Principality picks Enterprise rebrand

Enterprise IG has beaten Wolff Olins offshoot Dave this week in a head-to-head pitch to redesign the identity for Wales’ largest and oldest high street building society, Principality, Design Week can exclusively reveal.

The appointment of Enterprise IG was made this week, according to a Principality spokeswoman. Both contenders presented creative concepts, and were selected from a longer list of unnamed groups.

The revamped marque is set to be introduced some time in the New Year, the spokeswoman adds. No decision has yet been taken on whether the project will involve a name change as well as a visual identity, she says, and it could involve e-commerce work in the future.

The decision to rebrand follows extensive customer research which showed the brand needed updating. ‘[The brand] has not evolved much in the past 150 years. We’re seen as steadfast and stable, but not very exciting.

‘We want to inject a bit more life into the brand and appeal to a wider age range of customers,’ says the spokeswoman.

Principality is primarily Wales-based, with some high street outlets on the border with England in towns including Hereford and Chester. It is Wales’ largest independent financial institution, and was founded in 1860.

The project comes amid a flurry of branding work in the banking and building society sector. Abbey National announced its Wolff Olins-created rebrand earlier this month (DW 2 October).

The merger of Portman and Staffordshire building societies earlier in the summer has led to a revamp of the Portman brand by Bristol-based Bluestone Design (DW 25 September).

Designers are likely to reap further benefits. Industry commentators predict more consolidation among smaller building societies, which face increased market pressure in competing against the larger companies.