More bang for the bank not to buck local brand

The Absa name is staying. For now, at least.

"No decision has been taken yet," said David Wingfield, head of marketing at Barclays Africa Group.

British financial giant Barclays acquired a majority stake in Absa a decade ago but chose to retain the Absa branding.

Vodafone did the same when it took control of Vodacom in 2009, deciding not to meddle with a strong and well-known brand that is familiar to consumers.

But last year the South African bank changed its listed name on the JSE to Barclays Africa Group. And just about all its advertisements identify Absa as "a member of the Barclays Group".

This year it was announced that Absa would also end its long-running partnership with popular television sing-along game show Noot vir Noot.

The show played a part in the bank's last major rebranding exercise.

Absa was formed when Volkskas, Trustbank, and the Allied and United building societies merged in 1991.

Brand equity had to be built after the merger, said Wingfield.

Originally sponsored by Volkskas, Noot vir Noot immediately started plugging the Absa brand.

Host Johan Stemmet - he of the loud waistcoats - said " met die komplemente van Absa " so often that the customers soon forgot that the name was an acronym of Amalgamated Banks of South Africa.

But changing the name to Barclays now won't be done "just to have everything line up", said Wingfield.

"You have to ask yourself whether it would significantly change the competitive landscape.

"You have to base it on what your customers want."

And customers can change -Noot vir Noot's viewers are part of a mostly Afrikaans, older demographic.

Most of them could be reached just as easily by putting the word "Absa" on the front of a Springbok rugby jersey.