REBRANDING INITIATIVES BY BANKS

BY:SIDDHARTH MISHRA(10DM010)NEELANJAN DUTTA(10DM021)AMIT KUMAR DAS(10DM031)JOYDEEP SHEE(10DM051)

SIDHARTH MOHAPATRA(10DM041)

What is a brand ?

Branding is an effort to give a unique identity to the company’s products and create emotional associations with consumers.It is a form of marketing.

A brand is a set of associations that are linked to a product range, a division, or company. These associations reside in the memory of customers.These associations help customers understand • what the brand or company is, • why it is potentially relevant to them,• how it is different or similar to other products made by the company,• and how it is similar or different from competitor’s products.

WHAT IS REBRANDING?• The process of branding an already developed brand;

be it a product or company is known as re-branding. Here the products or the company is marketed and distributed with a different identity.

• The brand logo, name, image, marketing strategy and advertising themes all go for a revamp and a makeover. The positioning of the company also changes and it is projected in a new light.

• It might be superficial or deep. • It may be for the existing product lines or involve new

ones depending on the company's wishes.

WHY REBRANDING

• It is usually done during a time of crisis when it becomes crucial to improve its image and shed its negativity or when a new company acquires a certain company and its products.

• Re-branding is a common occurrence nowadays what with enumerable mergers and acquisitions as well as various crises. Thus it has become a fad that most companies indulge in the recent times.

STEPS OF REBRANDING

• Trusted employees should be included, and perhaps even some valued customers, so you can receive external input.

• Next up is reviewing the way the company operates, to ensure that internal processes and procedures are appropriate given the new brand messaging, or determine that they need to be altered in some way.

• Following that exercise, an exciting rollout needs to be orchestrated; employees must be passionate about the new brand, so they can generate passion in the marketplace. 

•  Every department should be involved, since rebranding isn't merely a marketing function, but a companywide endeavor.

• Once the initial excitement dies down, it's important to sustain the new brand by instituting an ongoing program for measuring employees' consistent and complete use of it .

•  Maintaining brand integrity within a company puts you on a path to market buy-in, which is the very reason for rebranding in the first place.

A Super Regional Bank?

Mike Smith, Chief Executive Officer states:

“Our focus on Asia is driven by the reality that over the next two decades, economic growth in many parts of Asia – particularly in China and India – will outpace the rest of the world by a factor of three or four. At the same time, the trade and investment links between Australia and New Zealand and Asia are continuing to deepen.”

Research – Is it always right?

In developing the new brand, ANZ commissioned

Millward Brown to conduct research across the

Asia-Pacific region covering six countries, 12

cities, 50 ANZ staff, and 1200 customers/non-customers.Two common themes emerged:

1. People wanted their bank to be “people-shaped”

2. People wanted to have a banking experience that was “uncomplicated”.

Going Global – Attempting to symbolically connect

In response to Millward Browns research, ANZs new logoand visual language was developed by M&C Saatchi toinclude the following features:1. The reduction of ANZ word-mark lines from three to one

represents ‘One ANZ’, and reflecting the equator which runs through the Asia-Pacific region.

2. A new symbol ‘The Lotus’ which represents ANZ in all its markets regardless of language.

The three petals of the lotus is meant to represent our region; Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific. The central shape of ‘The Lotus’ represents ANZ’s customers and people.

• Canara Bank joins the list of public sector banks which has done an image makeover.

• Canara Bank in its new avatar sports a new logo, color and slogan. The new logo consists of two entwined triangles. The new logo designed by Ray & Keshavan is aimed at giving this 100 year old brand a youthful look. The rich blue aims at conveying stability scale and depth while the yellow color spreads optimism warmth and energy.( source : Canara Bank website)

• Canara Bank now sports a new slogan " Together We Can " . The new slogan replace the old slogan " Vikas ke liye Sewarth, Sewa ke liye Vikasarath "- where the focus was on the Service. The new slogan speaks more on achievement & aspiration rather than service.

• The brand is also running a series of campaigns as a part of this image makeover. The ads now talk about the " Change " . The new communication revolves around the theme that ' Its easy to change for someone you care about ',hence the bank has changed for its customers.

THERE ARE 3 MAIN REASONS FOR REBRANDING

1.There had to give up the UTI name after using it for 13 years as they were not prepared to accept terms and conditions (including royalty) from UTI AMC.

The decision to rebrand itself was taken by the bank as it was allowed to use the ‘UTI’ brand name for free till january 31, 2008, beyond which it had to pay royalty for using the name.

2.The recommendation for name change to Axis Bank has arisen from the existence of several shareholder-unrelated entities using the UTI brand, and the consequent brand confusion that this guarantees.

3.The name UTI bank was changed to AXIS bank as UTI gave a look of government sector bank. They had to change their name to save their own brand and identity.

SOME OTHER BANKS REBRANDED