BrandFinance 2012 survey has ranked FNB as the strongest banking brand in South Africa with a AAA- rating. The AAA- rating was awarded to two South African brands, namely FNB and a National Telecoms operator.
Brand Strength benchmarks the strength, risk and future potential of a brand relative to its competitors by assessing input measures,brand equity measures, and output performance across four stakeholder groups, namely customers, finance, staff and stakeholders.
“Launched over a decade ago, the FNB “how can we help you?” brand positioning has served as an effective tool that enables FNB to stand apart from the clutter of the category and to create emotional identification and strength of belief in the brand. FNB is an ideas bank that is ideals and values centered. This sets the stage for an intimate conversation with our customers and attracts attention from non-users. We are pleased to achieve this ranking as it is testament that our brand, more than just selling stuff, is building enduring and rewarding relationships with customers that in turn, continue to grow the business,” says Bernice Samuels, FNB Chief Marketing Officer.
“With the dynamic banking and competitive environment, including the changing media landscape, we have had to find ways to be continuously present in the mind of the consumer and allow the consumer to stay connected and engaged with us,” added Samuels.
The depth of our value proposition and the range of innovative products and services at FNB is growing every year. Samuels explains that, “the current Steve campaign is aimed at getting customers to revaluate what they get from their own bank, and to switch to FNB if their bank can’t match FNB. These products and services include being the first African bank with a mobile banking App, fuel rewards, subsidised smart devices like smart phones and tablets, and more recently airtime contracts and airtime rewards.
Since the launch of the More Give Bank and Steve campaigns, we have realised tremendous growth in our business with an increase of ~ 1.2 million new accounts registered. FNB was also recently rated the coolest bank by in the Sunday Times Generation Next 2012 survey. The youth market is in the driving seat when it comes to power of persuasion, and we have given them bragging rights, aspirational identification and an incredible enthusiasm about banking products and services that meet their desire for innovation and the ‘cool’ factor,” says Samuels.
Whilst social media is seen as a drive to 21st century banking, old rules still apply. As a bank that lives on the premise of “helpfulness”, we ensure that our messages reach the unbanked market, through the traditional channels of communication.
The concept of “help” is at the heart of the FNB brand. “Our brand is sitting on a new level of top of mind awareness and attractiveness within the South African banking consumer market,” concludes Samuels.
Both FNB Brand and MTN Brand (the National Telecoms operator who have the AAA rating alongside FNB) have MetropolitanRepublic as their lead agency.