- SO&U brings experience to bear in new creative
Most organisations and brands are fascinated with these superlative tag lines such as, ‘biggest’, ‘largest’, ‘leaders’, ‘finest’ and so on but some of them rarely caught resemblance of it in physical and service, in fact, most of them used these superlatives as a positioning statement instead.
However, this cannot be said about First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a member of First Bank Holdings Plc that penultimate Friday unveiled a new thematic corporate campaign to commemorate its 130 years operation in Nigeria as ‘FirstBank’.
The campaign, since it was launched has triggered conversations around FirstBank continuous positioning as the leader in the financial sector in terms of shared time of operation, branches, capital base, customer service, technology, innovation and ability to drive other businesses such as small and medium enterprises and micro, small and medium enterprises in the West Africa market.
The demonstration of the leadership position has effectively elucidated in the communications materials such as press, television commercials in the first instance.
It is a beggar belief to think that First Bank is not number one in many indexes particularly in size, capital base, technology, credit rating and business support. The brand has consistently delivered value and remained stable in many fronts in the 130 years in the country.
Taking the media through the campaign during the private screening before the unveil on July 15th, 2024, Olayinka Ijabiyi, head, brand management & budget planning, First Bank of Nigeria said, “The world is moving and changing at lightning speed and just like the world, everything within it is also changing- from economies to businesses and even opportunities.
“We recognize that to be in sync with the world will require a forward thinking and future ready mindset… and we have created the atmosphere, products and services to help our customers to ‘Bring out the GIANT in YOU,” he added.
The key visuals for the campaign come in the sequence of the full corporate TVC (60secs), products TVC (45secs) and others such as FirstMobile, FirstOnline, FirstDiaspora and XploreFirst with full color press materials.
He said, “At First Bank, we believe everyone has the potential to be a giant. For over 130 years, we have been empowering individuals and businesses to achieve their dreams. Let’s take giant strides together and turn your ambitions into reality”, the bank said in the campaign.
“First Bank thematic brand campaign is one that we conceptualised a bit to show our customers in our 130 years, that we have been supporting and creating giants and we are not about to stop anytime soon”.
“The bank, in its celebration of its 130 years in business, came up with a campaign that speaks to the business essence of its brand which is making giants of its customers.
“We have always done it and the fact we have been around for such a long time means good to everybody as we have been supporting businesses, individuals and government in those years.
“We are making giants and there is no business that interacts with us that does not see the benefits in their business. We are making giants in our customers and we will not stop”, Ijabiyi said at the unveiling of the campaign.
For its customers, the bank said “We would enable, inspire and support you with our world of financial services to help you to giant-size your dreams and live your best life”. It also said it “would give businesses and business owners the right platforms and solutions they need to grow, initiate and execute bold ideas”.
The bank will also build other product campaigns that would lead people to become giants. “We are showing those product campaigns that a customer can latch on to be able to become a giant in any business endeavour”, Ijabiyi said.
The ‘Giant’ campaign created by SO&U has reignited conversations within the industry that has witnessed a dearth of creatives nuances in recent times. Both TVC and press unveiled at the EbonyLife Cinema have been deftly executed from art direction to choice of characters. Sounds and lighting and messaging are well applauded.
According to Oluwayemisi Akande, a creative art director at Finesse Innovate, “For a long time, I have not witnessed a nimbly creative work by a financial brand. This is on steeze,” she said.
“Giant is apt for a brand that has seen a better part of the country. Who else deserved to be given the tag a ‘giant’ if not First Bank, she queried adding that “In all ramification, First Bank is brand despite its age has continued to appeal to all demography. It is a fascinating piece of art work, I must confess.”
The campaign has long gone-live on major television stations and CNN while the press is currently adorning pages of Nigerian national dailies like a colossus.
According to First Bank, the Giant cut outs will be placed on different floors in the head office, deployment of Website Homepage and deployment of full TVC on YouTube page.
