The Story

Banks all have logos, but having a logo is different from having a personality. Ideally a bank’s logo should be representative of it’s personality, but that’s usually not the case. Bank brands typically do not communicate a strong position or message, and neither do the symbols and imagery they choose to stand for them.

Here at CBC, we use Instant Messenger as a way of chatting internally without disrupting the whole office (if you’ve been to our offices, you know it’s a pretty open environment).

We all have different display images, so when we send each other IM’s, a picture pops up next to our message - usually something identifiable or relatable to each person, kinda like an IM version of our alter ego. In essence, each of us has a personal logo, much like any company will have a logo (only ours change a little more frequently).

We go through phases…for a while, we just had our own pictures. In homage to an awesome Foo Fighters concert, I had a photo of Dave Grohl, which led to a whole Nirvana theme, and then other rock stars followed. We’ve had 80’s TV stars, Muppets, scary animals, the list goes on.

Even if we end up with a theme for our photos, our individual personalities stand out by the images that we choose. Right now, I’m Animal from the Muppets because I wish I was as good of a drummer as he is.

But, when I think about my bank and wonder what their IM picture would be if they had one, I can’t come up with anything…because their brand has never conveyed a clear personality. I don’t really know who they are.

Tell your bank or credit union’s story - or, more importantly, prove it - through every interaction and touchpoint. So, when customers think about what your IM picture would be, an image will come to mind right away.

What would your image be? How does your current logo represent your personality?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Bank Branding, Credit Union Branding, Touch points, Branding, Financial graphic design, Corporate branding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.