What Siebert’s 60-year legacy rebrand reveals about the future of finance?
In a world where AI, crypto, and culture move faster than regulation, most still cling to crisis-era codes. But the brands pulling ahead are reshaping what trust looks like and proving that safety now means falling behind.
What’s the risk in playing it safe?
Walk into any bank or scroll through an investment app. You’ll see the same thing: navy blue and slate grey, grayscale portraits in neutral suits, taglines about ‘trust’ and ‘stability.’
Back then, stability was enough. Over time, that aesthetic hardened into a playbook defended with one word: credibility. In practice, it bred design conservatism and stripped brands of distinction. But in a market shaped by digital disruptors and hyper-aware investors, looking like everyone else is the fastest way to disappear. Conformity no longer builds credibility; it buries it.
Investors now move fluidly between digital-first banks, brokerages, and fintechs. They expect speed, clarity, and relevance. ‘Safe’ now reads as ‘stuck.’ And it’s not just gen Z. Millennials are entering peak earning years. New platforms are shifting where and why people invest. In a low-loyalty market, playing it safe means falling behind.
Winners and wallflowers
In insurance, the pattern is the same. Legacy names like State Farm and Prudential have barely touched their branding for decades. State Farm’s tri-oval logo has kept its mid-century look for over 60 years, and Prudential’s Rock of Gibraltar has stood unaltered for more than a century. The Royal Bank also still clings to its deep blue palette and decades-old daisy wheel signalling stability, but not relevance.
Meanwhile, brands like Lemonade are rewriting the script. With its hot pink palette, breezy UX, and bold message – “forget everything you know about insurance” – it turned a stiff category into something accessible and emotionally intelligent. It challenged the entire tone of the industry.
Hermès and Cartier kept the same style for decades. Jacquemus plays with lavender-field runways, handbags on baguettes, and playful excess. It’s prestige without pretense. And it works precisely because it knows how to move with culture. Finance is no different. Challenger banks like Chime, Revolut, and Nubank broke ranks by using bold colors, app-first experience, and product-led storytelling.
Siebert Financial, a 60-year-old Wall Street firm, rolled out a fresh identity rooted in founder Muriel Siebert’s rebellious spirit, turning legacy into a brand defined by inclusion and access.
The return of a Wall Street rule-breaker
Siebert Financial wasn’t born into the safe set. In 1967, Muriel Siebert became the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, making headlines and rattling boardrooms. Her brokerage opened doors for people the industry usually left out. But like many legacy brands, that rebellious edge dulled over time, swapping grit for bland respectability.
“As a brand, Siebert had lost the fire Muriel built for herself,” says Stefano Marrone, chief marketing officer. “It had grown closed-off and generic. From the start, our ambition was to reignite that spirit, refreshing the identity in a way that honored her legacy while making it meaningful for a new generation of investors. The transformation has set a strong foundation for the future.”
Built around the mission of “Financial Freedom for Everyone,” Siebert partnered with London-based agency TOML Collective to reimagine the brand from the inside out. Drawing inspiration from America’s punk counterculture and 1980s trading terminals, they replaced corporate blues with jolting colors and brushstrokes, rejecting finance’s clean, conformist look and catching the eye of a new generation.
“Our aim was to translate Muriel’s defiant spirit into a coherent design system,” explains Virtyt Pula, creative director at TOML. “The fusion of retro textures and modern elements reflects the founders’ duality, grounded in humanity, yet disruptive by design.”
By embracing candid education and inclusivity, even a legacy firm like Siebert has managed to reimagine its brand to stay relevant with younger, digitally savvy audiences.
Relevance as a market force
The rebrand successfully repositioned Siebert from a legacy brokerage to a digital-first disruptor, signaling a bold new era for the firm. The stock price surged 121% in the first quarter post-launch, rising from $1.50 to $3.34 and reaching $5.00 in less than a year, reflecting renewed confidence from shareholders and the market.
The brand gained strong traction among gen Z investors, evidenced by a 60% increase in organic social reach and the growth of its Instagram community with 75,000 new followers within 10 months. Brands that reflect the culture they serve, as Siebert did with inclusion and a refusal to play safe, can win both the next generation of investors and market confidence.
Breaking free from industry conformity
This isn’t just a finance story; it’s a universal narrative. The core insight is that brand renewal transcends sectors. The same principles that revitalized a Wall Street firm can energize an insurance company or a luxury maison. Finance isn’t alone in needing to shed outdated tropes; every brand in every field must balance its heritage with the expectations of today’s audience. This banking makeover underscores a larger point: every industry, from insurance to luxury fashion, faces the same challenge of staying relevant.
If a staid Wall Street stalwart can reinvent itself with gen Z slang and vibrant campaigns, why can’t others?
Originally published on the Drum.
Written by Debora Deva
Debbie is a writer, art director, and multidisciplinary creative at TOML Collective. With a background in advertising, she brings fresh perspectives to the journal — aiming to educate, question, and spark new ideas.
Get in touch with debora@tomlcollective.com