An online publication from a bank, built so people would choose to read it

Client: Bank of the West (now BMO)
Agency: Each&Other
Years: 2020–2022
My role: Senior Visual Designer, Creative Direction & Client Management

Awards Webby Award and Webby People’s Voice, Financial Services & Banking, 2021. 100 Archive selection, 2020.

375%return on investment

+50%brand consideration

−66%customer churn within 6 months

+54%reading time over the industry average

30%returning visitors

Figures from Contently’s April 2021 feature on the publication’s first 6 months, and from the case study by Leslie Nuccio, its Editor-in-Chief.Contently feature (opens in a new tab)Leslie Nuccio’s case study (opens in a new tab)

The brief

Increase brand awareness and customer acquisition with a new online publication that shows the bank’s principles through intentional content marketing.

The audience cared about the environment but might not have connected it with where their money sits. The publication had to earn readers first and customers second.

Team at Each&Other and partners

Principal UX & content strategy: Brian Herron
Project management: Hagan Bolger
Backend development: Ruadhán O’Donoghue
Frontend development: Neil Creagh
Graphic design: Brian Gough
Illustration: Jacky Sheridan

How I approached it

Questions we started with

What would make people choose to read a bank’s publication?
How does Means&Matters look like itself, separate from its parent BNP Paribas?
Where can products appear without costing the publication its credibility?

Decisions I influenced

Market research and competitor benchmarking, then 2 days of in-person workshops at the bank’s HQ in San Francisco.
A content-first approach built around reader engagement.
An identity drawn from the brand’s secondary colours, with image treatments inspired by DIY zine culture.
Mixed typeface headings and a type system borrowed from printed media.
Visual direction across the website, social media and podcast branding.

Challenges

Creating a distinct visual language inside an established brand family.
Meeting conversion goals while keeping the trust an editorial publication needs.

What I learned

When the content leads, product messages land better because readers already trust the page.