Sterling Bank empowers ride-hailing drivers in Nigeria

Using an ingenious campaign, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, Africa’s top lender bank, Sterling Bank, has empowered and created a new stream of income for local drivers of ride-hailing services in the Nigerian market.

The campaign saw the disruptive bank, which keeps upsetting the status quo use branded ride-hailing cabs as out-of-home media to announce its refreshed brand identity.

Applauding the move, regular Taxify rider, Adeola Adejokun, said: “I woke up to the sight of saloon cars on the mainland wearing Sterling Bank’s new logo. It did not click until I requested a ride and one wearing the proud colours of Sterling showed. Behind the wheels was an elated driver full of praise for Sterling Bank for improving his bank account balance at the point in time when his rent was due, in addition to his children’s school fees. The driver declared that he would not have risked the desert route to Europe if the type of opportunities being created by Uber, Taxify, and Sterling Bank were available some 10 years ago.” He called the new income his New Year gift from Sterling.

Adejokun added that the bank’s decision to partner with local drivers is commendable because it delivers direct economic benefit to a striving socio-economic class.

On his part, Brand Analyst, Adewale Okoya, said: “We should watch out for Sterling, the bank is onto something. It is one of the few brands that is true to its ethos of enriching lives. There is no better testament to this than its array of market disruptive offerings introduced in the last few months that is changing the way people invest in treasury bills, secure consumer loans and pay transport fares. I am particularly delighted by the new income stream created for drivers at Taxify and Uber by this unconventional bank. It is direct economic empowerment of individuals who are striving to make ends meet. At least these drivers have a reason to smile this January.”

Okoya noted that the numbers will continue to add up for Sterling in terms of profitability given its strategic approach to brand communication, especially its clinically executed rebranding exercise.

“Departing from the norm, Sterling effectively deployed taxi advertising, a premium out-of-home advertising format, to present its refreshed brand to Nigerians. The bank’s new corporate logo has become easily recognizable in just a few days because it has been taken round the entire Lagos metropolis by corporate taxis. I have sighted the logos on corporate taxis at the hottest spots in town such as commercial areas, airports, hotels, nightclubs, worship centres and the city centre.”

Apart from enjoying recall by reaching a concentrated and varied audience in the busiest parts of Lagos on a daily basis, Sterling’s brand refresh also plucked the heartstrings of digital natives in Nigeria and the Diaspora. The bank has been the subject of positive trending conversations online for days. Industry watchers have been applauding Sterling in the last 12 months for delivering high impact campaigns at the best cost possible given its consistent radical approach.