Santander Brand Refresh for Digital Age
The Santander Brand has evolved to accompany the bank's transformation - inside and out. A simpler and more modern brand has been introduced as part of a launch campaign in which "the protagonist always pursues a better version of himself in order to prosper."
This follows a growing trend in the finance industry, with banks such as Falcon and Nest having undergone a rebrand with the intent of fitting in the new digital age, which demands ease and speed. Even more banks, such as HSBC, are said to be planning on a rebrand in the following months.
Said rebrand has been designed due to the need for a suitable image for digital channels and the desire to show the bank's new corporate culture and its transition into a digital platform of financial services. The bank's ambition is to gain 30 million digital customers in 2018.
The brand changes to become more modern, more digital and more in tune with new generations, while retaining its most distinctive traits: the name, the color red and the "flame", which are developed to gain greater visibility and improve the user experience in the digital world.
This change is an example of the cultural transformation the Bank is undergoing to help people and businesses prosper in a simple, personal and fair way.
Our visual identity is born from the very foundations of our brand, a well-seated strategy that demonstrates an integrated coherence between institutional strategy and brand design as if both had been born as a consequence of each other. And, indeed, that’s just as it has happened.
The new logo is more modern, simple and digital. The flame has a greater presence and the word Santander is clearer, more legible and simpler – able to adapt to any media and any channel.
It has been freed from the red square to gain more flexibility and modernity. New versions, such as the vertical version, have been created to respond to specific needs and the flame gains more focus and Independence.
Additional changes to the brand include a cleaner typeface, new icons in two versions (outline and flat), brighter red, responsive logo, use of illustrations, and new website.