Bank of Queensland
Location:
BOQ Macquarie Centre Shop 3356 Level 3 Macquarie Centre Herring Road (Corner Waterloo Road) North Ryde NSW 2113
Design Credit:
Public Design Group
publicdesigngroup.com
Given the terrible reputation of banking globally, it is immensely refreshing to find a bank that genuinely seems to want to put its customers first.
Bank of Queensland (BOQ) has created a signature new look for its Macquarie Store, which aims to reinvent the retail banking experience, so that potential customers are actually attracted into the store, even when they don’t have a transaction in mind.
BOQ employed Public Design Group, not for a design facelift, but for a total rethink of how the brand expresses and interacts.
The brief from CEO Stuart Grimshaw was simple “If this looks or feels anything like a bank, I’ll walk out!”
The result is a bank that really looks like it means what it says and seems proud of its new ‘vibe’.
Gone are the traditional brochures, grim carpets, bulletproof screens and ‘please queue here signs’.
Instead the space is open and welcoming, with deliberate hints of a homely kitchen or local coffee shop built into the design.
The long communal wooden table is dressed with natural elements and the consultation rooms are clad in full size beach graphics. The communication is bright and informal with charming cameo displays and a wall with stories about real local customers.
The design is sleek and contemporary, with wit and warmth. But what turns this from being a design makeover to a genuine change is the reorganising of staffing, so that they are on the ship floor interacting with customers, rather than stuck behind desks.
This is also a great example of multichannel service that actually adds value – mundane transactions have been seamlessly automated, freeing staff to concentrate on developing meaningful relationships for higher value services.
The results have been striking; In it’s first week of trading, this branch outperformed the No.1 flagship BOQ store on Queen Street Brisbane, and it reached the first months targets (loans and deposits) in the first 3 days of trading, 75% of this business is with customers who have never dealt with BOQ before.
A lovely job!
