One strong brand

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Personal customers, entrepreneurs, institutional clients and companies all have dreams and ambitions. They all want to prosper in life and/or business. Prosperity is about realising dreams, ideas and plans. These are different for everyone. To realise dreams and ambitions, it takes some thought, some planning and some encouragement. Any journey does. But it is absolutely worth it, knowing that you are heading for a place you have always dreamed of, that you are on your way.

Our ambition is to get you there. To be your financial partner, by your side, travelling with you on the same course. A partner who multiplies your prosperity. Prosperity is about building, managing and protecting your financial assets, so you need a banker and insurer who is forceful with a heart. That is our way to growing profitably and to becoming a leading European financial institution.

The Fortis brand strategy is derived from our business strategy and has been formulated within the context of our brand history. It is aimed at creating one monolithic brand, one strong Fortis brand that represents all our activities.

Importance of a brand

A brand exists in our minds. It is a network of associations that can vary widely from brand to brand. Everyone makes his or her own associations. The goal of managing a brand is to create more or less comparable networks of meaning from the individual associations of each person.

A brand is especially important when strategy and output depend highly on goodwill, which is often the case in the (financial) services industry, because:

• products cannot be judged at face value (intangible)
• product quality is largely determined by people
• customers only buy financial services when they are convinced that the provider is credible

Brand history

Although our group formally came into being in December 1990, it was not named until 13 July 1991. Fortis is a Latin word meaning strong and determined. The name is intended to reflect not only the group’s stability, strength and flexibility, but also its experience and integrity. The name appears in the new logo. The prominent ‘f’ is very similar to the sign used to signify the former Dutch guilder. But that is mere coincidence.

As part of the branding policy it adopted in 1998, Fortis defined a new strong visual identity. The Fortis logo is comprised of three elements:

• The brandmark reflects a village, a symbol of the community in which Fortis operates, and is inspired by an Asian folk tale:
  • ‘The village is rich because of its pond. Daily life
    centres on the pond. It provides water to wash, to
    drink, and to live. The fish also prosper in the pond,
    and provide food for all, thus the pond is the
    provider of riches, the fruit of life and prosperity.’
    
  The symbol adds an element of emotion to the solid image of Fortis. It is lively, powerful and innovative. What’s more, it reflects the diversity of the markets in which we operate.
• The Fortis wordmark forms a solid, sound and strong foundation that is underscored by the name itself.
• Solid partners, flexible solutions’ is our promise to the customer. It captures the essence of Fortis: the aim to be reliable while remaining flexible in order to meet the specific needs of each customer
  

The Fortis logo that became Fortis's visual identity at end of 2005, the consists of two elements - the wordmark and the brandmark. The Fortis wordmark, as the name of a solid and established entity, provides a firm foundation. The brandmark adds emotion to Fortis's already reliable image. The symbol is lively, vibrant, innovative and optimistic, and reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.

The logo’s combination of the rational aspect of the wordmark and the emotion of the brandmark represents the essence of Fortis – the best of both worlds.

Fortis: Getting you there.

Fortis’s corporate advertising campaign expresses its desire and intention to be your financial partner and help you realise your dreams and ambitions.