Enterprise Rebrand
Country Base: Oman
Industry/Sector/Keywords: Financial Services, Insurance, Banking, Middle East, Contemporary, Investments, GCC, Gulf Cooperation Council, Business
Before: Before and After Images in Slide Show, Summary, Credits
Summary
Industry Setting

Bank Muscat is one of the GCC’s (Gulf Cooperation Council) oldest and most iconic financial brands.With a network of 100 branches, it is also one of the largest.

Challenge

Issues faced:
• Brand had experienced recent, significant growth, now it needed an identity to reflect who they were today and the new challenges faced
• Need to convey change of focus – from growth to greater customer satisfaction
• Relevance was being reduced due to existing, ‘old fashioned’ brand design using well-aged visual forms and Islamic pattern-making
• How to modernize brand but not dislocate customers or lose its essential nature.

Strategy

To achieve a clear and engaging migration, the brand team:
• Presented benchmark brand evolution case studies – inside and outside of the sector
• Set a framework to navigate through potential identity outcomes
• Helped key stakeholders visualize an evolution into a modern financial brand
• Drafted a new slogan supporting ambition to enhance customer satisfaction
• Researched icon cognition with TA (100% recall on black & white icon), built stakeholder confidence to become ‘symbol-only’, set framework for future identity
• Set up a simple dual-language type system using SST Arabic, enabling singular font applications across both languages
• Retained signature red
• Reduced branding element usage within layouts, providing greater space for marketing to attract attention
• Simplified graphic language, from signage system to digital UI.

Result

The Bank Muscat rebrand eventuated a sympathetic brand evolution:
• Core equity is retained, brand belief is enhanced amongst key stakeholders
• Contemporary financial services is conveyed through brand design
• Visual devices echo the brand mark, legacy iconic form is represented throughout the graphic language and typographic form
• Brand rolled out across 100+ branches and met with incredibly positive reaction.

Credits

Client: Bank Muscat – www.bankmuscat.com

Head of Branding and Innovations: Bader Sulaiman Al Rashdi
Deputy Head Corporate Communications: Daad Alouni
Assistant, Branding and Innovations: Zainab Albarakat

Brand Strategists/Designers: Unisono – www.unisonoagency.com

Brand Strategy: Amy Morgan
Creative Director: Liam Farrell
Designers: Hajer Ghareeb, Liam Farrell
Copywriting: Liam Farrell, Jorge Olivera