Revitalising one of Australia's most iconic brands and changing attitude from Can’t to Can

In late 2011 M&C Saatchi was invited to pitch for the entire media budget of Australia’s largest consumer bank Commonwealth Bank of Australia. M&C Saatchi brought in their branding specialist Re: to develop a contemporary brand design that would help to deliver the new Can promise and reinforce Commbank’s reputation for innovation and leadership.

There was never an intention to touch the core Commonwealth Bank brand mark due to its iconic Australian status. Instead a reinvention took place across all other components. By reconsidering colour, typography, imagery and tone of voice, we built upon the iconic foundations to create a contemporary, vibrant and positive brand for all parts of the organization including employer branding and the premium tiers Commonwealth Private and Institutional Banking and Markets.

The category has forever changed, with competing brands racing to catch up with Commbank’s confident and disruptive story.