ING Direct cafés awarded for style

ING Direct cafés awarded for style

ING Direct’s cafés in North America belief that ‘saving money should be as simple as having a cup of coffee’ was the core idea behind their cafés, which allow visitors to sip a latte, surf the internet and talk to ING Direct staff about how they can save their money.

Now, ING Direct’s cafés have been applauded for their style, consumer appeal and effectiveness in a prestigious ranking of the world’s ‘coolest’ products, places and experiences.

Netherlands-based ‘Science of the Time’ - an international network of 2000 futurists and trend watchers - recently released their Top 15 ‘Science of Cool’ ranking for 2008. ING Direct cafés came seventh in the survey, vying for status with a diverse list of contenders, such as an African helicopter constructed from recycled car parts, a Brazilian artist who projects images of wildlife onto the streets of São Paolo, and an environmentally-friendly vanishing ink developed by Xerox.

The researchers are impressed with the effort ING Direct makes to communicate with customers in a friendly yet knowledgeable way: “The staff who serve espresso are all ING Direct employees, well-versed in their financial products and capable of thoroughly answering questions from customers who come in to drink coffee and become interested in the products advertised in the brochures.”

Explaining why they rate the cafes so highly, the researchers say on the www.scienceofthetime.com website: “The ease of internet banking, business use and having a coffee in a sociable place, combined with the fact that they yield such tremendous results for the company, makes this concept ‘cool’.”

The trend-watchers conclude: “This is a bold initiative by ING - highly effective, a relevant way of connecting with people, and adding interesting fun.”

Click here to see pictures from ING Direct’s cafés in the US