BRANDING
Not absa-lutely fabulous
Absa’s new brand identity didn’t go down well with everyone; a lot of noise came from armchair critics on social media
It’s not every day that a company can give itself a facelift, but Barclays’ phased withdrawal from Africa gave Absa that chance.Freed from the grip of its British former parent, the bank has been afforded the latitude it needs to revitalise its image, reflect its new digital strategy and show its African roots — or "Africanacity", to use its new catchphrase.Though Absa was recently named by Brand Finance as SA’s fourth-most valuable brand — it has an estimated value of R18.9bn — the bank’s positioning in the market was ripe for a shake-up. To many, the brand was either unexciting or tarnished by claims that it had too cosy a relationship with the apartheid government.And it showed: Absa and its old-guard peers lost market share to newer rival Capitec, with Absa losing some serious ground in the home loans business.So this month the group presented a new logo, with "absa" in lower case to offer "a more human, approachable and understated feel than its predecessor". And, "stripped of ...
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