Absa Kenya formerly known as Barclays (Barclays Africa Group Limited) has rebranded its identity in Kenyan in order to inject a stronger sense of personality and establish consistency across their global branding.
“Our new name and brand are an expression of our new purpose and strategic direction, which commits us to grow in Africa,” Absa Group Limited Chief Executive Officer, Maria Ramos said. ?We are rallying around a shared sense of purpose and identity while celebrating our diversity,? she added.
The new identity utilities bare bold text and a vibrant yet pared-down three-tone colour palette along with little playful graphics. The use of type only for this identity (logotype) with the circle with trimmed out forming the brackets indicate the inclusivity the company seek to have in their strategy.
Absa Kenya avoided the typical colour palette of blue their previous dominant colour palette and commonly used by banking companies and opted for a bold shade of red which holds a neutral space between the two.
Absa Kenya’s new branding establishes itself as a contemporary, forward-thinking contender in the banking industry, their slogan state it clearly ‘Let’s Help You Get Things Done?’ The company-new identity was cemented by creating a strong brand guideline around it that includes their mission statement, brand values, tone of voice and personality.
Brief History
Absa Group Limited originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is an African based financial services group, offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management as well as bancassurance.
It is the majority shareholder of 11 banks spanning Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (two entities), Uganda and Zambia, with a further two representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria. (Wikipedia)
During the launch of the new Absa identity, Ramos said, “We would like to build the brand as a bank that Africa’s people can be proud of, a truly independent African bank with global scalability, A single brand will enable us to unite behind a single identity, purpose and strategy; we are excited by the enormous opportunity we have to create a bank that Africa can be proud of.”
Let us know your thoughts on the new identity that Absa Group Limited has.
