Rebranding: The challenge of crafting a portrait for a bank’s heart and soul

Banking can be a tough industry for an institution to successfully differentiate itself, but that challenge is multiplied when they have nearly identical names. .American Bank Center in North Dakota wanted to grow, but its common name was an obstacle and caused confusion in markets it was already in. With more than 100 charters in the United States with "America" or "American" in their names — and 15 of them within North Dakota and adjoining states — American Bank Center found it difficult to stand out, grow and benefit from branding consistency across its locations..So in 2019, American started a two-year journey to rebrand. The first step was asking employees what they felt the bank stood for, what they wanted the name to mean. "We wanted to build our story in our DNA," said Kelsey Dahl, marketing director for the $3.1 billion Dickinson bank. The idea was to keep the character of the bank the same while creating a recognizable identity amongst its offices. Themes that came out in the brainstorming were "pioneering spirit," sharing the "enduring values" of the plains, bravery and truth..The bank chose to fuse "bravery" with the Latin word for "truth," and Bravera was born. It was recognizable, unique, trademarkable and appealed to multiple generations. "It's a big decision to pick a name," Dahl said. "It's a fine line of knowing you like a name enough to request a trademark, and if you're denied, having to go with [plan] B, C, D." It wasn't necessarily love at first sight; but as the process continued and the team added new elements like its brand story, a logo and a palette of colors, the name grew on them..The CEO and marketing staff were heavily involved in the $3 million to $4 million process. Then directors, senior leadership and brand ambassadors were brought on board. The name was officially released to employees six months before launch and to customers shortly thereafter..While the plan was to rebrand within one year, leadership chose to delay it until after covid when bank staff could celebrate together. The delay "was a blessing in disguise" as trademarking the new name took far longer than expected, Dahl said..The bank felt it was taking risks in potentially losing brand awareness and upsetting longtime customers. Staff, however, struggled more than customers. "The internal change management was the most difficult part, since there was a lot of pride in our previous brand with longtime employees and board members. The community and customer acceptance of the new brand was perhaps easier than we imagined," said Dave Ehlis, president and CEO. "We were aided by the fact that the overwhelming majority of our customers really liked our new name and branding.".Once the change had been made, there was a "renewed energy" among staff, Dahl said. "We certainly saw employee engagement in our internal culture grow post rebrand." The consistent look also helped create an atmosphere of unity among staff at all branches, including those that had been acquired, Dahl said..Since Bravera was officially revealed in 2021, the bank has grown 23 percent organically and through acquisitions, much of which they attribute to rebranding. "We believe that having a unique name has really improved our brand awareness in our communities," Ehlis said. "We often get the comment that 'we see you everywhere' when in fact we are in many of the same places in terms of advertising and sponsorships, as we were prior to our rebrand."