A ‘handy’ new look for Saraswat Bank

Saraswat Bank has undergone a rebranding exercise. The new logo shows two protective ‘hands’ ready to serve and protect customers’ savings

Here’s presenting yet another bank going the rebranding way. In the wake of its plans to expand nationally, the 90-year-old Saraswat Co-Op Bank has undergone a logo change, with a revamped corporate philosophy and positioning.

The brand, which prides itself on being on first-name basis with its customers, hopes to attract the elusive youngsters. To this effect, it has taken an inside-out approach and revamped its own setup, installed innovative services and roped in a young team to serve customers better. A new logo, created by design house Umbrella, was next on the cards.

The logo is an adaptation of a hexagon, made to look like two protective hands placed over each other, as though “guarding” its customers and their savings. It makes use of red (known for warmth and auspiciousness) and yellow (symbolising wealth, dynamism, sunshine and optimism). Further, the colours are brighter in the centre of the design and create a halo effect.

The two hands are placed with a gap in between, which is shaped like a bolt of lightning, once again a symbol of dynamism and energy. The logo, at a subliminal level, looks like an ‘S’ (for ‘Saraswat’). Astrologically, the yellow and red combination is a union of Mars and Jupiter, which is considered to be auspicious (‘Raj Yog’).

In addition to the logo change, the font for ‘Saraswat Bank’, too, has been reworked and made simpler.

Umbrella has been working on the project for the last 10 months. “This is a bank that wasn’t started for money minting… it arose out of a need,” says Farhad Firoze Elavia, business head, Umbrella. That is how the bank was ‘banking’ on its previous tagline, ‘Your Own Bank’.

However, Elavia says, that didn’t completely instil a sense of belonging to the bank because it appeared as if someone was telling the customers to feel a sense of ownership towards the brand – something that should ideally come from within.

The earlier logo was red in colour and showed a bee in the centre of its hive (a hexagon shape), which symbolised that the bank collects and guards its customers’ savings in the same manner as a bee collects honey. With this new logo, the hexagon has been retained, as it is a structure that, says Elavia, “is dynamic enough to multiply and become whatever you want it to”, while the bee has been dropped to reduce complexity.

Saraswat Bank is present in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, but now plans to expand nationally.

Bhupal Ramnathkar, director, Umbrella, says, “A brand has to change with the times or it will perish. We decided to lend the symbol of ‘hands’ to the bank because hands represent coming together, warmth and a sense of belonging.” These are the values that have been tapped into by bank brands before. So, what’s new?

“Private banks may launch personalised customer care services, but they cannot boast of the same rich heritage and bonding stories that a 90-year-old bank can …after all, this is a bank created by our customers, for our customers,” responds Elavia.

‘A Sense of Belonging’ is the new corporate thought, replacing ‘Your Own Bank’. A press campaign has been rolled out in publications such as The Times of India, Maharashtra Times, Loksatta, Sakaal and Saamna. Outdoor and television are also being considered.

Marathi film and TV actor Dilip Prabhavalkar (known for his role as Mahatma Gandhi in Lagey Raho Munnabhai) has been endorsing Saraswat Bank. It is not clear whether he will continue to do so, now that the bank has been revamped.