Disaster Averted
Dick Ehst knew his bank needed to overhaul its image—and all of its signage. He called in Egan Sign to make it happen.
By Bob Egan
Dick Ehst's problem was simple: His bank, New Century Bank, shared the exact same name as two other banks—both of which found themselves in deep financial, legal and public relations trouble.
From a branding standpoint, it was a disaster. Customers saw “New Century Bank” on the news and, quite understandably, thought Ehst’s bank was the one in peril—when, in actuality, it was doing quite well. At one point, ABC News even used the logo of Ehst’s New Century when reporting of the closure of another New Century.
Ehst knew a change needed to be made. And that’s why, in short order, “New Century Bank” became “Customers Bank.”
But of course, legally changing the name of a company is only the first tiny small step toward actually re-branding that company. Before the power of a new name can take effect, a company must launch a comprehensive marketing push—a push that, at some point, must see it swap out all of its old signs with the new ones. Ehst, a longtime veteran of the Pennsylvania banking industry, knew that task would be no small challenge. That's why, instead of handling this massively important signage transition in-house, he sought out the expertise of a sign management firm.
In the end, he chose Egan Sign.
How was his experience with Egan? Read on to find out.
Tell us about the circumstances that led you to seek out sign management assistance.
We took over a very troubled company about 18 month ago, and there was an especially heightened interest in changing the name because the name and the legacy of the company had been replicated in other parts of the country, and not in a good way. Those other banks weren't the same organization as us. It was just that these other banks happened to have the same name--and they were financially depressed. One actually failed. So we felt the need to change our company name very quickly. And Egan was right there with us to facilitate that change.
What was the scope of your project?
All in all, we were talking about probably 60 or so signs at all of our different locations. And given the situation we found ourselves in, these signs needed to be replaced in a very, very short period of time. In that time period, we are talking about completing the design, the construction, the acceptance by the local municipalities, and then of course building and installing them. So a lot got done in a very short amount of time.
Obviously, this project was an important one in your eyes. In your view, how important is signage to company's broader branding strategy?
You have to communicate who are you through your signage. You need a sign that doesn't require a lot of explanation. That's the critical nature of sign management. If you have to explain what the sign means, you've really lost the opportunity to create an immediately recognizable symbol of your organization. That's why we put the word 'customers' in our bank name. It doesn't require a lot of explanation. That's part of why we wanted to get rid of the old name. It didn't say anything! It's critical that your signage works, because signage plays an integral role in the message that you're sending to the marketplace.
Can you tell me about the nuts-and-bolts of this project—who was involved on your end, for instance, and how quickly it was completed?
We had a point person here—our head for facilities and security. He was the link between our company and Egan. There were several other people involved, too. The whole process does really need to involve several people to get the end result. I can't recall for sure how quickly it got done, I just know everything happened very quickly. I was very pleased and very impressed.
Your project is now wrapped up, your old image is gone for good and you bank can now move forward under its new name. What are your overall impressions of this project? Are you pleased with the result?
Yes. I've worked with a lot of vendors over the years. So I can say that it is rare to have a vendor respond not only with the speed with which Egan Sign responded, but also with the accuracy and extraordinary attention to detail that they showed throughout the process. It's kind of a magical convergence of competence and speed. That's the way I would characterize our relationship with Egan Sign.
But that's why you hire pros. You hire pros to make a tough job look easy. In this case, Egan Sign made a tough job look easy. I'll tell you, everyone at my bank who worked on this project really appreciated the speed with which they moved. The head of security and facilities for us, as well as our head of community banking, were very complimentary of the work that Egan Sign did. That's what I remember most about this project.
Egan Sign can help you with your regional and national sign projects. Contact Egan Sign to learn how to stop stressing about your sign projects and outsource them to people who can take the burden off your shoulders.
