Finding a partner to create custom solutions you never imagined possible is every marketer’s dream. Machias Savings Bank’s collaborative partnership with Kiosk & Display has turned that dream into a reality. When Machias issues a challenge Kiosk & Display delivers, such as finding a way to amplify their community outreach impact and creating a fun, interactive lead generation tool for the bank to use at events.
Improving the Customer Experience
Yury Nabokov, Innovation & Digital Strategy Manager at Machias Savings Bank in Machias, Maine, has worked with Kiosk & Display since he joined the bank in 2013. He’s found that the Kiosk & Display team consistently pushes to improve the customer experience. “In my innovation role, I’m tasked with finding digital solutions that haven’t been tried before. With every new initiative I present to them, they find a way to make it more exciting, new and fresh. Innovation is in their DNA.”
With every new initiative I present to them, they find a way to make it more exciting, new and fresh. Innovation is in their DNA.
Yury Nabokov, Innovation & Digital Strategy Manager
The $1.5 billion bank has Kiosk & Display’s digital displays in all 16 branches. The bank values its branches as an important customer touchpoint. “Branch foot traffic is an afterthought for a lot of marketers,” says Nabokov. “Our branch customers are our strongest supporters,” so Machias ensures the branch digital displays contain a mix of product promotions, service promotions, community events, and donations content. Nabokov can recall more than one customer bringing friends and family into the branch to brag when their image was featured on the digital displays. “The digital signs give us a way to demonstrate our community commitment, and that builds customer loyalty,” he adds.
“The digital signs give us a way to demonstrate our community commitment, and that builds customer loyalty.”
Innovative and Interactive
Machias found another way to use Kiosk & Display’s technology to showcase their community outreach. During a brainstorming session, Kiosk & Display’s Director of Content Strategy Sharon Klocek-Ibbotson learned that the bank tracks donations, CRA activities and volunteer hours in a separate database. Kiosk & Display found a way to aggregate the data, then push the total volunteer hours and dollars contributed through the digital signage network. Not only does this save the marketing team time, but customers can see the real-time impact of the bank’s goodwill.
“Kiosk & Display flipped the model upside-down.”
In 2017 Nabokov says he issued Kiosk & Display the challenge to “Help make our fundraising activities more interactive.” As a sponsor of the Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference, Machias Savings Bank wanted to invite the conference attendees to vote for one of five charitable organizations that would receive a $5,000 donation. Kiosk & Display built a real-time text voting module that displayed the voting results on stage. The bank has since named the program To Give and uses the text-to-vote tool with tablets when they’re out in the community. “It’s a conversation starter, a lead generator, and makes the event fun, interactive and transparent,” says Nabokov. “Kiosk & Display flipped the model upside-down.”
Working Together
Machias appreciates the Kiosk & Display’s can-do attitude and their willingness to innovate. “I have yet to hear “no” to my requests,” says Nabokov. “No matter the complexity of the issue, they’re always ready to work with us and hold our hand throughout the process.”
“No matter the complexity of the issue, they’re always ready to work with us.”
What started with a branch digital signage network has evolved into solutions that are truly synergistic partnerships encompassing the bank and multiple vendors.
Looking for a way to give your community development efforts a boost? We’d love to brainstorm with you.