Barclays Global Investors: Rebranding iShares to reflect growth

Published in Global Brand Identity Design Collection

Prior to being acquired by BlackRock in 2009, Barclays Global Investors (BGI) was an industry leader in exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—its iShares® brand being the world’s most extensive family of ETFs, offering more than 320 funds globally. ETFs are index funds that track the performance of specific market indexes and are bought and sold like common stocks on securities exchanges. And even though BlackRock retired the BGI brand, iShares remains a global leader in the category.

Challenge

The original iShares identity emerged quickly in 2000 in the midst of an aggressive time line to launch the business. Six years later, BGI realized that the business had transformed from a start-up challenger to the ETF category leader and was now perceived as a revolutionary among investment brands. BGI also saw the iShares franchise embrace new channels, new regions, and new media that spotlighted the identity system’s shortcomings. The existing iShares identity was no longer an optimal reflection of the global financial leader that it had become.

Solution

The essence of iShares—bringing a new, transparent investment vehicle to market, being an innovator in the industry, empowering financial advisors, and maintaining the highest level of integrity—had to be illustrated through the visual identity. The new iShares symbol is rich in meaning. Three overlapping transparent planes evoke a confluence of ideas, dynamism, and movement—portfolio building blocks converging to complete a total investment strategy. The look-and-feel system facilitates a broad, bold, flexible expression through dramatic color, transparencies, and declarative type. iShares employees and clients continue to be energized by the bold system, which they agree now represents the true innovative and global leadership of the brand.