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Why Standard Chartered is refreshing its global brand identity after eight years

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By Shawn Lim, Reporter, Asia Pacific

April 30, 2018 | 4 min read

Banking giant Standard Chartered is refreshing its branding identity globally after eight years to tackle the problems that stand in the way of global prosperity and commerce.

Originally called ‘Here for good’ when it was launched in 2010, the bank wanted to show how it could be a force for good by promoting economic activity that has a positive social impact. Its new brand campaign, titled ‘Good enough will never change the world’, aims to build on the progress that ‘Here for good’ has made.

Reflecting on what the bank achieved with ‘Here for good’, Emma Sheller, global head of brand and marketing at Standard Chartered, told The Drum the identity is now so strongly associated with the bank, it has fueled growing awareness of the bank across markets it is in presently. She also claimed that it is now often mentioned as a reason why people choose to join or stay with the bank as employees or as clients.

“The new campaign retains the original brand promise but adds ‘Good enough will never change the world’, thereby sharpening our focus on how banks can help tackle some of the problems that stand in the way of global prosperity and commerce,” she added.

Planning for the new brand identity took over one and a half year and saw Standard Chartered launched interviews and workshops with its clients and 85,000 employees that deep dived into the values underpinning the bank and ‘Here for good’.

Sheller revealed that through the interviews, which were held across Kenya, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the UK, the bank realised clients felt that ‘Here for good’ resonated with them, but there were things it could do to sharpen its focus.

For employees, Sheller explained that through 3,500 employees who attended workshops across markets including Kenya, India, Hong Kong, UK, UAE, Pakistan and Nigeria, it found ‘Here for Good’ truly defined the bank and resonated with our staff.

“In September 2017, 72,000 employees (90% of our staff) took part in a bank-wide employee survey. The results pointed to three core values that our colleagues were most invested in. The respondents were also tasked to describe what these values would look like in practice. We captured these as the new internal values: ‘Never settle’, ‘Do the right thing’ and ‘Better together’,” she said.

Through the interviews and workshops, the bank settled on ‘Good enough will never change the world’, which states its commitment to promoting social and economic development through its core business of banking by tackling problems facing global prosperity and commerce, explained Sheller.

“We focus on three key areas: contributing to sustainable economic growth - for example supporting entrepreneurs, such as Toyeast, (an unconventional and highly successful Hong Kong toy company that Standard Chartered supported when nobody else would), being a responsible company and investing in communities. For example, In Kenya, we are helping connect small communities to reliable electricity by financing an innovative portable solar power company,” she said.

“At the same time, we’re determined to minimise our environmental impact, promote health and education programmes and empower women.”

Promotion for the ‘Good enough will never change the world’ campaign will see the bank showcase a series of inspirational short films featuring people who accomplished extraordinary things because they wouldn’t settle for ‘good enough’, like Jamaican sprinter and Olympic champion Usain Bolt.

Additional videos will share stories of how companies and clients are overcoming obstacles to deliver stronger performance or make a difference in emerging markets across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Aside from the videos, Sheller shared that as part of the new brand identity, the bank will be innovating with digital technology to give clients more choices, having launched the Ivory Coast’s first digital-only bank. It will also harness the power of new technologies like artificial intelligence, chatbots, blockchain and financial technology to make banking better.

Diversity will also be a key area, such as increasing the inclusion of women in senior management roles, as well as environmental issues like cutting carbon emissions from its properties and using solar power and carbon-neutral fuels to run branches.

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