ANZ Banking Group Ltd has dumped its brandmark of 20 years in favour of a new global brand identity to appeal to customers in Asia.
ANZ launched the new brandmark and positioning on Friday ahead of an advertising campaign starting on Sunday.
Gone is the familiar dark blue that has dominated the colour palette since the 1908s, as well as the "ANZ Now" tagline and italicised word-mark introduced in 2004.
In its place is a new sea-blue word-mark and logo with three shapes signifying ANZ's three key geographies - Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific - and an official tagline "we live in your world".
ANZ spokesman Paul Edwards said the new colour palette reflected Australia's landscape.
ANZ wants to become a super regional bank, focused on Asia which contributed 15 per cent of the group's earnings in the first half 2009.
It operates in 32 countries and has customers who speak 19 different languages.
Chief executive Mike Smith said a unified brand across all geographies is important for the bank's future growth.
Mr Edwards said ANZ was one of the few banks without a logo, and this had been an issue in its attempt to move into countries like China where English characters alone are meaningless.
"It allows you to have a Chinese name and still have a symbol which continues to identify us as ANZ as well as giving us a fresh look," he said.
ANZ will spend $15 million in 2009/10 on the launch and 24-month rollout of the new brand across its global operations, with the rollout commencing in New Zealand in February.
A smaller cost will also be incurred in 2010/11 to complete the rollout, Mr Edwards said.
© 2009 AAP
