In September, State Street unveiled its first brand refresh in 50 years. With the identity of one of the world’s largest banks in her hands, how did chief marketing officer, Brenda Tsai, find the process?
With a background transforming brand identities at BNY Mellon, GE, and FactSet, Brenda Tsai is no stranger to corporate identity management.
Since joining State Street in July 2022 as chief marketing officer, Tsai has increased client engagement at high-profile events by more than 25%, doubled qualified marketing leads through targeted campaigns and initiatives, and relaunched statestreet.com.
In September, Tsai led a team of marketers to launch State Street’s new brand identity in record time and within budget expectations.
Brand preparation
The power of a rebrand should not be underestimated. A 2022 survey by Salsify concluded that 47% of UK consumers are willing to part with more cash for a product or service from a brand name they trust.
Stellar rebrands are predicated on sharp client or audience insight, says Tsai.
“It begins with truly understanding what our firm can uniquely offer to the industry. And ensuring that that differentiation is highlighted in our positioning in a crisp and clear way.
“And then translating that – almost like a blueprint – across a number of different visual elements, including imagery, logos, fonts,” says Tsai.
Nailing down a company’s key differentiator allows for different, creative types of marketing, Tsai explains.
When preparing for a rebrand, ideas should not begin and end in the boardroom but start with the very people you want to impact, clients and colleagues, she says.
Research by Gallup shows that the majority of US employees do not fully understand their company’s value proposition and what makes it stand out from its competitors. The poll found just 41% felt comfortable with what their employer stands for.
“We did interviews with thousands of clients and hundreds of leaders across the firm asking them: ‘when you interact with clients or your partners, what is it about State Street that makes it the preferred client partner?’
“We asked them what makes them proud about State Street and some very simple questions about the greatness in the firm,” says Tsai.
Asking these questions showed not everyone understood what State Street had become and what it was doing to help its clients.
Why now?
The industry landscape has changed significantly since State Street’s last rebrand 50 years ago.
The world was a far cry from the era of digitalisation we now live in – there was no internet, the Apple Macintosh had just been introduced, and the world was not yet fully digitally connected.
“Everyone has gone through the digital revolution and the world today is completely different: tech-led, digital -enabled with everything happening at the speed of light,” says Tsai.
State Street’s rebrand reflects how it has evolved and transformed, creating solutions for its clients, as the industry and world around it has, adds Tsai.
“Too often, we found that the industry didn’t understand the full breadth and depth of what we had to offer, and they only knew us for the product or solution that they were buying at that particular time.
“We’ve kept up and have delivered as well as developed several different products and services to help to meet client demands for today and for tomorrow.”
The rebrand was an opportunity to showcase State Street’s history. On its dedicated rebrand webpage, State Street emphasises its history of firsts.
The extensive marketing programme had a secondary task, too – to underline State Street’s place in the industry as one of the most recognised financial institutions, globally. It did this through producing infographics to demonstrate its culture of innovation and the company’s vision for the future.
Old vs new
State Street was founded in 1792 and is the second oldest continually operating bank in the United States. With so much history, it was important for Tsai to remain connected to the past, while ensuring State Street’s brand reflected the digitalised world around it.
“There are many things that connect us to the past, including looking at something as simple as the blue that State Street is known for. The colour blue remains part of our new brand, but with a little bit of a modern twist,” says Tsai.
Research by Adobe Experience Cloud found that 95% of the top 100 global brands now use one or two colours in their branding, in an attempt to maintain consistency and stay simple. So, State Street was very much in keeping with current thinking in its approach.
The firm’s team retained some of State Street’s traditional fonts, modernising them into something more digital friendly and contemporary.
“By activating this campaign through our client-facing teams, we made sure we were reaching out to clients and talking about all that the new brand symbolises,” Tsai says.
The rebrand has allowed for the creation of entirely new materials, including digital-first emblems to portray who State Street is today – “a modern, contemporary, tech-led company.”
Delivering key messages
In the interview, Tsai gives an honest appraisal of where State Street is today and admits that the company has progressed significantly since its last rebrand in the 1970s, meaning that brand perception now needed to catch up with the realities of daily business.
To communicate its technological advancements, for example, the firm’s logo and brand identity needed to do some of this heavy lifting.
“Today’s State Street has launched innovative, digital-first platforms, including our end-to-end investment services platform State Street Alpha,” Tsai explains.
It was, therefore, important that State Street invested in educating its people as much as it invested in the rebrand.
“We believe that the best brands are built from the ‘inside out’. We needed to help the people who are our brand representatives in the marketplace, who are creating the products and services that the industry is experiencing.”
State Street has launched an extensive educational campaign within the business to help employees understand the evolution of its identity and how it would be activated across the globe.
The rebrand has been largely received positively with overwhelming support from colleagues, clients, and stakeholders.
“Our digital metrics are two to three times better than typical engagement and we will be measuring brand equity in the long term,” Tsai concludes.
Readers keen to find out more about the State Street brand journey can do so here.
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