Scholtysik & Partner develops the appearance of the new Bank Cler

Since May 20, the new Bank Cler has been visible, audible and tangible throughout Switzerland. Over the weekend, all 32 branches throughout Switzerland were refitted and are opening today with the new look. Already on Saturday, a completely new branch with new, brand-typical interior design opened on Uraniastrasse in the middle of Zurich.

At the same time, Heimat Zürich's national launch campaign "Time to talk about money" starts on TV, out-of-home, web and print. Likewise, the new website, the new e-banking and the communication on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn are launched.

The new name and the strategic intention were already communicated in March. The announcement was widely received by the Swiss media, which commented positively on the realignment of Bank Cler. Branding experts rated the choice of name in particular as successful, according to the statement.

"Time for a new bank"

Fabian Sander, partner at the branding agency Scholtysik & Partner, sums up the reorientation as follows: "The way the Swiss view their banks has changed thoroughly over the last ten years. They miss a decent bank. A bank that sees itself as a representative of its customers' interests. A bank that assumes its social responsibility for Switzerland. At the same time, the digital transformation in banking has begun and is changing expectations: Banking must become easier and cheaper. We want to be able to do everything conveniently online, but without giving up the option of personal advice. This is precisely where Bank Cler comes in: It is the Swiss bank with a social conscience that is genuinely concerned about its customers and uses the opportunities of digitalization to make their lives easier."

Distinctive Challenger design challenges the established players

The design of Switzerland's youngest bank breaks with industry conventions and stands out. In every facet it underlines the claim of the Bank Cler brand: clearer, fresher, more digital. Scholtysik & Partner developed the entire appearance from logo, colors, typography, visual language, icons and linguistic tonality to brand-typical interface components and animation style. In close cooperation with the digital agency Namics - sometimes even in joint teams - the principles of user experience and the web design are developed in an agile manner.

Simple logo signals clarity

The logo is maximally simple and concise. It unfolds its power in any size and application and is consistent for all national languages. The lettering is designed in such a way that the distinctive initial C can also be used on its own, e.g. as a favicon, as a profile picture in social media or as a super sign in interior design.

The bright light blue is central to the visual appearance. It is new in Swiss banking and differs from both the classic dark blue and the frequent Swiss red.

Exclusive brand font was optimized for banking purposes

The brand font appears clear and distinct, is absolutely contemporary and was tailored to banking operations. The figures have been designed to be particularly clear and optimized for tabular typesetting. An additional narrow running cut takes into account the special needs in reporting and forms.

The entire design is geared to the ongoing digitization of banking. Accessible Internet use is a matter of course and is already taken into account in the design of brand colors and brand fonts. An extensive icon set serves UX needs on the web as well as orientation in the physical branches. Characteristic micro-animations make the interactive experience subtly brand-specific.

The bank is also renewing itself behind the scenes

Bank Cler employees were prepared and trained over a period of two months. Customer advisors receive modern outfits and new tools - digital and physical. Printed materials were drastically reduced and renewed in line with the brand: simple, clear and fresh. With a new release of the core banking system, all forms are converted to the new look. The new brand font and new office templates are installed at all workstations.

Cooperation with selected specialists

As lead agency, Scholtysik & Partner also supports the bank in selecting and accompanying other specialized partners. In addition to the advertising agency Heimat Zürich, these include PR consultants from Farner Consulting, retail specialists from Mint Architecture, sound experts from Department of Noise (Werbewoche.ch reported), the digital agency Namics, the fashion designer Lela Scherrer, various IT providers, brand lawyers and market research institutes.

Close cooperation between bank and branding agency

Mats Bachmann Ihr, Head of CEO Office and Project Manager for Bank Cler: "We quickly developed an extremely open and direct collaboration with Scholtysik & Partner. We challenged the agency again and again and they held up a mirror to us and brought creative and working solutions. With the result of this close collaboration, we are setting an example in the Swiss banking world and pointing the way to the retail banking of the future."