"We are breaking new ground in private banking"

Werbewoche: Mr. Timpanaro, is the strategic repositioning of Falcon Private Bank also a flight to the front in order to counter the difficult Past to escape?

Gianmarco Timpanaro: Regardless of the past, it was high time for us as a company to fundamentally rethink our future direction. The needs of our customers are changing, and the digital transformation also offers new opportunities. By repositioning ourselves, we want to create a good starting position for future challenges. Our strategy focuses increasingly on digital competencies and innovations that will create significant added value for our customers. As a small, agile bank in particular, we have the advantage of being able to quickly identify and operationalize important technological developments.

That means Falcon is among the banks that will soon replace their customer advisors with robots?

Quite the opposite. This is where we clearly differ from other providers who focus exclusively on digitalization. Our approach is based on the conviction that the greatest added value is generated by the smart combination of our employees' personal skills and digital intelligence. In other words, our advisors are empowered by fintech innovations to advise customers even more competently. This is what we mean by "Agile Private Banking" and this philosophy is also conveyed in our new brand identity.

You allude to the golden people. How did that come about?

The aim was to translate the symbiosis of people and technology, and thus the core of our vision, into a novel-looking visual world that is highly differentiated and deliberately causes a stir. Gold is particularly well suited as a metaphor because the color symbolizes value - on the one hand, the added value that arises from said symbiosis and, on the other hand, the esteem in which we hold our customers.

How did the collaboration with Branders come about?

Branders was able to win the agency selection for repositioning at the beginning of 2017. They are convincing as a team and through the breadth of their core competencies. Starting with the development of the strategic vision, the further development of our customer journey, the creation of the brand identity, especially digitally, and the support of the internal cultural change, Branders is a very creative, committed and inspiring partner with the courage for new ideas. Thanks to their good connections, they were also able to win over Rankin, one of the most renowned photographers, who was able to translate our vision into an artistically sophisticated visual world. For us, working in partnership with Branders is a key success factor and, ultimately, it is simply a lot of fun.

Looking back, what was the biggest challenge?

The strategic realignment of a company is always a far-reaching change process that affects everything and everyone in the organization. In private banking, it is particularly important that a vision is supported and lived by all employees. That is why the internal anchoring and active involvement of our employees at all locations was a top priority from the very beginning. This was about much more than internal communication - it was about initiating a cultural change, motivating our team and generating enthusiasm for a new perspective. The differentiating appearance also made a decisive contribution to this by reinforcing the momentum and showing the bank's commitment to really wanting to make a fundamental change.

After the crisis communication over the past months, the repositioning of the Falcon brand was certainly a welcome change for you as well. What do you personally take away from the project?

(laughs) It is of course a privilege to build something for the future in such a short time after last year's coming to terms with the past. I am particularly pleased that we had the courage to break with conventions and had the ambition from the very beginning to create something very special and novel. That is rarely possible in the banking world. This morning when I came into the bank, I was already very proud.

You can find everything about the new brand identity here.