Please note: The conclusion in the Analysis portion of the article says this is a better idea for a crowdsourcing promotion than “make your own TV commercial” contests. It does not say this is the right way to design a branch.

In the end, don’t look to DBS to implement many (if any) of the ideas gleaned from this process. It’s better to look at this as a creative/intellectual experiment to see what’s on the mind of consumers (esp. Gen-Y).

Ron may- or may not have a point about Gen-Y’s overall feelings towards branches, but that is an issue beyond the scope of this article. It is worth noting however that data published previously here at The Financial Brand suggests that branches aren’t as irrelevant to Gen-Y as Ron’s comment implies.

I agree with Ron about the amateur part, but I guess the word “crowdsource” is the key here because the bank doesn’t promise that the winning design will be used, which opens up the possibility that this is actually a marketing campaign instead of a mere contest.

But I’m sure DBS will get lots of input for their branch design concept, because hey, who WOULDN’T want to win the money?

While I can’t speak to the trends among Gen Yers in Singapore, I can say this about Gen Yers in the US: They couldn’t care less about bank branches. Going into a bank “branch” is about one step less painful than getting root canal work done.

But more seriously, I don’t understand why you think the DBS project is “how you do it.” Why would you ask people who have relatively little experience going into bank branches — let alone little experience managing their finances or dealing with banks — for input?

I think the value of this project is in its ability to engage people who the bank would not probably otherwise engage, and engage them in a way that will be fun for some of them. But in the end it’s more about brand awareness than smart branch design.