• by Aaron Baar , January 2, 2009

ING Direct doesn't make much money selling $1 cups of coffee and bottled water to people (although it does make some profit). Nor does it offer cash or any other traditional banking transaction at its cafes in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles. But the brand boost the Internet bank gets from the stores is immeasurable.

"We've turned them into the face and heart of ING Direct," says John Owens, head of marketing at the company. "It helps with brand awareness and brand consideration, which is more important than brand awareness."

Thanks to the cafes, an easy-to-use Web presence (along with highly targeted e-mail communications) and a brand focus on savings that dovetails nicely with the current fiscally conservative environment, ING Direct has become the country's largest direct bank with more than 7.3 million customers and $81 billion in assets.

While ING Direct has had cafes for just about seven years, 2008 saw the opening of new cafes in Honolulu and St. Cloud, Minn. as well as a new, expanded location in New York City. The cafes are an acknowledgement that even in the virtual world, people still desire some physical reassurance. ("A lot of our customers know if they needed to see us, they could," Owens says.)

But they're also a great marketing technique. "In a sense, they're nothing more than a billboard," says Jeffrey Pilcher, editor and publisher of TheFinancialBrand.com. "[And] they get a huge amount of publicity when they open one of them."

But even more so, they are an expression of the company's philosophy that banking should be simple. The cafes were started as an outgrowth of CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann's expression that banking should be as simple as getting a cup of coffee. "Our products are a commodity product," Owens admits. "We don't say we're simple, but customers take that away."

"The thing that fascinates me is how much brand clarity they have. They're all about helping people save money," Pilcher says. "By sticking to their guns, they've set themselves up nicely."

That brand clarity will work in ING Direct's favor as consumers continue to tighten their belts, particularly if confidence in traditional banks continues to erode. In October, ING Direct leveraged its savings-based positioning (tagline: "Save your money.") to be a voice of reason in troubled times. The company launched a campaign calling on Americans to sign a "Declaration of Financial Independence." Consumers are encouraged to sign the Declaration--which includes points such as spending less than you earn, building equity in one's home and knowing the cost of borrowing--at wethesavers.com.

With limited advertising (mostly newspaper print ads, some outdoor and video advertisements in New York City cabs and elevators) over the first two weeks of December, the Declaration has already garnered more than 12,000 signers.

"We thought there has not been a better time than now to talk about saving," Owens says. "We might not be in this [economic] mess if we didn't spend more than we had."

The philosophy has helped the bank build a big stable of vocal fans. In a survey of more than 1,200 consumers earlier this year, advertising agency 22 Squared (which doesn't work for ING Direct) found ING Direct had a brand advocacy score (those who talk positively about the brand minus those who talk negatively) of 48%, well above the retail banking average of 9% and up there with Apple, Jet Blue, Target and Verizon, says Brandon Murphy, director of brand planning for 22 Squared.

"It was shocking to see how a retail banking brand could upend the category just by doing things differently," Murphy says. "ING treated customers well and were clear, honest and transparent before the economic picture took a turn. They're going to benefit a lot more now."

By Owens' own assessment, word-of-mouth is the bank's most-important marketing tool. That's why the bank has dedicated itself to a user-friendly experience that expands beyond the comfy cafes to online and over-the-phone. "The experience is important to us," Owens says. "A phone call and a Web site should be as short as possible. People don't want to hang out at a branch of their bank."

Maybe not. But they will hang out at a coffee bar.