The Society’s brand was over 20 years old and in need of refreshment and modernising to reflect the current market, they instructed us to totally redesign their brand to breathe new life into their existing business.
700 existing customers were asked how they refer to ‘The Society’. The hypothesis tested was what proportion refer to ‘Economic’ as locally for a long time The Society has promoted itself as The Hanley. The results showed 70% of customers referred to a version of the name with ‘Economic’ in the title, therefore we knew any new branding concepts should take account of this.
We decided to run with the full title but placed the emphasis on ‘Hanley’. We kept the core colours of the existing brand in place as these were already highly recognisable by consumers. The creation of the shield icon represents protection, safety and security – all of which are paramount to the customer whether borrowing money from the Society or securing their hard-earned savings.
The new brand is modern and fresh but still translates the values of the Society and removes any hint of ‘being old fashioned’. It also has a broader appeal as the Society deals with customers and clients nationally but had perceived to only deal locally.
We also created sub-brands for Hanley Financial Services Ltd, Hanley Mortgage Services Ltd and Hanley Intermediaries and although all have separate identities they are easily recognised as falling under the same collective umbrella of Hanley Economic.
