In May 2000, at the time of the merger that led to its creation, BNP Paribas adopted a single trademark and logo for most of its business lines: retail banking in France and in several foreign countries, corporate and investment banking, private banking, asset management and leasing. The group is now entering a new stage by developing a visual identity system for its subsidiaries which will optimize the group´s portfolio of trademarks.
This system will leverage both the image of the BNP Paribas group and the quality of its trade names, whether those of the group´s community banks with strong local appeal (community banking) or specialized companies that are market leaders. It will allow the subsidiaries to benefit from the strength of the group´s image, while at the same time it will permit them to continue developing the strong trademarks that their customers are attached to.
The visual symbol of BNP Paribas (the 'taking flight' symbol created at the time of the merger in 2000) will become the logo of the majority of subsidiaries. They will retain their name and specific advertising signatures, but will adopt colors and typography identical to those of the parent company. They will therefore be able to continue to develop their own trademark and their local appeal with regard to their customers, while benefiting from the visual symbol of the Group.
Some specialized trade names within the Group, that are already very well-known to the general public throughout Europe, will retain their own logo and colors. In their institutional communications and in some of their commercial communications, this logo will be followed by the statement: 'A BNP Paribas company' and a small 'taking flight' logo in the colors of the subsidiary.
Subsidiaries will implement a policy aimed at phasing out little-known trademarks and logos that still exist, in order to focus group investments on an optimized portfolio of strong trademarks. The Group´s trademark portfolio will therefore be comprised solely of the BNP Paribas worldwide trademark and of subsidiary, specialized or local trade names that have a strong appeal.
These various developments will be implemented by the end of 2004 for written, audiovisual and electronic communications, and by Summer 2005 for architectural elements.
Source: BNP Paribas
