Enter the dragon …

AWR Lloyd welcomed the Year of the Dragon with a new logo and corporate identity featuring a red dragon:

Alex Wood, CEO of AWR Lloyd since August 2010 explained the rebranding:

“AWR Lloyd’s old logo did not communicate very well the personality of our firm or what makes us different. AWR Lloyd is made up of young and dynamic people with innovative ideas. Our brand should reflect this.

Furthermore, the firm is entering a new phase of growth, building on the platform and trackrecord of the past ten years. To succeed in its transformation from boutique status to mainstream investment banking and industry consulting, the firm will need to embrace a new and even more aggressive and enterprising spirit. Launching the new brand at the beginning of the Year of the Dragon is intended to mark the beginning of a new phase in the development of the firm.

The dragon symbol encapsulates some of the existing personality of AWR Lloyd as well as some of what it should strive to become.”

In terms of the deeper meaning of the dragon symbol and its relevance to AWR Lloyd, Alex has pointed out the following:

“Throughout the Asia-Pacific region, the dragon symbolizes auspicious omens and is a symbol of good luck, fortune, power, wisdom and nobility. Needless to say, these are all attributes which should be viewed positively by our clients.

The earliest examples of the dragon symbol date back to around 5400 BC. The dragon has profoundly Oriental origins in serpent-worshipping cults from the Egyptian period that spread to Babylon, India, East Asia and the Pacific Islands – and finally to the North American continent. The dragon was revived as the protector of Buddhist law and purity in India and spread across Asia again over two millennia ago. The geography of the dragon fits AWR Lloyd’s geographic strategy and coverage perfectly. And the role of ‘protector’ is one that clients implicitly look for in an advisor like AWR Lloyd.

In Chinese, Korean and Japanese cultures – as well as all other Chinese or Buddhist-influenced cultures across the Asia-Pacific region, dragons have played an integral part since the beginning of recorded history.

A dragon symbolizes control over water. Helping our clients to understand and analyze the seabourne trade in energy and minerals helps put them in control of more value creating strategies.

The dragon’s pearl contains the dragon’s wisdom and his control over Yin and Yang. It is known as the ‘Pearl of Knowledge’ and it multiplies whatever it touches. AWR Lloyd’s industry expertise, balanced analysis and strategic insights are the ‘pearl of wisdom’ we must bring to our clients !

Red for a dragon symbolizes the heart, passion, fire, vitality, creativity and good fortune. While many of our clients’ businesses have a strong connection to fire (e.g. for power generation or metallurgy), the themes of the heart, vitality and creativity are core to the personality of AWR Lloyd and its people.

Dragons should be linked to the number 9 – with nine sections (curves) and 117 scales (81 Yang and 36 Yin). The number 9 brings qualities of loyalty, courage and strength. AWR Lloyd’s new brand features a dragon with 117 scales, 9 curves and 9 tail feathers.”