Changing flags

Ana Paula Dondon

Brazilian giant bank Itaú acquired CorpBanca, with branches in Chile and Colombia, the past year, after a long path to obtain all legal approvals. It is one more chapter in the history of acquisitions and mergers promoted by Itaú along 92 years. Now, the challenge is the turning of the flags or the changing of the brand name.

Once all legal and financial affairs have been dealt with, communication takes the stage. “Colombia is the fastest growing country in Latin America, and it is vital for us”, says Paulo Marinho, Corporate Communication Manager at Itaú Unibanco. He experienced two big mergers before: Itaú and BankBoston, followed by Itaú and Unibanco. “We have a diversity of stakeholders, and they are all interconnected. It is critical that we align who we are and what we want right from the beginning. Our role as communication professionals is to manage the company’s reputation. We are reputation risk managers. We have to think about the business and its survival in the long run”.

To write a successful story the first step is to be always vigilant. In Chile, for example, the trademark orange colour Itaú displays had meanings that weren’t interesting for the company. It took the bank two years to make the transition. “We started using a silver colour with an orange line. The line became bolder with time. That’s how you put the ‘think globally act locally’ in practice”, says Marinho.

The communication team at Itaú Unibancobelieves in working closely with opinion makers. “Between other actions, we invite journalists from all Latin America to come to Brazil and visit our headquarters. We believe that they need to see who we are and our values”.