Bankers Turn to P-O-P to Boost Retail Services

Stung by bad real estate and corporate loans during the 1980s, many commercial banks are seeking solace -- and profits -- in the retail side of their business."In the larger world of banking, retail has gone from a sleepy corner to a major profit center," says Paco Underhill, director and founder of Envirosell Inc., a New York-based behavioral research company. "There has been a proliferation of products aimed at the average American household."However, consumer demand for these products, after skyrocketing during the 1980s, has slackened lately because of the recession and a growing trend toward saving and investment, fueled largely by aging Baby Boomers laying plans to pay for their kids' college education and their own retirement.This has intensified competition in retail banking and has elevated the importance of in-bank promotions, including P-O-P displays and signage, to an unprecedented level."The role of merchandising within the structure of a bank has gone from a little, tiny issue to a great big one during the past 10 years," Underhill says. "It represents an increasingly important part of a bank's marketing strategy, because it is the branch where money, people and opportunity all come together."For P-O-P manufacturers who have not addressed or thought about banking as a potential area for business, it is one of the fastest-growing areas of the point-of-purchase movement."Underhill bases these conclusions on about two dozen bank studies conducted by Envirosell during the past few years in the United States and Europe. The company uses time-lapse cameras to film bank customers and their reactions to P-O-P displays and signage. Envirosell has combined these findings with exit surveys of bank customers and on-site mapping of customer traffic patterns to develop a wealth of information about how customer behavior relates to in-bank merchandising and bank design and operations.Creating OpportunitiesThrough its studies, Envirosell has learned that P-O-P displays and signage can have a significant impact on the sale of retail banking products. For example, in comparing two bank branches that run the same advertising campaign for consumer loans -- one with in-branch merchandising support, and the other without -- Envirosell has found that the bank using P-O-P materials processes and approves three times as many applications for promoted products as the other bank.This type of success doesn't accrue magically just by using displays and signage. Rather, Envirosell's studies have shown that the effectiveness of in-bank merchandising depends heavily on factors such as the wording, design and positioning of displays, as well as efforts to involve bank employees in P-O-P programs.In one Envirosell study, a P-O-P sign hanging from the ceiling of a bank lobby was moved 10 feet to a position above and behind a bank teller, where it faced customers waiting in the teller line. The percentage of customers who saw the sign climbed to 21 percent from 3 percent in the lobby, and the length of time they looked at the sign increased to seven seconds from three seconds.Envirosell also has found that the percentage of customers who enter a bank and look at a sign behind a teller can range from 4 percent to 47 percent, depending on the wording, design and placement of the sign, Underhill says.These findings reflect the fact that banks are a destination location. When customers enter a bank, they typically are on a mission. They want to deposit or withdraw money, obtain travelers checks or conduct some other type of transaction. Few people come to a bank to shop -- and as a result, few notice lobby signs or brochure racks on their way in. "Bank merchandising works best when it is positioned to take advantage of when customers are willing to look," Underhill says.One of the times they're most willing to look is when they're waiting in a teller line. "The teller-line wait is one of the only moments of inertia in the banking experience, and therefore is an excellent opportunity to merchandise banking services," Underhill says.This is especially true if overhead signs, poster stanchions and brochure racks are within the sight lines or reach of the second or third person in line, Envirosell has found.The first person in line isn't likely to look at P-O-P materials because he or she is too busy looking at the sign with the "next teller" arrow. By contrast, the second or third person in line is an ideal target because they usually are searching for something to grab their attention while they wait, Underhill says. Determining how many people usually are in line is critical to determining which part of the line should be targeted by P-O-P devices. For example, a bank probably wouldn't want to target the 10th person in line if it seldom has 10 people in line.Among the most effective P-O-P materials for people waiting in teller lines are sign and counter-card combinations that set up tellers to direct customers to an information desk, brochure rack or platform officers, Envirosell has found. Teller-line kiosks also are an extremely effective merchandising tool; a well-positioned kiosk can attract the attention of 10 percent to 20 percent of bank customers. Making the P-O-P VisibleWaiting couches and chairs, platform-officers' desks, booths used by safe-deposit customers, and check-writing ledges also present in-bank merchandising opportunities. Positioning P-O-P materials so that customers see them as they leave the bank is a good idea, too, because exiting customers are more willing than those entering the bank to consider such materials. Envirosell has found that the number of people picking up a brochure can increase as much as 30 percent when the brochure is merchandised to people on their way out instead of on their way in.Whether located along an exit route or elsewhere in a bank, walk-by P-O-P materials must be written and designed so that they can be read and understood in less than five seconds, or else they won't be effective, Envirosell has found. In positioning such materials, in-bank merchandisers also must determine the distance and angle of the customer's approach, and they should remember that most people have a right-hand bias toward P-O-P materials, because most people are right-handed.In general, the wording of point-of-purchase materials should include three elements to catch and hold people's attention. Underhill says. The first is an introduction that identifies the product being promoted. The second is a brief description of the product's attributes and advantages. The third is a refrain that urges the customer not to forget the offer.Signage that takes more than a few seconds to read, such as interest-rate boards, must be positioned in a place where people are willing to read it, Underhill says. He recommends positioning interest-rate boards within sight of people waiting in teller lines, or to the right of exiting customers at a doorway, making sure enough room exists between the sign and customer traffic to ensure that people viewing the board don't get bumped by customers leaving the bank."This is particularly true in banks with a lot of senior citizens, who often are very sensitive to being brushed," Underhill says. In general, he adds, any signs and brochure racks likely to be read by senior citizens should be positioned so these customers can read or reach them without looking or cutting through customer traffic.Besides being attentive to the needs of certain customers, bank officials should strive to involve employees in the development and execution of P-O-P programs, Underhill says. He recommends that instead of leaving P-O-P placement and maintenance to cleaning people, bankers should train tellers, loan officers and others to understand the purpose of P-O-P campaigns, handle P-O-P placement and maintenance, encourage customer interaction with P-O-P materials, and field customer inquiries about promoted programs or products.To support this recommendation, Underhill cites an Envirosell study in which a bank and a merchandising company teamed up to explain to bank employees the purpose of in-bank merchandising, to get them involved in positioning P-O-P materials, and to encourage them to use the materials with customers. The program increased by 40 percent customers' awareness and recall of in-bank merchandising materials, surveys of exiting customers showed. "Merchandising does not sell bank products," Underhill says. "People sell bank products. The purpose of the merchandising is to set up the people to make a sale."Involving the EmployeesNoting that some banks have gone as far as setting up "banking universities" to help employees interact like storekeepers with customers, he suggests that P-O-P manufacturers, designers and agencies capitalize on this trend and develop programs to teach bank employees how to optimize the use of in-bank merchandising."There is a great deal of opportunity out there, particularly in terms of dealing with regional and local banks," Underhill says. "This is a field that is evolving rapidly. The major banks that have money to spend are now experimenting with electronic media," such as in-bank TV programming that includes entertainment and commercials.

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