We pulled together some of the most interesting articles we’ve read recently—and included the quotes that got us talking the most.
The Great Pruning: Banks are thinning their branch networks. More drastic cuts may come.
From The Economist
“Banks are thus adapting their branches to do less transacting and more selling. Each refurbishment inevitably results in fewer tellers and more meeting rooms where staff can pitch products. Employees armed with iPads dissuade customers from waiting for tellers, pushing them instead to souped-up ATMs to deposit cheques, for example, or prodding them to download an app to do the same thing via a smartphone. CaixaBank, a big Spanish lender, has taken the next step, sending iPad-wielding salesmen out of the branch altogether, to call on clients at their offices.”
Patagonia’s Anti-Growth Strategy
From The New Yorker
“The company’s anti-materialistic stance ramped up on Black Friday, 2011, with a memorable full-page advertisement in the Times that read, “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” The ad’s text broke down the environmental costs of the company’s top-selling R2 fleece sweater and asked consumers to think twice before buying it or any other product. The attention the ad received helped to bump Patagonia’s 2012 sales significantly.”
Fast-Food Franchises Get Creative When They Go Abroad
From The Wall Street Journal
“In international markets, where chains have to adapt to local tastes, some of America’s most familiar fast-food items are hardly recognizable.
Take Pizza Hut. In Japan, one popular pie is topped with prawn, squid, tuna, mayonnaise, broccoli, onions and tomato sauce. Another mixes teriyaki chicken with corn, seaweed and mayonnaise. In South Korea, customers can get their pie crust stuffed with sweet-potato mousse; in the Middle East, customers can get a crust with cheeseburgers embedded in it.”