“If I speak as a member of the industry rather than as chief executive of Barclays, I absolutely have to say we should share our portion of responsibility,” says John Varley, Barclays’ CEO.

In terms of tarnish, there is not enough polish in the shops to remove the stain of recent events from the high-street banks. Which, of course, is not fair on the handful of institutions that boycotted the madman’s casino. Yet fair or otherwise, ‘bank’ is one of the words least likely to spark warm feelings of consumer affection.

For that matter, banks have never enjoyed ‘consumer-favourite’ status. Following the well-catalogued series of self-inflicted disasters, their reputation has sunk to a new low. John Varley acknowledged on BBC’s Panorama programme that the banking industry was going through a “public relations crisis”.

“We have to have a banking industry in which consumers have trust and in some cases that trust has broken down,” he said. “If I ask myself, ‘Do I feel the industry should be self-confident about recreating that trust through time?’ I do feel that, but it starts by saying sorry. It starts by admitting things went wrong.” For those scorched by the after-burn of the banking crisis, it may be a bit late.

From a brand developer’s perspective, the banks present the mother of all challenges. Yet despite the fallout from their crazed pursuit of unsustainable returns, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for brand-revitalisation. It is hard to see this happening, though, until those who own the brand have subjected their organisations to a brutally honest review of the bad, the ugly – hard to think of much good. Only then can the banks hope to reset the clock for a fresh start.

This is not the time to rush for sticking plaster marketing campaigns. If ever an institution needed deep therapy to reassess its values and what it stands for, it is the blighted high-street bank. For that to happen, there has to be a culture change deep inside the organisation.

It does not help that those at the top have mostly seemed aloof and arrogant – which traditionally set the tone throughout banking organisations. Nor has it helped that there has hardly been a peep from the captains of bailed-out banks since the crisis erupted, an exception being an apology from departing RBS chairman Sir Tom McKillop, but not from Fred Goodwin, the architect of the strategy that wiped over 90% off RBS’s value. For the most part, the generals have remained invisible throughout the troubles. Which is more than a shame.

This burning platform of a disaster could be just what the banks need to make a fresh start. Unlike many of their attempts at courting customers when times were good, they can be sure that of a keen if sceptical audience. People want to be confident that banks really do understand what it means to be a safe pair of hands for their hard-earned cash. Brand renewal is not an option, but a necessity.

It is not without risk. The difference is that the gamble involved in brand rejuvenation is far more likely to pay off handsomely. Sound customer capital is what every bank could do with.

As Barclays’ CEO claims, this is an industry-wide issue that is bigger than any individual bank’s reputation. Here’s a modest proposal. What about convening a financial truth and reconciliation commission for the sector to clear the air? The only trouble may be finding someone with the stomach to take the chair.

No sooner had the BBC finished cleaning up its act following the phone-in scandal when Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand dragged the brand back into rehab. Everyone nodded agreement that there were lessons to be learned from both incidents. But whatever shock was administered to the corporation by the earlier phone-in revelations, it was clearly not severe enough to prevent a second descent into public disgrace.

It is no accident that these apparently unconnected events happened at a time of crisis for the BBC. Everything was so much simpler when it had a cleanly chiseled role as a monopoly, public-service broadcaster. But as it continues to anguish about its place in a global, multi-media world, the organisation seems to have lost its dignified institutional bearing. Internal spats about ratings, debates about the need for edgy humour, conflicting views about digital strategy or the right depth of news coverage have left it shaken and divided.

The original spirit that inspired the BBC to become the envy of the world has guttered and dimmed to leave it confused about its identity, purpose and future direction – despite the brisk assurance of the manifesto and mission statement currently posted on its website.

Resolving to be a paragon of broadcasting excellence is the easy part. It is in the hurly-burly when key decisions are made on the fly that you discover what weight corporate values and mission statements really have. Judging from the phone-in gaffs and the Ross-Brand affair, not every producer, director, programme maker or manager had taken them to heart.

With everyone from the Government to the public questioning the BBC’s role and relevance, it could be time to try a different approach. The last thing the BBC wants is another heavyweight analytical review. So finding a way to side-step the well-worn path, engaging the resource spectrum from trustee to receptionist in a right-brained exploration of amazing legacy, recent lapses and desired vision, would provide a refreshing jolt to the corporation’s system. Turn the shared insights from this process into a set of propositions, and the result could be transformational.

In one respect the BBC is like any other organisation. Without an inspiring dream, it will continue to drift and disappoint its audience, employees, and other stakeholders. Even with that dream, the tough choices about the direction to take will still remain. The critical difference would be that the BBC would have a set of criteria, shared values and vision that could guide hard-to-make decisions.

Would taking the alternative route rule out future lapses in judgment? That might be too much to expect. But there is a greater chance of programme makers and managers thinking twice if they have been partners to agreeing standards of behaviour, instead of being handed the rulebook.

If you want to see what the outcome might look like, we’ve made a start on the job. The BBC is one of the examples in our new book, Brand Enigma, that shows how the brand dream model can be applied to deconstruct a brand, revealing its enduring traditions and core strengths, as well as its weaknesses. It illustrates how the corporation could generate a new dream to inspire everyone, from audiences to staff and other stakeholders. But the model is only part of the solution. It is the brand dream process through which everyone is engaged that produces the real magic. Only the BBC can wave that wand.

David Harvey, co-author with Duncan Bruce, of Brand Enigma.

Click here to buy ‘Brand Enigma’ from Amazon.