How CBA is keeping millennials in the loop about products

Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) has launched a new consumer banking application called Loop at a time when many in the banking sector are rolling out comprehensive apps.

But what is setting Loop apart is the creativity of its advertising, so unusual and resonant in inviting consumers to “unbank” themselves, that it is creating its own competitive advantage for the new app.

“In today’s highly competitive market, consumers are faced with vast arrays of products and choices. As the concept of brand loyalty diminishes, marketers need to devise creative and innovative ways of attracting and retaining customers,” reports the International Review of Management and Marketing from Girne American University.

“The abundance of choice in products and prices means that consumers are ever willing to try out new things, thus for a brand to survive in the market, creative and innovative advertising strategies serve as major tools.”

Indeed, as customers’ trends keep evolving, businesses run the risk of their strategies becoming obsolete, unless they embrace unique tactics.

CBA, whose primary target market is Kenyan millennials, has invested in making its latest product visually attractive through television advertisements and on its website, as research has found that this customer segment prefer visual content when making purchase decisions, rather than text.

“Millennials are an online generation; this was the main inspiration behind our marketing strategy and communication. We developed hard-hitting and action-packed advertisements that appeal to their lifestyle,” said Eric Muriuki, General Manager- New Business Ventures, at CBA.

“The advertisement is fast, energetic, conceptual and it gives an insight into millennials. It essentially tells a story of passion by the millennial market and yet the same story is true for a much broader market section of the working population in Kenya.”

“In a consumer survey we conducted, we found out that 72 per cent of consumers say they regularly or always seek out visual content while making a purchase. However, 81 per cent of millennial consumers are even more likely to search for photos and videos prior to purchase,” according to a 2017 study conducted by PowerReviews, a consumer engagement technology company.

“Brands and retailers aiming to effectively reach younger consumers need to embrace user-generated visual content in their marketing initiatives. This content can be leveraged in their websites, including homepage, category pages, and campaign-specific landing pages.”

But for the visual content to succeed, creativity in touching consumers’ real concerns is also key.

An example of such success was the strategy adopted by Japanese car manufacturer Nissan, when, in 2015, after an 18 year absence from participating in Superbowl advertising, it made a comeback with a unique promotion that focused on its consumers’ rather than football.

“The interesting thing about the Nissan advertisement was that that it did not build its campaign around football: instead it built it around the related interests of football fans.

CBA’s Loop campaign, bring home: channels matter, and so does content, but at the heart of every transformative marketing campaign lies exceptional creativity.

- African Laughter