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Customer experience and umbrellas
Following up on yesterday's Customer experience and gas prices, which got quite a response - today's New York Times reports that Citicorp is embarking on a major rebranding initiative. One question to answer, naturally, is what to do with the logo. The red umbrella has been the visual symbol of the company, and even a part of the New York City skyline, for years.
From What's Red, Familiar, Ubiquitous and May Be on Its Way Out?:
No decisions have been made, and the brand management committee is still in the middle of a broad review. A range of topics - everything except eliminating the Citigroup name - is on the table, the executives said. Shannon Bell, a Citigroup spokeswoman, said that the company would not comment. "Our branding initiative is an ongoing process and we don't expect to see an outcome for months," she said.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the city and all over the East Coast, a competing bank is eating up all of Citicorp's consumer business. Commerce Bank's brand is its customer experience: hours on weekends, free change counting, friendly service, no hidden fees. Oh, and what about its logo? It's a "C". Someone took five minutes, drew a red C, and moved on. The brand is the customer experience.
(Those of you at Gel 2006 saw Dennis Diflorio speak and tell us how they do it.)
So, Citicorp - if you really want a better brand, then get out of the board room and get out to talk to some customers. You'll learn that it has nothing to do with the umbrella.
