• The New York Times, Tuesday, June 20, 2006 12:45 PM

Citigroup, the world's largest financial institution, is rethinking its branding efforts with an eye toward a whole new marketing plan. Anything short of a name change is open territory for the company, and that includes the possible elimination of the famous red umbrella, long a symbol of security emanating from the Travelers Group, which merged with Citicorp in 1998 to become the current banking behemoth. The branding review is the latest example of how Charles O. Prince III, Citigroup's chairman and chief executive, is trying to put his own stamp on the company. But whether to keep the red umbrella is an issue weighted with sentiment and history because the 136-year-old symbol is a vestige of the company's past. It first appeared in a newspaper ad for Travelers Insurance in 1870.

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