Scenario
Security National Bank is more than 100 years old—established, steady, traditional, disciplined, trustworthy and successful. While the existing conservative brand served the bank well in its legacy market, its growth market was shifting profoundly. Security National had settled into a brand described as stuffy, old-school and unapproachable. But the bank’s core personality is highly dynamic and ambitious. The bank needed help keeping the existing brand essence the same while evolving the look and feel for the next generation.
Perspective
Security National Bank was simply a 135+year-old, great bank whose look had become irrelevant to the marketplace; it was time to evolve. As FMS got involved, brand discovery revealed the importance of retaining brand equity and what’s true about the brand personality while modifying the experience to remain relevant. The bank excels at customer service because it’s who they are. They were so committed to the details that “Everything matters” was natural for them to rally around, and it was the same for customers, who want to work with a bank who cares about their plans, dreams and all the little steps in between.
The external launch began with a thorough explanation of the logo change to existing, loyal customers. After the introductory period to the bank’s existing core base, ads, radio commercials, tv spots and billboards were created to present a more modern and relevant brand to the marketplace.
Solutions
We kicked off the project by recommending an “evolution” and not a “revolution” of the bank’s familiar logo. This way, the bank can maintain current brand equity while also being relevant to today’s customers. Security National Bank is an excellent bank with great customer service and a wide-range of financial products and services. Therefore, they simply needed an updated logo that would support that interpretation in the marketplace.
The internal launch of the brand included a grand kickoff event at which the bank went all out to help the team get excited about the rebrand and begin living the refreshed brand immediately. The event was held in an incredible theater; the lobby was filled with appetizers and drinks, a meat-carving bar, and a mashed potato bar with all the trimmings. After the exciting presentation of the new brand, the lobby had been transformed with displays of branded apparel, swag, giveaways, collateral, booklets and advertising. A huge oversized poster read, “Everything matters,” and every employee signed it as they went out. And one of the most dramatic moments was when employees exited, the new logo had been lifted 30 feet into the air by a huge truck. Impressive!
