Ulster Bank Group Corporate identity change programme
| Fact |
Value |
| Contact |
Dublin |
| Client |
RBS
Ulster Bank Group |
| Project |
Corporate identity change programme |
| Industry |
Financial Services |
| Timeline |
Jan 05 - Ongoing |
| Services |
Internal Communications
Corporate Design
Brand Architecture
Brand Identity
Brand Guidelines
Brand Communications and Collateral
Brand Audit (including VISEQS)
Brand Positioning
|
| Team size |
10 The Brand Union
6 Client |
Tone of voice
Ulster Bank's verbal identity was engaging and editorial in style using appropriate wit and charm to engage both internal and external audiences.
Ulster Bank Group is the third largest Banking Group on the island of Ireland. It was established in 1836 and was acquired by RBS following its takeover of NatWest in 2000. In 2005 Ulster Bank announced its business ambition to become the number one bank on the island of Ireland, by maximising its parent’s heritage and growing its brand across all customer touchpoints.
Employees walk the length and breadth of the Island of Ireland for charity
Our challenge was to align Ulster Bank’s identity with its RBS global parent, creating an engaging island of Ireland brand change programme, energising and inspiring its workforce and powerfully connecting with its customer base. The brand identity change was a clear signal to the market that Ulster Bank had commenced its journey to become the number one bank on the island.
Ulster Bank has 1.7 million customers and over 7,000 employees making it one of the largest businesses in the country. Its success is symbiotically linked to Ireland's success. The identity change programme needed to clearly illustrate this relationship and engagingly connect with both of these audiences.
The Big Idea.
The big idea for Ulster Bank's brand was to capture modern day life on the island of Ireland in an authentic and inspiring way that took its visual and verbally identity outside the visual clichés of the financial service world. The island of Ireland is full of wonderful moments that become fond and emotive memories in our minds. If we can capture these through photography we have a powerful medium that can captivate our audiences and tell stories of the common emotions that bring us together as one community.
We commissioned numerous photographers to record the lives of customers, from students through to business, as well as events and evidence of how the bank supported life across the island.
Brand Identity
We crafted the masterbrand to align visually with the RBS brand in both typeface and colour. The Ulster Bank name was an important equity for the bank to retain as this allowed the identity to leverage the global parentage of RBS while being locally rooted.
Brand Architecture
The Ulster Bank Brand had been fragmented over a period of many years. A clear and unifying brand architecture was put in place to clearly build one brand. It also delivered a clear policy on how internal and co-branding visual relationships were to be managed.
Literature & Communications
Ulster Bank literature was a celebration of life on the island. Each piece of in-branch literature contained a map of Ireland on the back cover with a location dot depicting where the cover photography was taken, the photographer’s name and the city or town where they were born.
Internal Engagement
The Staff Launch was a full day event where all employees were challenged to walk the length and breadth of the island of Ireland for charity. The headquarter canteens were turned into walk and step gyms where every employee was asked to take a turn. Employees who couldn't get to the north or south headquarters were given pedometers to measure their steps at work for that day.
Ulster Bank Calendar
A staff photographic competition is held yearly where staff are asked to take or send in photographs which depict life on the island of Ireland. The winning photos are then reproduced as a calendar which goes out to all staff and customers, with the bank contributing to a given charity nominated by each winner.
Brand Guidelines
We produced comprehensive guidelines for all brand agencies to follow to ensure the brand was managed across all customer touch points. We also created synopsis guidelines in the form of a concertina wallet card for Ulster Bank brand managers.
In 2006 Ulster Bank’s total number of customers increased by 6% to 1.7 million. Total income rose 15% to £471 million with operating profit up 20% to £182 million. Staff numbers increased by 9% to 7,000.
