Devoted to small businesses and those who run them

ING Direct, the banking group, knows how to do experience marketing successfully. 

Some Small Biz Mentor commenters feel Starbucks have lost their way with experience marketing, so ING is an interesting case study as it offers coffee as well. Yes, coffee!

ING established cafes with coffee, food, free internet and financial newpapers and finance news on plasma screens. Cafe goers can watch stock movements and check their portfolios. They offer free financial seminars at their various branches too.

The ING Direct Cafe promotes ING's banking business, but interestingly, it is not a physical bank. That all happens online.

Back in 2004, Joseph Pine & James H. Gilmour reported for Strategy + Business -  

ING Direct realized that financial services had become so commoditized that an engaging experience was the best way to expose potential customers to its financial offerings.

ING Cafe Direct has since opened in other major cities. And why wouldn't they? Pine & Gilmour say of the New York ING Cafe Direct (remember this was 2004)

...this single “branch” yielded more than $200 million in new accounts and mortgages within a year of opening.

ING Cafe Direct say

We believe saving money should be as simple as having a cup of coffee. So we invite you to come in and experience just how refreshing it is to sip a latte, surf the Internet for free and talk to us about how we can help you Save Your Money.

Sounds like savvy experience marketing to me.

• Do you know of other examples of experience marketing that works or that has lost its way?