Brand history
- ING-DiBa has its roots in the BSV: The Bank für Spareinlagen und Vermögensbildung AG in Frankfurt am Main, founded in 1965.
- It was renamed in 1994 as the ‘Allgemeine Deutsche Direktbank’ and in 1999 as DiBa (Direktbank). Renamed again as ING-DiBa in 2005, following acquisition of majority sharehold by ING.
Audio Branding, phase I
- The new name of the ‘Allgemeine Deutsche Direktbank’, DiBa (Direktbank), was launched in the course of a brand campaign in1999. The key focus was on the new brand name. This was supported ideally by a specially developed jingle.
- The key theme from Bert Kaempfert’s ‘Strangers In The Night’ became the familiar ‘DiBa-DiBa-Du’. Everyone knows it, everyone likes it. It’s a really catchy tune.
- Despite all changes the brand went through, the sound remained as a familiar constant that characterises the brand identity of ING-DiBa and guarantees an extremely high brand recall factor. People begin to sing it as soon as someone mentions the brand: DiBaDiBaDu…lalalala…DiBaDiBaDu….
Audio Branding, phase II
- Within the course of repositioning the ING-DiBa brand, one of the tasks was to further develop the sound component (jingle, brand voice, soundscape)
- Which aims were to be fulfilled by the new audio branding?
- More intense emotionalisation of the ING-DiBa brand.
- Translate the brand promise into an experience: DiBaDu communicates ‘The Bank and You“. The brand promise reflects a concrete customer experience: the DiBaDu feeling (customers experience it, for example, through simplicity, transparency, customer service, etc. at ING-DiBa). The DiBaDu feeling is to be made audibly tangible.
- Modernisation of the jingle while maintaining the familiarity already achieved by the brand sound and preserving its established extreme popularity.
Conclusion: Evolution not revolution
Sound process
1. Brand clarification workshop with design agency MetaDesign
– What do the brand and sound stand for?
– What direction should the new sound take?
Result: Briefing draft for sound pitch with music production, sound checklist
2. Sound pitch with music production
Result: Preference for instrumentation and rhythm Surprise: general consensus on a female voice
3. Coincidence
Result: The initial analysis phase was aided by a coincidence. We discovered Melody Gardot in our free time. Her unique voice is absolutely ideal for the new brand image. It has a quality that only few possess, heart, soul and depth. This voice unites all the attributes required to communicate the authentic DiBaDu feeling.
Result
A harmonious brand identity that communicates the DiBaDu feeling in both audible and visual terms.
