This significant increase in brand value has seen Africa’s largest financial services organisation by assets jump 17 places to rank 145th globally. For a third consecutive year, Standard Bank has also increased its reputation score above the South African banking sector average, according to Brand Finance’s Global Brand Equity Monitor.
Every year, Brand Finance puts 5 000 of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes nearly 100 reports, ranking brands across different sectors and countries. The world’s top 500 most valuable and strongest banking brands are included in the annual Brand Finance Banking 500 ranking.
Sim Tshabalala, Standard Bank Group Chief Executive, says: “We’re delighted by our brand’s performance as it spotlights the hard work undertaken over the past few years to radically overhaul our business model and transform experiences for clients. The Group has invested heavily in disruptive technologies to provide our clients with banking, asset management and insurance solutions to enable them to achieve their unique goals and ambitions.”
In 2019, Standard Bank began a journey that fundamentally redefined its business. As it undertook a future-ready transformation and the expansion into a platform business, it also introduced a comprehensive brand repositioning, the first in 10 years, culminating in the launch of the ‘It Can Be’ brand promise in 2020.
“Our brand positioning aligns to our organisation’s ambition to transform client experiences based on researched client insights,” says Thulani Sibeko, Standard Bank’s Chief Brand and Marketing Officer. “Our people are inspired and committed to provide solutions and experiences that matter and create value to our clients.”
Value offerings, innovative solutions drive client acquisition and retention
Recently, Standard Bank reached the 10 million customer mark in South Africa, which Sibeko says has been driven in part by gaining momentum within the mass market. “The introduction of our value banking solution MyMo, for example, has enabled more people to access our brand for the first time.
He adds that the increase in customer acquisition can also be attributed to the continuous introduction of new and innovative solutions to make the lives of clients easier. An example is FlexiFuneral, which allows customers to choose their level of benefits and amount of cover. Also recently introduced is Unayo, a digital payments platform that connects the higher and lower ends of the value chain, thereby stimulating economic activity across Africa.
“We are enormously proud of our treasure chest of innovations and achievements, all of which impact individuals, businesses, or communities.”
The trust that consumers have in the Standard Bank brand continues to serve it well, believes Sibeko. “Our clients think of us as a safe bank, and we take the role of financial custodianship extremely seriously, in the systems and processes we implement to safeguard our clients from increasingly sophisticated fraudulent threats.”
He concludes: “We are both proud and honoured to be awarded the title of Africa’s most valuable bank brand. The most successful brands are often the most relevant, and remaining relevant means constantly evolving, and changing with developing client requirements. This year, Standard Bank will be celebrating its 160th year of enabling individuals and businesses to achieve their ambitions – a testament to our innovation, resilience, commitment and adaptability.”
