Chris Skinner's blog Shaping the future of finance
I noted with interest this morning that Barclays Bank is rethinking its’
symbolic Eagle insignia in light of the bid to become more mainland
European. The symbol for the Bank is a spread eagle, and has been with
the bank ever since it was founded in 1690.
Why would they think the Eagle should go now?
New marketing campaign?
New marketing chief?
New design agency?
New globalisation ideas?
Well,
the last one comes close. After all, HSBC and Citi have done quite a
good job of de-symbolising their banks over the last few years, and are
now recognised as a generic global identity.
But nope, that’s not why Barclays is changing.
The real reason is that the Eagle is seen as being …
… a little militaristic
… a little sinister
… a little teutonic
In other words, the Dutch – who we know are very close and amiable with the Germans (something to do with a war a few years back) – might be offended by Barclays symbol and, rather than risk this impeding their bid to buy ABN AMRO, Barclays is gradually removing the logo from their buildings and offices.
Barclays uber alles.
