Khaleeji

Below: Before and After Images in Slide Show, Video, Summary, Credits

Khaleeji Commercial Bank is one of Bahrain’s first Islamic banks. Recently brought out by GFH, the bank hired a new CEO to transform the bank’s performance in an overly-saturated banking market.

Banks in Bahrain were getting more and more savvy and several newly rebranded banks were reshaping market expectations. Khaleeji was falling behind the curve. The bank had changed visually and operationally, but it lacked a clear purpose and position. Its name conveyed a commercial offering which it didn’t focus on. The brand’s typical banking-blue aesthetic and dhow sail icon couldn’t create the distinction it needed.

The existing name was cut to the core: Khaleeji. Arabic for ‘the people of the Gulf’. The brand needed a new, own-able position to change its perception from ‘retail to refined’; neither elitist or unattainable but attractive to a specific ‘ambitious’ mindset. People who’ve ‘made it’, were on their way to, or who had the drive to ‘make it’. Khaleeji’s essential nature was ‘to challenge the status quo’, its vision ‘to help ambitious people prosper’ is now coupled to a brand promise to ‘empower ethical ambition’. They can now attract a wider audience beyond the typical Islamic customer.

Net profit saw a modest lift of 2.07%. We have had nothing but positive responses from the market and staff have reported that the new brand has received an overwhelmingly positivity reception from their teams. The new identity earned a great response from the CEO, Sattam Algosaibi who said ”The reveal was very well received. I have been getting so many positive responses from the market, from the customers and… from other agencies. I quote “A great rebrand” and “a very elegant rebrand”. A big thank you”.