The Logo is Your Face

The Logo is Your Face

banking issue by Mark Gordon | Managing Editor

Beth Drummond is certainly in the right line of work. Going back to when she was a young girl, Drummond had long wanted to be successful in an industry traditionally dominated by men. She settled on banking.

"I really love the idea of the [banking] industry," Drummond says. "It's a platform to help people with their most prized possession: Their money."

After a career with several banks, including a stint as a vice president in charge of retail banking for Columbia Bank in Tampa's Ybor City, Drummond is embarking on a new banking venture, one where she helps the people who help the people with their money. Along with her partner, Tyrone Pardue, Drummond runs 8vocreative, a Tampa-based marketing and branding firm that caters exclusively to banks.

And because they have both worked extensively with banks in their previous careers - Drummond in the Tampa area and Pardue in marketing with banks overseas, including the Bank of England and the Royal Bank of Scotland - they say they have the required expertise.

With Florida and the Gulf Coast as competitive as it is in banking, the old selling line that banks rely on - giving great customer service in a neighborhood-bank style feel - isn't going to be enough to differentiate banks from their competitors. Drummond and Pardue help banks differentiate themselves. And the first place to start is a bank's logo. Here's what they suggest:

Positioning strategy: Know your audience and market. Pardue says after cementing whom the target customers will be, put thought into the colors and font; that's the basis of the bank's face. And don't go crazy with the color palate. Frank Burke, CEO and president of 8vocreative client Flagship Bank, says Pardue lowered his costs by having him use less color in the bank's new logo, thus lowering his printing costs.

Form with function: Make sure the logo and colors will be crisp and clear in all spots, not just the front door of the bank. Take time to test out the colors and fonts so they convey the same message, whether it's on a business card, the front lobby or the door of a company car. Keep in mind what the logo will look like on the bank's Web site and in black and white for newspaper ads.

Classic simplicity: "Avoid fashion-based design elements in your identity," Pardue says. "This goes for trendy fonts that may be in today and out tomorrow." Colors too, come and go. So stick to basics. And more established banks should move slowly and deliberately when changing a logo, especially where there is already brand recognition. "For example," Pardue says, "the Coca-Cola brand has been slowly redesigned over many years and continues to be developed at a gradual pace."