Entering company
Initiative MENA
Entering Country
Egypt
Brand
Egyptian Gulf Bank
Brand Owner
Egyptian Gulf Bank
Industry Sector
Financial & Utility Services
Markets covered
Egypt
Objectives
Overshadowed all of its competitors, EGBank is the small, privately owned underdog of the Egyptian banking scene. The objective of this relaunch campaign was to execute an idea that would gain EGBank a fair share of attention, raise awareness by 50% and increase new customers by 50%.
Insights
ONLY 10% OF THE EGYPTIAN POPULATION HAVE BANK ACCOUNTS.
In Egypt, there are 40 banks. The largest three have a combined market share of 40%. The remaining banks are a mixture of global and regional brands as well as local banks.
And then there’s EGBank; the tiny, unknown bank that historically focused on high net worth individuals and B2B clients. Facing a turbulent economy and uncertain future, EGBank needed a growth strategy that would ensure future prosperity.
Understanding that a significant growth opportunity existed in the 90% of the population that was ‘un-banked’, EGBank’s research discovered that more than 70% of this audience were young Egyptians aged from 16-26yrs old.
Younger Egyptians mostly live with their parents until married. Too old for cuddles and child-like attention and too young for real responsibility and decision making authority, the youth’s place in Egyptian society is that of a second-class citizen. This is a generation that needs an ally.
The target audience was clear but there was a problem: young Egyptians hate banks. “Deceitful”, “dreaded errand”, “confusing”, “conniving”, were just a few words this target was saying about the industry.
Our audience profiling work discovered that young Egyptians are a generation that feels their opinions are not taken seriously and that they are not accounted for in Egyptian society. This is a generation waiting to be noticed, this is generation waiting to be taken into account.
EGBank now had a clear purpose: to transform into “THE bank for young Egyptians.”
Strategy
BECAUSE NO ONE TAKES THIS GENERATION INTO ACCOUNT, EGBANK IS THE BANK THAT HELPS THEM OPEN THEIR FIRST ACCOUNT!
For the first time in Egypt’s history, a bank was going to take the youth audience into account by creating a relevant narrative that speaks directly to their needs and desires and then provide a product (their first bank account) that would empower and improve their lives.
To capture our TA’s attention and generate maximum awareness we needed to create a public discourse which would highlight that EGBank truly empathised with their situation; that they are a generation not given respect or responsibility.
To get the discussion started, we devised a two-prong communications strategy that broke the norms of ‘banking communication’.
For our core target audience, young Egyptians between 16-26 years old who feel unaccounted for in society, our key message was that we were 100% on their side.
For the remainder of the adult population, we make it clear that we are not a bank for them.
The idea was simple; polarize the two audience groups, and declare our allegiance to young Egyptians by publicly and proudly standing up for their interests.
This public and committed declaration was the only way the youth segment would deem us worthy of their respect. This new-earned respect would allow us to build brand affinity with a generation of consumers that are sceptical about banks and financial institutions.
We shifted from formal stereotypical banking communication to creating humorous and relatable content that our TA could identify with. Doing so enabled us to differentiate EGBank from the competition and become the banking ally of an entire generation.
After all, these young Egyptians are the engine that will drive Egypt’s economy into the future…and they will need a banking partner to make it happen.
Execution
THE FACE OF A GENERATION.
Our TV and video-based campaign came to life through a central character EGBank developed by the name of Raouf (otherwise known as Oufa) who helps highlight the daily struggles of young adults in Egypt in the most comical and insightful ways.
Oufa is an anti-hero. He’s an average university student who lives with family. He has a crush on his neighbour and he dreams about borrowing his father’s car and living an errand-free day. Oufa is the perfect tool through which we tell our story and engage with our audience.
The campaign launched on TV and online with a series of thirteen 30sec episodes. Each episode chronicles aspects of Oufa’s daily life as he struggles through not being noticed, not being considered, being taken for granted and not receiving the recognition or respect he deserves.
In every episode there is an insight about his generation and their role in society, only to reveal that unlike everyone else around them, EGBank would be the first to take Oufa’s generation into account by helping them open their first account.
Although we launched during Ramadan, unlike most Ramadan campaigns, ours wasn’t loud or extravagant. Our copies were short and entertaining enabling us to maintain high frequency ensuring that our message cut through the Ramadan clutter.
Our videos reached 70% of our total target audience on Facebook during Ramadan with a high view and completion rates of 28% and 22.6% respectively.
Lead Media Agency
Initiative MENA
Media Owner
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube & Shahid
Other Credits
