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Bank of America
Overcoming commoditization through intentionality and specificity
Financial giant puts branding first
Bank of America, in its longstanding history, has rebranded and reinvented itself multiple times. From the then-largest American banking conversion of Nations Bank and Bank of America to their many acquisitions of Fleet Bank, Merrill Lynch, U.S. Trust, LaSalle Bank, MBNA and Countrywide Home Loans, the company has had to adapt to new markets and new branding challenges. Each project presented a unique set of design challenges that required a flexible design team to help establish new design standards and assist in implementation across thousands of locations.
Monigle and Bank of America have a 30 plus year relationship with Monigle providing signage and ATM housing branding services for a multitude of touchpoints throughout the Bank footprint. Monigle has worked with the Bank one way or another to brand every one of its 4,600 financial centers, 16,000 ATMs and countless admin, commercial banking and wealth management offices.
Together we have built a trust and a partnership, with Monigle on the forefront working directly with the manufacturers and facility partners to ensure brand compliance.
Evolution of a brand
Bank of America, in an attempt to deliver a unified brand across all of its lines of business, has streamlined its multitude of consumer-based segments under one umbrella. The shift allows for only one sub-brand for investing and wealth management with Merrill Lynch being renamed Merrill.
The outcome and opportunity for Monigle was to develop one sign design that would draw their retail and admin signage families together. The team was able to build on the new ATM housing design to create one sophisticated and contemporary signage system that provides flexibility for signage applications over the vast and unique footprint of Bank of America locations.
Next generation Bank of America sign and Merrill Lynch Sign families
Unifying the next generation of signage was necessary to bridging the gap between these once divided lines of business.
Bank of America views environmental branding as a key driver of brand value and a way to express the core tenets of the brand.
16,000 ATMs
As it continually updates its network of ATMs across the country, Bank of America is rolling out support for cash withdrawal using Apple Pay.
A continual opportunity to re-examine and refresh
Because the ATM experience is such a prominent customer touchpoint, accessibility to all services for each and every customer is a top priority for Bank of America. This means staying on top of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations. By continually refreshing ATMs, Bank of America ensures both that customers are able to access the machines and that the machines are always equipped with the latest technology.
As it upgrades its ATMs, Bank of America assesses every design decision from multiple perspectives to ensure:
- ADA compliance
- The latest in technology and innovation
- Environmental sustainability and responsible resourcing
- Cost-efficiency
- Unmatched service to customers
By continually refreshing ATMs Bank of America ensures both that customers are able to access the machines, and that the machines are always equipped with the latest technology.
SignChart
Bank of America is located in all 50 states and 40 different countries.
- 4,600 financial centers
- 16,000 ATMs
- Countless admin, commercial banking and wealth management offices
Using its proprietary SignChart project management tool, Monigle has made new signage recommendations for over 13,000 locations or site IDs. Many of these sites have been rebranded multiple times from the Fleet Bank conversion to a renovation to the next-generation rebrand. Using the SignChart tool, Monigle is able to pull historical data from past projects and use cues such as previous landlord or permit office rejections and apply them to new or future signage projects. This vast database also serves as a repository of existing, newly proposed and as-built photos.
"The members of the team are all consummate professionals and colleagues I rely upon every single day. They are thoughtful, intelligent, careful, and thorough, but at the same time open to developing creative, fresh, and innovative ideas, and I trust their expertise and experience in the signage industry completely."
The evolution continues
Today, as measured by assets, Bank of America is one of the top-10 banks in the world. It’s achieved its position not only through a series of savvy acquisitions but also because of its investment in environmental branding. Bank of America views it as a key driver of brand value and a way to express the core tenets of the brand. As the brand continues to evolve, Bank of America brand leaders continually review the company’s environmental branding program and signage assets to ensure optimal expression of the brand. Through it all, over the course of a three-decade partnership, we’ve been and continue to be there to support Bank of America in the evolution of its brand.
Monigle’s challenge was to create visual hierarchy: the eye is drawn to the primary logo as the main-focus, then adjacent to, either behind the glass or near the ATMs are more subtle brand expressions that allow the new logo to be the main attraction.
50 states
Bank of America has presence in every state, as well as Washington, D.C.; the U.S. Virgin Islands; and Puerto Rico.
#2 by assets
One of the “big four” banks, Bank of America is the second-largest bank in the U.S. by assets.
4 million served
In the U.S., Bank of America serves approximately 47 million consumer and small business relationships.