CEO, Keystone Bank,    Oti Ikomi

Raheem Akingbolu writes on the new campaign rolled out by Keystone Bank with the theme ‘Never Say Never’, and concludes that it would strengthen the bond between the brand and its patrons

Keystone Bank and its new creative agency, Centrespread FCB, have taken a fresh step towards creating a new aura around the brand.
Its new campaign tagged ‘Never Say Never’ which started being aired on some television stations and newspapers on Monday, June 18, is a promise to customers and commitment by the organisation.

When the bank was created last year alongside two other nationalised banks, critics; especially from the marketing communication industry, had faulted the communication process, which heralded the new banks.

Among other things, observers argued that there was no proper build-up and clear-cut strategy from the Central Bank of Nigeria to establish a good relationship between the nationalised banks and the banking public. All these notwithstanding, the new players had forged ahead, assuring consumers of the plan to offer unique services.

Barely a year after the exercise, Keystone Bank has not only kept to that promise but has proved through innovation that its newness is nothing but a mark of freshness and better service offering.

While unveiling the ‘Never Say Never’ campaign recently in Lagos, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Oti Ikomi, assured customers that the bank was rededicating its commitment to its patrons. He also disclosed that the new campaign was meant to refresh the brand.

Considering the fact that advertising has always played a major role in brand building, the new initiative, which tends to reawaken all stakeholders in the bank, may be the opportunity needed to shore up the profile of the brand and increase its equity. 
Synopsis of ‘Never Say Never’

The Keystone new campaign is a story to inspire all stakeholders of the bank and Nigerians in general that the bank can still break into new horizons if they dare not give up.

Bearing in mind, the gloomy socioeconomic landscapes Nigeria is witnessing as at the moment, the campaign says that banks can only be relevant to people by inspiring them never to give up on their dreams.

Speaking on the theme and its relevance to the history of the bank, the Creative Director of CentrespreadFCB, Mr. Kenny Badmus, said it was conceived to let the banking public know that the bank is never tired to give consumers the best.

Giving insight into the campaign, he said, “The television commercial is a journey of a mountaineer who keeps climbing a mountain that seems impossible to surmount. In the end, we discover that the mountain he is climbing is actually a financial graph of the Keystone.”

Speaking further, Badmus stated that the commercial is a brilliant execution of a modern story, adding that it’s a wider screen ready with emotional music and world-class production.

Badmus disclosed that the print version of the ads look into human history and share the stories of great people who didn’t give up on their dreams.

He said; “For instance, consider Einstein who was declared a disabled child by doctors and teachers and later went to become the icon of brilliance in history because he pushed ahead. What about Queen Amina? What about Jaja of Opobo?”

Earlier, CEO of the bank, Mr. Oti Ikomi, stated that “it’s so easy for people to get negative or stop halfway”, adding that, at Keystone bank, the management never says never.

According to him, “That’s the spirit of our people and we can share this story. Look at the history of the bank, especially the fears raised by many but today, we are promoting staff. We are gaining new customers in all sectors and we are getting into new locations. We are powering more businesses. Because we don’t just see the cups half empty, we see them half full”.

“People are still building new homes and they are still building new businesses. People are still sending children to schools and many others are still travelling for their dream vacations. These are Keystone people,” the CEO said.

The Managing Director further explained that in the last 10 months since the bank has existed, a lot of strategies have been embarked upon to reposition the bank.

Other Strategies
In keeping with its promise of rewarding hard work and excellence, the management of Keystone Bank recently promoted 995 staff of the bank.

The promotion exercise, which is the first by the bank since it commenced operations, was said to be the culmination of the 2011 year-end appraisal exercise and a furtherance of the bank’s ‘Let’s Rebuild’ initiative, which it adopted for 2012.

Announcing the promotions, the managing director, Oti Ikomi, said, “The bank will continue to drive a culture of meritocracy and reward deserving staff”, stating that “only staff eligible for promotion were recommended”.

Ikomi stated further that “to ensure that the bank upheld a promotion exercise that was transparent, fair and of equity, supervisors alongside management and executive committee of the bank-held calibration meetings to determine the top performers to be promoted.”

In a related development, the bank recently partnered Kwara and Bayelsa States to booster development in the two states. The bank expressed readiness to partner the Kwara State Government on the achievement of the state’s programme of shared prosperity.
Its chief executive officer (CEO) gave the commitment during a visit to the state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, in Ilorin.

A statement made available to journalists after the visit quoted the CEO, Mr. Oti Ikomi, as saying that the bank had set aside N1bn bridge finance portfolio, N500 million for youth empowerment programme and N250 million for car loan facility for civil servants in the state.

Ikomi added that Keystone Bank was ready to partner the state government on the provision of infrastructure in health, education and other sectors. In the case of Bayelsa, Keystone Bank is set to partner the government on f investment activities.

Like in Kwara, Ikomi, outlined the bank’s partnership initiative to Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, during a business call at the State House, Yenagoa.

Ikomi, noted while, delivering his speech that “Bayelsa State has enormous tourism potentials that should be harnessed and developed to create the needed impetus that will attract investors to the state.

“We, at Keystone Bank, are ready to partner with the state government to create the enabling environment for tourism in the state, because of the huge potentials inherent in a move towards that direction, which would see it attract large crowds of tourists.

“We are sure that by providing infrastructural finance in the areas of power supply, building the hospitality business and construction of roads, will no doubt propel investors to come to the state in droves,” he added.

Journey so far
Keystone Bank was created on August 5, 2011 as an insured, full service commercial bank, wholly owned by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

With a strong focus on commercial and retail banking, the aim of the bank after repositioning and enhancing its values, was to attract more customers and grow market share.

In line with the vision of the bank, which is to set the pace in financial service delivery and create value for stakeholders, its management has been able to deliver superior performance predicated on service excellence and proactive customer engagement.

With its involvement in partnership, overhauling processes and sponsorship, the bank seems to have set a new goal, which is aimed at covering more grounds and winning more patrons to increase market share.