A helping rebrand for NatWest

The rebranding of National Westminster Bank as NatWest is an attempt to make the bank less formal and more approachable.

Eventually, all 2,500 NatWest branches will be rebranded. The first to be changed was the Clapham Junction branch which features in the new NatWest ads. NatWest is gradually phasing in the new name on to all its stationery and literature.

The name change is part of the overall strategy to get customers to reconsider the bank, and its range of services, says NatWest’s head of brand communication Ian Schoolar. “We need to encourage people to purchase a wide range of products and services from us. Our view is that National Westminster Bank was standing in the way – both internally and externally – of us being able to make that shift of emphasis,” he says.

Greater attention has also been given to the literature on display in branches. Unappealing leaflets advertising credit card services or mortgages have been replaced by a series of brightly coloured booklets featuring large text and cheerful pictures of bananas, roses and goldfish on the cover. The booklets have been on test in six branches over the past six months where customer pick-up rate has increased by 15 per cent.

Sharon Marshall