Coastal Heritage Bank was a new brand made up of the merging of two local banks on the South Shore. We established a unique brand position and an entirely new graphic identity. The management of both banks had very different philosophies and cultures, so it was vitally important to find common ground upon which to build the new brand.
To accomplish this, we conducted stakeholder interviews with the executive suite of both banks, as well as both of their respective boards of directors. During these interviews, we focused on understanding the heritage of each bank so we could identify shared values and preserve as much of the “soul” of each bank while at the same time, gaining insights and developing a new common vision for the brand, one that all personnel could buy into.
We developed a series of positioning statements, each one highlighting a different brand attribute that all parties agreed best represented various aspects from the new shared vision of the brand. The client settled on a positioning of being “local by choice”, growing aggressively by merging with other local institutions that understand and value the local communities they serve as opposed to seeking to be bought by a big bank from outside the area.
From this positioning concept, we developed the new name for the bank, “Coastal Heritage” to preserve the essence of the local region, and designed an entirely new graphic identity including a new logo, tagline and graphic look and feel that highlighted local landmarks.