The Australian bank Westpac is apparently considering to use a predecessor bank name as a separate online brand to help lure deposits. Reviving a brand online is one that is gaining increasing currency in an Internet age. Even retailers are doing it, the best example being the British version ofMORE HERE
Actually, there are many more, but I just present these to get them off my brain and onto a page. Co-branded VISA and Mastercard. I mean, how great is that for a brand to get yourself connected to a bank that’ll rack your customers with 25 to 30 percent interest,MORE HERE
LONDON – The UK seems to have been a holdout in the brand-washing category, namely dumping old brands in favor of invented ones. But this is no longer the case. We heard about the news that the Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley brands are to be scrappedMORE HERE
First vinyl records make a comeback, and then telegrams? The website Telegramstop will let you write a telegram online, and send it anywhere, for just a few bucks, $4.70 actually. The company is unrelated to the current Western Union, which is a worldwide service that sends money, and is ubiquitousMORE HERE
CHARLOTTESVILLE – Any person who lived in Virginia in the 1970s would know these regional bank jingles. “F&M’s free banking puts you and your checkbook … a jump ahead.” “Virginia National is the way Virginia Banks today.” The two banks merged, and became Sovran. Something was lost. Little was gained.MORE HERE
Ran across the Wells Fargo corporate history site and companion blog. The blog is called Guided By History, and it is run by Wells Fargo’s Historical Services department. Wow. Not only do they have writers blogging and posting history about Wells Fargo and its customers, but the company runs aMORE HERE
What happens when your brokerage brand is tarnished? Read our post on the future of Wachovia Securities, A.G. Edwards and Wheat First and Butcher & Singer. Oddly, Butcher & Singer, the Main Line Philadelphia brokerage that merged with Wheat First, has resurfaced as a brand. It will now be aMORE HERE
In The Wall Street Journal this morning, in an ad for Wachovia’s merger with Wells Fargo, the A.G. Edwards logo is prominently displayed as an equal to Wachovia. The ad is called “The Wisdom of Age. The Strength of Experience.” It cites Wachovia and A.G. Edwards’ combined 120 years ofMORE HERE
As lovers of great American brand names, General Electric is the best. Not because the scripty GE logo is cool (it is). It is best because GE stands for something great about America. It is a living monument to one of the greatest Americans ever, and because of that, itMORE HERE
In this time when the market is down, we wonder what the late Charles Engelhard would have thought? Gold, gold, gold. Oh, and platinum, platinum, platinum. Can’t be sure about that, because he’s gone. But we guess Goldfinger would be sitting happily. Read our posts on why BASF should notMORE HERE