Put your best foot forward with Absa on Facebook

Posted by Gino Cosme

May 9, 2008

Absa's Facebook Page logo

In February 2008 Absa launched its new brand campaign intended to position the bank as bold, innovative and progressive and committed to guiding the country towards a better tomorrow. The campaign, which includes a TV commercials, print, radio ads and outdoor billboards makes use of the imagery of “feet from all walks of life” to invite South Africans to “take the next step with us”.

When I was asked to help the Bank find its social media leg without reinventing the wheel, we immediately got inspiration from the campaign’s creative (which the team really enjoyed working with), all of which have an emotive theme that naturally lend themselves to social media communities. It was decided that this together with a consumer focused competition centered around the brand’s core message hosted on Facebook would be an ideal solution.

The Page, which went live yesterday, is backed up by a strong content plan that aims to shed light into the human side of the bank and its new brand campaign. Unlike many campaigns that focus on product sales or sponsorships, Absa has taken the route of putting the new brand campaign’s ethos in the center of their Facebook campaign. This is again demonstrated by the bank spending its Facebook advertising budget (look out for the Skyscrapers) to direct click-throughs to the Facebook Page and not their website. It’s about reinforcing the brand’s ethos of having an emotional connection with customers. People like you and I.

So, be a sport and go put your best foot forward. Who knows, you could just be the lucky winner of a brand new Macbook. Nifty.

Click here to visit Absa’s Facebook Page.