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RBS take the caps off for subtle rebrand

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OK, so it's a rebrand potentially so minor that few will even notice it, but considering the size of the brand in question we thought it pertinent to mention the transformation about to occur to the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank, which recently hit headlines for all the wrong reasons thanks to a widely panned government bailout, is planning to ditch its upper-case RBS identity in favour of a lower-case rbs logo, in order to effectively hit the reset button on the brand in the wake of its recent tribulations, including the 2008 £37 billion bailout from the UK Government and the subsequent resignation of RBS CEO Fred “The Shred” Goodwin. The bank was also forced to sell off 308 high street branches by the European Union, which are now expected to relaunch under the revived Williams & Glyn name.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to ditch its upper-case RBS identity in favour of a lower-case rbs logo

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Branches in Scotland have already been rebranded as The Royal Bank of Scotland

The bank has actually already starting to remove the RBS brand from the high street, with a new look launched in the brand's native Scotland last year. Branches did away with the RBS logo they had been using for 11 years to become known as The Royal Bank of Scotland again, the name which was originally used when the company was founded in 1727. In conjunction with the rebrand, RBS will also relaunch its corporate identity and is expected to introduce the lower-case logo in all investor communications. A number of other changes are also thought to be under consideration, such as a new brand aimed at the mortgage market. RBS also has a number of other brands, including the upmarket bank Coutts. It is also thought that the four-cornered shape on the RBS logo, known internally as the daisy wheel, will be removed from corporate communications.

In conjunction with the rebrand, RBS will also relaunch its corporate identity and is expected to introduce the lower-case logo in all investor communications

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Disgraced former RBS CEO Fred “The Shred” Goodwin

An RBS spokesman said: “We are and always have been a bank of brands and as part of our strategy to build a stronger, simpler, fairer bank we are directing our efforts to make each of our customer brands number one in their respective markets. Our brands are our interface with our customers and through them we will be able to connect more deeply with customers and rebuild pride in the great things these brands do for our customers. The collective success of our brands is what will make us Britain’s best bank.”

The move comes after rival HSBC announced plans to relaunch its British high street chains under the HSBC UK brand

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The defunct Williams & Glyn's brand is expected to be revived in 2016 by RBS

The move comes after rival banking giant HSBC announced plans to relaunch its British high street chains under the new HSBC UK brand, a rebrand that arrived ahead of 2019, when new Bank of England rules will be enforced, which will mean all banks must separate their retail offerings. In England and Wales, RBS also operates the NatWest high-street banking brand, which is expected to become “More prominent,” presumably because its a name with nowhere near the level of tarnish as RBS. Do you think this pretty tame, though markedly less corporate rebrand is enough to make people forget about the gigantic farce that was the 2008 bailouts? We don't, not for a second, but if you disagree then feel free to sound off below.

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