Brandient sparks national pride via rebuilding core national brands.

CEC Bank

CEC is the oldest Romanian bank. Established in 1864, twenty years before the National Bank, CEC (initially the acronym for The Savings House) is one of the few Romanian historical institutions having survived Communism.



After having been appointed as President of CEC in 2007, Radu Gratian Ghetea, a prominent banker and President of the Romanian Bankers’ Association, made a priority out of corporate revitalization on his agenda and CEC commissioned Brandient to rebrand the corporation.

After 1990, the competitiveness of CEC on the banking market steadily eroded and the external brand context was worsened by the perception that CEC “is not a bank” but only a Savings House. The initial analysis revealed that a major reason for CEC’s eroding competitive position was the denial of its own history and reputation, its own true identity, and that its huge hidden value must be brought to light and must become an engine of corporate revival.

The huge awareness of CEC imposed keeping the name while adding Bank was a strategic decision in order to counteract the wrongly perceived non-bank position.



Brandient worked alongside CEC teams for a year, going through brand audit and positioning, verbal and visual identity, retail design, literature design, external communication platform, website design and brand engagement sessions.

The new graphic identity places CEC Bank simultaneously in tradition and revival, conveying the reliability required by the category at the same time. A national symbol, the oak leaf stands out through design in the new shield icon of the bank that seems to have been there for ages.

The whole brand is organic, defined by familiarity, honesty and perseverance and it is above all, a Romanian brand.






AWARDS
• REBRAND 100® Global Awards, Merit Award in 2009.


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