Rebecca Simmonds from Islamic Finance News interviews me on my take concerning rebrands

1. IFN REPORTS
A new identity for Islamic Bank of Britain
Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) has
confi rmed that subject to formal
shareholder approval, the institution
will become Al Rayan Bank, with the
change to be completed in December
2014. REBECCA SIMMONDS
considers the reception of the bank’s
impending rebrand.
While the bank will continue to operate
as a UK-regulated bank; monitored by
an independent Shariah Supervisory
Committ ee and a dedicated Shariah
compliance offi cer, the name change will
serve to bring the bank’s brand closer in
line with its parent bank, Qatar-based
Masraf Al Rayan, which successfully
acquired IBB at the beginning of the
year. The name change for IBB was fi rst
mooted in July, with Sultan Choudhury,
the bank’s CEO, stating in an interview
that: “[The bank has] to look at branding
— sometimes the positioning as an
Islamic bank can work against us.” IBB’s
rebranding activity will involve the
introduction of a new Al Rayan Bank
logo and brand identity.
Commenting on the rebrand,
Choudhury said: “IBB has pioneered
British retail Islamic banking over
the last 10 years, achieving global
recognition for its outstanding
successes. The change to Al Rayan Bank
represents the latest chapter in the
bank’s history, in which it will expand
its retail and commercial product
off ering to a wider audience, with the
backing of a strong and successful
parent. Importantly, the bank will
preserve the spirit of IBB, remaining a
British Islamic bank dedicated to strong,
faith-based ethics and great customer
service.”
Speaking to IFN, Dr Jonathan AJ Wilson,
branding consultant and program
leader of the postgraduate Marketing
degrees at the University of Greenwich,
off ered his perspective on the name
change for IBB: “Islamic Bank of Britain
has admitt ed in the past to using ‘IBB’
in some of their corporate branding,
labelling, and promotional material —
in an att empt to tone down the negative
connotations associated with overtly
linking themselves with religion.
“It would be a mistake to assume that
this negativity is coming from just non-
Muslim quarters: Muslims’ perceptions
of the word ‘Islamic’ mean that it is
held to be synonymous with purity
and piety — which is a tough act to
follow for any commercial organization.
Furthermore, with such a climate of
negative perceptions, many Muslims
would rather not increase the potential
for further Islamophobia by being
associated with a bank that carries
strong Islamic branding — whether
they are business people or high-street
customers.
Arabic names
remain
strongly associated
with Islam: so on
home soil, if it’s
about reducing
cultural animosity
or Islamophobia,
the name change
should’ve been
something more
aligned with the
cultural nuances of
the UK
“The potential name change to Al Rayan
may help when it comes to plugging
into an international corporate identity
and reputation. However, Arabic names
remain strongly associated with Islam:
so on home soil, if it’s about reducing
cultural animosity or Islamophobia, the
name change should’ve been something
more aligned with the cultural nuances
of the UK.”
Having said that Gulf airline companies
like Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar have
been masterful in creating powerful and
inclusive brands — but this has been
a costly exercise and required years of
high-profi le sports sponsorship deals,
which embed their identity within
universal and emotive messages that
sport off er.”
Chiming in, Lawrie Chandler, the
director of UK-based wealth boutique
Edale Group, said: “IBB has built a
strong foothold in the UK and positively
they have been gett ing good traction
in the past few years. They’ve widened
from banking to corporate lending,
investment products, tax effi cient
savings accounts and pensions. Under
the Al Rayan brand they will also have
the parent company association that
should help with Middle East clients
looking for an international bank. While
IBB was traditionally a UK-focused
institution I anticipate it will be doing
more international business helped by
the Al Rayan brand and franchise.”
Masraf Al Rayan’s acquisition of IBB
has strengthened the bank’s fi nancial
position bringing capital investment of
GBP100 million (US$161.22 million). The
bank’s advisory and retail operations
have benefi ted, with its Shariah
Supervisory Committ ee consulting
on the UK government’s proposals
for Shariah compliant student loans
and with Carey Pensions UK on the
development of the Islamic Pension
Trust, a fully Shariah compliant auto-enrolment
pension scheme providing
a qualifying UK workplace pension
scheme for Muslims. At the start of
this month, the bank launched its
Home Purchase Plan (HPP) — the
fi rst UK Shariah compliant home
purchase product to be backed by the
government’s HPP guarantee scheme.
IBB earlier this year announced a new
direction, building on Masraf Al Rayan’s
investment and shifting its focus to
corporate and real estate fi nance. In
September Keith Leach (previously
affi liated with Arab Banking
Corporation, Ahli United Bank and
Lloyds) was named chief commercial
offi cer, a newly-created post, taking the
lead on the bank’s commercial and GCC
operations. Although the new business
will be based in London, the bank’s
retail and operational headquarters will
remain in Birmingham instead of the
nation’s capital — a decision that could
prove questionable for a regional bank
aiming to make an impact on a national
level.
© 10 29th October 2014