The Financial Brand Forum empowers and engages with the industry’s brightest ideas and innovations
Each year financial brands from across the nation gather in Las Vegas to experience banking’s blockbuster event. Between April 15-17, the Financial Brand Forum convened the world’s most elite conference on marketing, customer experience, data analytics and transformation in the financial industry. Taking place in the legendary Caesars Palace, this immersive three-day event featured keynotes, sessions and makeovers that inspire and inform. Each year, participants leave empowered to take on banking’s biggest challenges.
Sean Keathley, Adrenaline’s President & CEO says, “The keynote with Gary Vaynerchuk really kicked off the conference in just the right way. You know, we work in an industry that some describe as a sea of sameness. Differentiation is non-negotiable today. However you break it down – from how you attract talent or deal with competitive pressures – ultimately it’s all going to come down to brand. Realistically, the excuse of being in a highly regulated industry just doesn’t cut it anymore. You have to think about how you thrive despite being in the midst of disruption.”
One of the ways brands are making decisions in this disrupted era is with data. A consistent topic at the conference sessions, data is something we’re swimming in, but often don’t have the right way to sort it and use it. Keathley says, “Analytics can help financial brands in a lot of ways. Whether you are justifying brand investments or looking at where to open or close a retail location, data is what helps you decide. Realistically, we’ve never had as much information as we’ve got access to now. But what do you do with it? People need actionable insights to help empower their decision-making.”
What’s more powerful than seeing concepts in action, though? The Live Makeovers featured distinguished experts in brand, branch and web design. These leaders unveiled their creative concepts – live on-stage – to real financial institutions facing real world challenges. Keathley says, “I think the makeovers are symbolic of what’s on everybody’s mind, which is the need to keep your channels fresh, whether they’re virtual or physical. I think those three makeovers – website, brand and branch – were good filters for the whole conference because they really addressed what financial brands are facing.”
Adrenaline’s experience design experts took on the Branch Experience Makeover with United Bank, headquartered in Fairfax, VA. This bank needed to align 142 branches, some of which had been added through acquisition. The Adrenaline team developed strategic branch design that was unveiled via augmented reality. Dramatic before and after transformations were featured for the first time live, on-stage. In an upcoming article, we’ll go behind-the-scenes with the creative team to find out how they crafted a dynamic branch experience and tackled common branch issues retail banking providers face today.
If you didn’t get the opportunity to talk with one of our multi-disciplinary experts at our Financial Brand Forum booth, we’d still love to hear from you. Connect with us.
