GTBank: Building an Enduring Brand With New Logo?
(…) For Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, the last 15 years have been the quietly successful phase of phenomenal growth. And now, as the bank moves on into the future it is doing so boldly and with a refreshingly new resolve to change the face and form of the financial services industry for good, the many questions are: Why is the bank out with a new look and feel? Was the change process right? Why is it attempting or seeking to change its street recognised “GTB” tag to GTBank”? Is this an evolution of sorts? Will this brand flux gel with the market? Will the masses be confused or convinced by the reasons expoused by managing director Tayo Aderinokun that the bank is on the verge of a new dawn?
The bank's new corporate identity and logo campaign was split into three phases. Pre-launch, launch and post launch. Now it is in the post launch phase as the new logo was unvieled at the bank's 15th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at the Expo Hall of the Eko Hotel & Suites, in Lagos.
Whilst a few die hard fans of marketing communications say the logo launch and unveiling should have been a separate event with all the relevant razzmatazz and blitz associated with the introduction of new brands, a few observers also said this particular event was unique.
This is another first for Guaranty Trust Bank plc. No company in Nigeria has combined these two events successfully, an AGM and a corporate identity and logo launch, bringing together the two diverse worlds of banking and finance and brands marketing. Before now, very few imagined what the teaser was. Some saw it as a new brand evolving out of an established institution. To some, it was some of those FMCG firm, that are usually well entrenched into branding and sub-branding. It was even to some others, a telecoms outfit, reaching out in a highly competitive industry that it is. It also appears like a new eatery in town. (…)
The new brand look which appears bold, vibrant, and refreshing of course is a sign of optimism of a brand that has become a colossus in the Nigerian banking scene. It encapsulates who GTBank is as a big, flourishing financial services firm and in one clean, clear stroke of the mind, showcases the flexible, uncomplicated ethos of the bank.
To the managers of the brand, a square is the most equal of shapes; one of the most obvious and most precise forms. And like each aspect of lives at Guaranty Trust Bank plc, each face of this orange square represents an equal but distinctive feature of its brand world.
Why an orange in a sphere and not a square?
“For all of us at Guaranty Trust Bank plc, our sphere of influence is a warm, stimulating, orange-coloured space; an alert, caring, constantly evolving ambition to stand out of the crowd of companies and to become the best bank on our home soil and beyond”, says an official statement from the bank.
“The new look is a bold extension of the values and ethos of the corporation undergoing change. It represents the ability to rejuvenate and evolve into a new customer-centric character…opening new doors…new opportunities…new markets…new potentials for the organization “, added Muyiwa Moyela, Head, Corporate Communications Guaranty Trust Bank Plc
In essence, the Guaranty Trust brand has become an embodiment of values, a knowledge incubator, an icon of professionalism, integrity and ethics, revolution and a leading light in Nigeria.
(…)
Source:
allAfrica.com
