Banks have long since realized that a recognizable logo is almost as important as a sound investment strategy. After all, nothing says success like your company’s name in a simple but unique font, possibly with a little picture of a bird or something next to it.
This is not just for the clients’ benefit. The more often a bank’s employees see the logo, the more important they feel. Especially if it’s written somewhere unusual. At a recent Lehman Brothers conference at a top London hotel, it wasn’t just the walls that were bedecked with the bank’s logo. “We don’t do half measures but for the big boys we do double measures,” said a source from the hotel. “After the final session on the last day of the conference, we wanted to do something special. Unfortunately not everyone at the hotel has a broad knowledge of the investment banking industry, or even necessarily the English language.”
So it was that a couple of hundred Lehman bigwigs filed into the break room to enjoy a glass of champagne under the watchful eye of a four-foot ice sculpture, the base of which had been hastily wrapped in ribbons.