Standard Bank felt the need to deepen its roots in Angolan culture, showing that it is attentive and respects and embraces local traditions and customs. In this sense, all roads led us to the Sobas, leaders of local communities, to listen and share “The voice of experience.”
Standard Bank: A voz da experiência
Client.
Standard Bank
Bringing purpose to businesses.
Advertising.
Brand Strategy & Positioning.
Film & Motion.
Banking & Financial Services.
A tribute to the Sobas and their ancestral knowledge as a basis for the future.
Challenge.
Present in several African countries, Standard Bank is the largest and oldest bank in the continent. Despite being in the Angolan market for several years, the bank felt the need to affirm its connection to the country and its culture.
In this context, Standard Bank Angola challenged us to create a campaign to bring the bank closer to Angolans and demonstrate that they share the same values.
Concept.
To find a comparison that would demonstrate the bank's knowledge and its respect for Angolan society and the Angolan market, we immersed ourselves in the heart of a country where tradition meets the future.
This way, we created a documentary that shows a glimpse into the heart of Angola and its ancestral community leaders, the Sobas. They guide the community's life, using their experience and knowledge passed down through generations.
With the slogan “Listen to the voice of experience”, this campaign associated the values of these central figures in Angolan society with Standard Bank’s core values of Standard Bank: a bank that is over 150 years old, present in more than 20 countries and a leader on the African continent.
Over 4,000 kilometres were covered during 5 days of casting and 8 days of filming in three Angolan provinces (Kwanza Sul, Malange and Luanda). This resulted in a ten-minute documentary, a four-minute version and TV spots that act as trailers for this content. They premiered in Talatona at a special media session.
“We chose the Sobas because they are symbols that Angola is proud of. It makes sense to praise them and make them known to the younger generations because few know about the stories of these authority figures since they live very far away, some of them in the provinces. Standard Bank has taken on this task and will introduce the younger generations to the role that the Sobas play in the community.” — Carolina Vasconcelos, Directora de Marketing e Comunicação do Standard Bank.
Impact.
After this campaign, Standard Bank came to be perceived as a brand with a strong local character. Although almost all African countries adopt Standard Bank's international communication, in Angola, its identity continues to be worked on locally, demonstrating the unique differentiation that Born has achieved for this client. Shortlisted at Estevena - Loeries Africa and Middle East (SA), it was the Most Commented Ad and the Most Liked Ad in Ads of the World (USA).
“Standard Bank has deep roots in Africa, and the challenge was to produce something that - besides being innovative - conveyed this reality to the market. We had enormous production challenges, and we couldn't be happier: we created this campaign using 100% Angolan resources, demonstrating the maturity of the Angolan market in the advertising and audiovisual production sectors.” — Duarte Vilaça, Born CCO
+ 4,000 km travelled
+ 280 News mentions in various media
1 Gold and 1 Bronze - Meios e Publicidade Creativity Awards
1 Silver - Clube de Criativos de Portugal Festival
1 Silver - Lusófonos Creativity Awards