For many of us a trip to the bank is either a vague memory from the past, something ‘old people do’ or a necessary evil when you have do something major like buy a house. Well the UK’s Metro Bank has turned that view upside down and created a series of local branch events which treat their branch as a respected, friendly centre of the community it serves. Like a modern-day town hall!
Perhaps even more surprising is that Metro position themselves as a bank for the modern, younger, hipper person. Exactly the type of person who banks through an app on their phone and thinks a branch is something monkeys swing from. In spite of all this, these events are surprisingly well-attended and are genuinely helping build a bond between customers and their community.
Events range from business & financial, to community, to fun. Business networking events promise an opportunity to meet business owners and local professionals. Dog & cat microchipping services for the community and halloween & Easter events bring the families in.
Is it working? Well a raft of prestigious awards and consistent growth & branch expansion would suggest it is. In 2017 alone Metro have won Moneywise’s most-trusted financial advisor, Retail Banker’s bank of the year and London Stock Exchange’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’. So they are winning for their service as well as their product. Critical in today’s world.
It is a great use of a network of owned assets which would otherwise have been dormant in the evenings. Making a brand connection, supplying a valued experience and delivering on their service promise.