FNB campaign encourages South Africans to 'Un-Steve' themselves

It is founded on the brand equity gained from the previous campaign in the form of the character as well as the term 'Beep Bank'. In 2011, FNB introduced consumers to 'Steve', an endearing and well meaning, but sometimes naïve, call centre agent working for Beep bank, who unsuccessfully attempted to switch FNB customers.

Character evolution

What is different this time is that Steve has evolved from being a character to representing the attitudes and behaviours displayed by people who believe that all banks are the same and are apathetic towards banks.

"We have always been aware of the value that the Steve character, alongside 'Beep Bank', as distinctive assets in our advertising arsenal, with high familiarity, recognition and recall associated with the brand," says Bernice Samuels FNB Chief Marketing Officer. "Steve became known as something of an anti-hero and, whether people loved to love him or loved to hate him, consumers all over South Africa definitely got to know and remember him."

The latest concept, expounds consumers to 'un-Steve' themselves by switching to FNB, as well as encouraging existing FNB customers to make sure they are experiencing the full benefit of FNB's value proposition.

This campaign prompts individuals and businesses to pause and reflect on the true value they may be missing by not optimising on the value they could receive from their banks.

"While the 'un-Steve' campaign takes a light-hearted and often humorous approach, the message it delivers is hard-hitting and designed to make South African banking customers take a serious look at whether they are truly getting the banking experience they deserve," concludes Samuels.