(26 June 2013) Brunei Darussalam – Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), Brunei’s national financial institution, launched their new brand identity and banking experience yesterday at its newly refurbished Kiulap Branch. The launch of this new brand strategy centered around the theme of ‘Bruneian at Heart’ marks the fruition of the partnership between Consulus and BIBD.
Since the inception of the Wish Campaign, Consulus and BIBD have been on a singular path of bringing innovation and organisational alignment to assist in the transformation of Brunei’s leading Islamic Bank. Beginning with new ways of securing insights from customers, the afore mentioned campaign, the brand identity and banking experience were angled towards creating a uniquely Bruneian experience. This could only be achieved as both parties understood the importance of building iconic Asian banking brands that can stand out in the world. The extensive exercise started 4 years through organisational development till re-imagining the user-experience at the branches.
Speaking on the extent of work done by Consulus, Managing Director of BIBD, Javed Ahmed had fond recollections of the branding and experience design process, “This project has been a long project. It has had its ups and downs, but one thing I must say is that when we were going through a down period and we needed help, Consulus was always there to actually provide all the support that we needed. So really, it was not just a client relationship, it was more of a partnership,”
Brand Reflection sessions were carried out by Consulus
Part of the excited team at BIBD
A new cultural transformation process involving staff of all level was introduced to weave their thoughts and aspirations into the bank’s organisational identity. The management appreciated Consulus’ emphasis on organisational culture. While most culture-building exercises begin and end with workshops, both parties will continue to work together to ensure continuity by implementing the ideas from staff to achieve a truly ‘Bruneian at Heart’ banking culture. A working committee was also elected by staff to implement and build on the internal brand culture to ensure its perpetuity.
Hjh Nurul Akmar Binti Md Ja’afar, Deputy Head of BIBD’s Consumer Banking Division, highlighted the importance of this transformation to BIBD’s expansion plans. “One of the bank’s aspirations is to spread its wings internationally. It is at the leadership of our board and management that we create a three year strategic plan. Within this plan, some of the phases of progression are system upgrades, customer service experience upgrades and refurbishment. So with all these in place, we believe it is timely for us to prepare our team to go abroad in the near future.”
Explaining the Bruneian at Heart experience to the Crown Prince of Brunei
A refreshed BIBD also needed a refreshed banking experience. For this phase, Consulus developed a new retail concept inspired by the warmth of Bruneian hospitality and its heritage as a maritime nation. The result was a bank that is unlike any other filled with a distinctive BIBD visual language inspired by the fabric patterns found in Brunei. The space was designed for more one-to-one interaction, with a welcoming colour palette supported by accents of natural wood invoking the feeling of stepping into someone’s home.
Circular reception counters for open communication
Personal Banker cubicles are warm and welcoming
A close-up of a personal banking section
Communicating the new brand identity cumulated with the introduction of an iconic new symbol. Drawn from 4 distinctive Bruneian elements, Consulus created one of the most meaningful logos in the world.
The new logo shines strong at the newly refurbished branch
Lawrence Chong, CEO at Consulus, explained the impact of this rebranding on a national level, “The world needs more iconic Asian brands. It has really been a privilege to be able to work on such a meaningful brand like BIBD. This is not just about branding a bank, but about building a national identity.”
Part of the Consulus-BIBD team
With the launch of this new Brand Identity, BIBD is truly ready to expand overseas and emerge as the representative brand of the nation.
Javed Ahmed, Managing Director of BIBD, shares a light moment with Lawrence Chong, CEO at Consulus
About Consulus
Consulus is an innovation and organisational brand consultancy with management consultancy and multi-disciplinary design capabilities. The firm specialises in helping Asian brands transform their business models to rise up the value chain through business design, organisational development and designing new brand experiences.
The firm’s solutions of innovation and organisational change have been applied in diverse industries from consumer, business-to-business to governments in more than 18 cities in Asia since 2004. In addition to this, Consulus also influences 3,000 Asian business leaders through its Shape the World Conference held annually in 5 cities in Asia.
About BIBD
Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) is the largest bank and the sole Islamic bank in Brunei Darussalam. It was formed by the merger of Islamic Bank of Brunei and Islamic Development Bank of Brunei, and began operations in 2006. BIBD leads the Brunei market in assets, financings and deposits.
BIBD is headquartered in Bandar Seri Begawan with fourteen branches at strategic locations in all the four districts. It also has the single largest ATM network in Brunei, with 55 ATMs throughout the country.
