Purple is the new colour for Dhanalakshmi Bank

Unveiling its new corporate identity, 82-year old Dhanalakshmi Bank is all set to go national

Kerala-based Dhanalakshmi Bank has announced its new corporate identity, as the private sector bank gets ready to go national.

With a more contemporary look, the new logo is purple in colour, which, the bank claims, signifies wealth and prosperity. The 82-year-old bank has also decided to change the spelling of its name to 'Dhanlaxmi', in a bid to appeal to the youth.

In a press statement, Amitabh Chaturvedi, managing director and chief executive officer, Dhanlaxmi Bank, says, "In our endeavour to create one of the large top-quality private sector banks in India, brand transformation is a key area of focus. The new corporate identity and communication strategy would characterise our new value proposition - relevance, convenience and clarity for our customers."

The logo has been designed by UK-based design agency, Fitch. The brief given to the agency was to 'evolve by modernizing, but maintain the core value of trust'.

Speaking to afaqs!, Sheran Mehra, head, marketing and corporate communication, Dhanlaxmi Bank, says, "As we go national, we had to break the regional barrier, appeal to the youth, and at the same time, not appear fuddy-duddy."

"We retained the image of the goddess in the logo, because there is a lot of heritage to the name. The new identity is aligned to the attitudinal position of today's youth - modern, yet rooted in tradition," she adds.

Mehra says that the spelling of the bank's name was changed after a research conducted across India, which found that people preferred the "shorter and crisper" version.

Ogilvy India is the creative agency appointed for the upcoming campaign, which is expected to be launched around April. The bank chose to launch its advertising campaign at a later date, in order to internalise the identity change.

"The employees will take the brand forward and build a connect, and must soak in the new identity. That will take some time," Mehra says.

The bank has also ventured into new areas of financial services, such as investment banking. It will soon launch mutual funds and venture capital businesses.