We’re excited to share news of our continuing partnership with Zürcher Kantonalbank, to reimagine the retail banking proposition and experience, which now sees the most recent launch of their flagship “Branch of the Future'' experience in Winterthur. This flagship follows the success of the ‘test and learn’ pilot that opened in early 2020 in Stettback, near Zurich, which helped inform the thinking and design for the flagship experience.

Dalziel & Pow and Zürcher Kantonalbank have been working together to reimagine the ‘Banking Experience’, with the development of a new strategic vision in response to the evolving customer needs and aspirations, the growth of digital platforms and tools, and the decreasing relevance of traditional ‘sales-led’ advertising and marketing.

At D&P, we believe a brand experience is not just one big, isolated moment, it is everything that connects a brand with its customers - it’s a total ecosystem. The brand experience as a whole is made up of a series of collective interactions, both big and small, and is greater than the sum of its parts. From brand positioning, identity and storytelling to digital platforms, services and spaces, every component matters.

We worked with Zürcher Kantonalbank to redefine the brand and its experience through our Brand World framework, which is the brand ecosystem made up of six pillars: Purpose, Personality, People, Place, Process and Product, with the belief that the most engaging brands deliver on all six. These are the brands that customers want to spend their time with, and money on. They’re the brands that thrive in the new economy.

This newly defined strategic vision diverts from conventional transactional banking and sales driven marketing. Instead, the focus shifted onto a new experience that exists to inspire personal progress and financial wellbeing, helping people feel inspired and motivated about their future – from saving and investing, to progressing in life, work and business. And developing a new branch experience has been the key component of this shift. The strategy required the branch to transition from purely transactional to a versatile experience for personal progress and financial wellbeing by bringing together the benefits of physical, digital and human experience.

“We take customers on a journey to experience banking in a new way." Susanna von Känel, Project Manager Zürcher Kantonalbank “In addition to the even more convenient way of carrying out everyday banking transactions, everyone can look forward to new points of contact with the bank: in the forum we offer events on topics such as housing, finance and careers. We also help with entry into the digital world with workshops. We have also put together an entertaining program for families and children. Not interested in events? Then the bar is the ideal place to recharge your batteries and start your own projects.”