Wells Fargo & Co. is about to make its name in metro Atlanta.
On Sunday, the San Francisco-based bank finished installing the biggest branding symbols in its history at a prime location next to the Downtown Connector.
A construction helicopter lifted massive signs atop the building at 171 17th Street in Atlantic Station that used to sport the Wachovia name.
Wells Fargo bought Wachovia in 2009 and is completing the brand overhaul. Wachovia’s signs were removed in September.
The new north and south facing signs on the building are 11 feet tall, while the Wells Fargo logo facing the interstate measures 27 by 29 feet.
The size and location will make an in-your-face statement amid a skyline more given to sign-free but architecturally compelling buildings such as Bank of America Plaza, along with “logo branded” towers such as Georgia Pacific’s.
“Clearly we see this as an opportunity to build on what Wachovia did. It’s an element of introducing the brand to Atlanta,” said Bob Chlebowski, executive vice president of Wells Fargo’s distribution strategy and services group.
The bank is staying in the the 22-story Atlantic Station tower, in part for its visibility to hundreds of thousands of daily commuters.
“With so many banks clamoring for the Atlanta consumer’s attention, sometimes it pays to shout,” said BA Albert, an advertising executive with Big Table Agency. “In essence it’s a gigantic billboard.”
Wells Fargo would not disclose how much it is paying to replace the Wachovia signs with its own.
But Albert said she asked Lynette Fine, senior vice president of client services at allscopeMEDIA how much it would cost a month to have a prominent billboard in Midtown, visible from I-85.
About $10,000 per month, Fine replied.
“Over five years, even the largest Wells Fargo sign in the country will look like a bargain,” Albert concluded.
Before buying Wachovia, Wells Fargo had no bank branches in Atlanta, only mortgage and investment banking divisions.
The installation of the new signs is part of a broader re-branding all along the east coast. Wachovia’s nearly 200 Atlanta branches will sport Wells Fargo signs starting the weekend of Oct. 23.
Jarel Portman, managing director of Portman House, the hospitality division of Portman, the company founded by his architect father, said decisions about promiment signs on buildings depends on the building and the needs of the tenant.
“They are the new bank in the region, and it makes sense given the location...,” he said.
Portman said some buildings are “calling cards” in their own right, like the iconic Transamerica building in San Francisco. These buildings don’t have signs because the buildings are statements.
Atlanta’s skyline, like most cities’, has been a mix of statement buildings and signage. Some Atlanta towers still wear brand names of companies that no longer inhabit them, such as Coastal States and The Equitable buildings downtown.
Others have had changing marquees, like the AT&T building near The Fox Theater which once shouted BellSouth, and the WorldSpan headquarters at Cobb Galleria that now announces TravelPort.
The Weather Channel for years didn’t have signs on its Cobb County headquarters but recently installed them to be visible from nearby I-285. Many of Atlanta’s most visible office signs are for financial services firms, including SunTrust, BB&T and RBC Centura.
An official lighting ceremony for the new Wells Fargo sign in Atlantic Station will take place the evening of Oct. 26.
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