CHARLOTTE, N.C. - First Union Corp. completed its $14 billion acquisition of the old Wachovia Corp. six months ago, but there have been few outward signs of the big marriage - until now.
The company, which took the seller's name, will unveil its post-merger branding strategy today in a series of employee meetings and a morning press conference. The events will offer a glimpse at how Wachovia plans to position itself when it begins consolidating branches this fall.
One component - a new logo - may have been leaked. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site lists a Feb. 26 filing for a design that features "Wachovia" in bold, traditional-style capital letters under a black box crossed by intertwining lines, and if you look close enough you can make out what resemble a pair of Ws resting on their sides.
Wachovia officials would not discuss the filing, first reported in Wednesday's Charlotte Observer.
"We're not commenting on that logo," company spokeswoman Christy Phillips said. "Our priority and focus is on sharing our new brand mark with our 84,000 employees first."
The $330 billion-asset company has moved slowly, on purpose, in integrating business units, and offices and branches nationwide still carry First Union or Wachovia signage. Branch consolidation is not scheduled to begin until November. That's when most customers will get their first real taste of how the merger has transformed their old banks.
Wachovia's name, taken from the Austrian region whose people settled Winston-Salem in the mid-18th century, is respected in some business circles but little known outside the Southeast. One expert said the merged outfit's choice of a name sounded as if First Union was being taken over by a foreign bank.
First Union, on the other hand, was one of the most recognized brands in its category, thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars spent on national advertising. But its name became tarnished in the late 1990s after a series of bumpy merger integrations, including that of Philadelphia's CoreStates Financial Corp.
Today's unveilings will be a chance to erase First Union's name, said Clayton Tolley, the president and chief executive of the Addison Whitney Inc. corporate image and branding firm in Charlotte.
"This gives the two merged companies, Wachovia and First Union, the ability to strategically position, internally as well as externally, the corporation," Mr. Tolley said. "It's basically a new company."
Mr. Tolley's firm is not involved in the branding campaign but had worked for First Union.
Wachovia worked with Mullen/LHC of Winston-Salem, a division of Interpublic Group of New York, to develop its new strategy. Interbrand, also of New York, got the design assignments.
Ms. Phillips said: "We're taking this opportunity to focus on who we are and what we will be as a company going forward. This is not just about a new logo. It's about two companies coming together."
From Our Archive
Wachovia Hires Ad Agency for Branding Blitz - March 7, 2002 Why Wachovia? Name Was a Bargaining Chip - April 20, 2001
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