Two midwestern banks will undergo a slight image change this year when they take on the logo of their Dutch parent, ABN Amro Holding NV.
LaSalle Bank in Chicago and Standard Federal Bank of Troy, Mich., will adopt the signature green-and-yellow shield by yearend, as will other major ABN Amro subsidiaries around the world, the company announced last week.
The subsidiaries will retain their names, but the common logo will convey the "power of a strong global brand," said Dolf Collee, an ABN Amro managing board member, in a press release.
Mark A. Nystuen, LaSalle's chief marketing officer, said the change would probably mean little to the average retail customer. However, the $59.3 billion-asset bank hopes it can draw commercial clients by identifying more closely with its $596 billion Amsterdam parent, he said.
"We think there's a competitive advantage to being associated with one of the world's largest banks," Mr. Nystuen said. "Growing companies' need change as they get larger and start importing or exporting or tapping into new business channels."
Mr. Nystuen said sees no downside to the change. LaSalle has been owned by ABN Amro since 1979 and never hidden from it, he said.
"We have 'Member of the ABN Amro Group' on our logo right now," he said. "This is nothing more than a logo change."
Peter Soraparu, the executive director for content development at the Bank Administration Institute in Chicago, also said that the change should present no problems for LaSalle or the $47.4 billion-asset Standard Federal.
Banks have been successful in operating different brands under a single holding company before, he said. He cited the case of American National Bank and Trust Co., which kept its strong brand name after being bought by First Chicago NBD Corp.
But unifying banks under a single name is also common. Bank One Corp. scrapped the First Chicago NBD name after buying the company, for example, reasoning that its own name would work better.
