So I’ve seen the advertisement for Capital One (Bank) Cafes on TV for some time now.
Well I saw my first real one in Fort Lauderdale this week.
It was big, bright, comfortable and had children’s games and a host of meeting and breakout rooms.
They even gave us two cards for some free coffee at the embedded Pete’s Coffee.
It was a corner store in a large, expensive space.
It was great place to get some work done or relax.
But aside for a cash machine or so, there was nothing that I could see having to do with banking in this place.
Also, there were also almost no customers for the coffee.
Basically, it is totally confusing idea from a marketing and branding perspective–Is it a bank or a coffee house? And why would I go to Capital One to get coffee or to Pete’s Coffee to do my banking????
While I think that Capital One has literally outdone Starbucks in building a great cafe space, I don’t think anyone will actually get what this is or why it is!
My guess is that whoever came up with this idea is going to be looking for a job within about 6 big money-losing months. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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