The corporate identity relaunches of Bank Danamon and Bank Niaga follow their recapitalisation under the Government's Indonesian Bank Restructuring Authority.
"In a crowded marketplace, our visual identity will bring greater recognition and differentiation for us against the competition, said Bank Danamon, which relaunched its image late last month. The new corporate identity consists of a logotype and a symbol, inspired by the concept of a 'Guiding light'.
The result of a merger of nine banks, Bank Danamon is seeking to position itself as a partner and advisor to its customers as it is one of four core banks licensed to operate nation-wide.
In addition to representing this positioning, the bank said the light beams also stood for its extensive retail network - more than 450 retail branches and 700 ATM machines - throughout the country.
Landor created the new identity, using gold, orange and yellow, colours which the consultancy said transfused "the core essence of light - transparency, purity and enlightenment".
Despite its liquidity difficulties during the financial crisis, the bank chose to retain its name. "Bank Danamon did a lot of consumer research and the feedback was 'don't change the name because we still trust the Danamon name', said Michael Ip, Asia-Pacific managing director of Landor.
By retaining its name, Ip said Bank Danamon would be taking some of the brand equity it enjoyed before it was beset by liquidity problems into the future.
Landor's design was applied across a range of applications, including printed materials, bank collateral items, liveries and signage.
In the second banking relaunch, the mid-sized Bank Niaga will air its first corporate brand campaign on September 26. The bank appointed Leo Burnett Kreasindo and its media shop Starcom on a one-year contract following a pitch against Grey Worldwide, Fortune, 1525 Integrated and The Agency.
"The bank has been around for 47 years and had always taken it for granted that their customers would be there for them, said Burnett's managing director Ati Kisjanto, adding that the agency pitched with work which focused on the idea that "small things count".
She said intensifying competition had prodded the bank to look for ways to expand its retail banking activities.
The Government, which owns 97 per cent of Bank Niaga, is also keen to lift the bank's image as it has run into difficulties in trying to offload its stake. The Government was forced to cancel two planned sales of the Bank Niaga's stocks to strategic investors and through the stock market when prices fell below the publicly-listed share price at the time.
