Having worked closely with the bank’s partner in Iraq, Bank of Baghdad, we were asked to redefine SGB’s brand, strategy, positioning and essence and provide new direction and invigoration to the Bank’s marketing, through consulting on product and service development.

Syria Gulf Bank suffered from a low impact visual identity, lack of differentiated market position, products and services and no real Syrian values. Following brand audit and strategy, we created a new brand-mark for the bank that takes its origin from the support infrastructure of local history – the archways prevalent throughout Syrian architecture – and created a new visual and brand identity system to support it through colour; graphic elements; messaging; stationery; forms; signage and environments.

A new tagline, ‘Your ambitions realised’, tied in with the new strategy to provide a positive, active and enabling partnership with customers of all ages and ambitions.

We worked closely with the bank to help fully realise this promise to customers, not just through visual communication, but also through providing significant on-the-ground consultation on underlying products, services, strategy, procedures, staff training and behaviour. Our team developed and implemented a new segmentation strategy, creating bundled products, services and loyalty programs. The first of these saw the launch of five youth accounts, from new-born through to student, as a comprehensive bundle that would take competitors - established Lebanese banks - quite some time to emulate.

We designed and implemented launch campaigns in press and outdoor across Syria to capture the youth segment, backed up by engagement programmes at schools and universities and sponsorship of youth events. In addition we created specific campaigns to facilitate cross-border banking services with Bank of Baghdad in Iraq.