MVBB, Firstbank’s reward for doggedness in building a global brand —Folake Ani-Mumuney

In this interview, Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, First Bank of Nigeria, Folake Ani-Mumuney, relishes the bank’s recent feat, the Most Valuable Banking Brand Award, highlighting some of  the factors that strategies that helped the financial institution clinched the award for the sixth time in a row. Excerpts.

WHAT was is it like the first time the Bank was named the Most Valuable Banking Brand?

At the early years of the award, our focus was more in keeping the brand name out for the benefit of awareness and for the thrill of being in the company of global brands. For us, playing in the league of the world’s best banking brands was more important and enough recognition. However, after the first win, the yearning to maintain the winning tempo kept us on our toes and helped push us further to sustain the trend. We were always in high spirits as we deliberately set higher standards for the entire team year-on-year in terms of our overall service delivery, our designs, communication style and collaterals as well as the ambience of our touch points and the brand experience enjoyed by our customers at these touch-points.. It was difficult not to hope to win, while deep down knowing competitors are equally doing everything possible to beat the first.

For the sixth time in a row, FirstBank has been ranked as the Number 1 Banking Brand in Nigeria by The Banker Magazine of Financial Times and Brand Finance. What does this mean for the bank and its customers?

We are extremely excited to have been named the Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria six consecutive times. For us, this is a reward for our doggedness and resilience in building a global brand that is widely respected, in spite of the challenging and turbulent economic situation that has seen many supposedly sturdy businesses buckle under the pressure. The Banker Awards from the Financial Times of London is coveted globally and retaining this award is an international endorsement that FirstBank is doing things right. We especially acknowledge the role played by our customers and other stakeholders in achieving this milestone and we thank them for their patronage as they are indeed the reason we have remained the most valuable bank brand in Nigeria. Therefore, we remain committed to putting our customers first and delivering the gold standard of banking service across every customer touch point.

Your bank has been able to retain the number one ranking when it comes to brand value for the sixth time, how has it been able to achieve this despite the nation’s challenging macroeconomic environment?

As a brand that has been in existence for over 120 years, we have always been at the forefront of every development the country has passed through and despite the current economic slowdown we have not relented in our commitment to supporting businesses across sectors and our individual customers in building sustainable business enterprises and advancing in personal financial management. Investments and interventions by our bank, and indeed the Group, in the pivotal sectors were well-thought out and in the right direction. Besides, despite working with a very lean budget last year, we are still able to maintain the leading position and remain Nigeria’s most valuable banking brand as a result of the cumulative assets and the intangible heritage of the brand FirstBank. We are very delighted that our hard work with innovation and creativity has paid off and been recognized so wonderfully.

In the past three years, FirstBank maintained a brand value of over $300m, while your competitors are yet to come close. What  would you say the bank is doing  differently to maintain this?

We have consistently led in brand value among Nigerian banks since 2011, moving from a brand value of $170m to $322m dollars in 2015. In spite of the global economic headwinds which took its toll on the industry in 2016, we have been able to keep our brand value at over $300m consistently leading our industry in delivering value to our stakeholders. FirstBank has been in business for over 120 years and has played a very pivotal role in nation building and the development of the national and regional economy through its primary role of financial intermediation, projects financing and employment creation through entrepreneurship support as well as its extensive corporate responsibility and sustainability programmes. With over 10 million customers and 750 business outlets in Nigeria alone, FirstBank has proven to be the most connected banking brand to a wide array of customers, supporting both SMEs and large corporates across the country and beyond. In sub-Saharan Africa, we have subsidiaries in Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our business policy is hinged on a developmental and nation building paradigm. Our strong footprint across the nation, and increasingly across the continent, enables us impact individuals, businesses, communities, public institutions and governments significantly. All these cumulatively combine to building the FirstBank brand value year on year.

Some would readily attribute some of these feats to the bank’s commitment to cause-marketing and strategic management, how far would you agree with this?

FirstBank is keen on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability and we are committed to positively impacting the lives of our customers, other stakeholders and the society at large in a sustainable manner. We have collaborated with several non-profit organisations to build partnerships that deliver long term value to our society. One of such is the bank’s partnership with the Lagos Business School to establish the FirstBank Sustainability Centre, contributing to knowledge in the sustainability sector. The centre has hosted the International Sustainability Conference to stimulate sustainability principles in business management; Sustainability Workshops for NGOs to create an enabling platform for NGOs in recognition of their emerging roles in contemporary society; and workshops for women-led SMEs to equip women for enterprise development with sustainable growth strategies. The bank has also partnered with known and recognised names in different sectors of the economy, most importantly in the Arts through our First@arts platform and this has yielded incredible feedback and goodwill and earned the FirstBank a pride of place among the leading brands in the country. Our partnerships with the British Council and Freedom Park have seen us supporting a large number of arts practitioners and aficionados whilst reviving the culture of family fun time and the business side of the arts. These initiatives are some of the FirstBank partnerships which certainly contributed in one way or the other in our emergence as a global brand and Nigeria’s most valuable bank brand for the sixth year in a row.

How did it feel when you found out you have won the award yet again for the sixth time?

It was a mix of excitement, relief and a general sense of accomplishment. This was premised on the fact that last year was a tough year for the banking Industry and an extremely tough year for the team as our annual marketing budget took a hit and we were outspent by competitors and hampered by the contracted budget in competing favourably with our peers in some strategic initiatives and marketing campaigns. But here we are today, having maintained our grip as the most valuable bank brand in Nigeria is such an awesome feat and we are extremely excited and literally can’t just keep calm. I am most thankful to my team for their contribution in building the brand, and indeed we have the entire FirstBank team to thank for their resolute commitment to the bank’s business in the last financial year.

Besides the recent award, what other milestones would you say the bank had recorded in the last one year?

Interestingly, despite the economic turbulence of 2016, it was still an eventful year for the bank as we hit a number of milestones. In 2016, FirstBank clinched the “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” award by The Asian Banker for the fifth consecutive time; we were recognised by Interswitch as the first financial institution in the country to achieve sustained transaction volumes of 100 million transactions twice in one year; our mobile banking platform –FirstMobile – recorded a milestone in its user numbers with the attainment of one million active users and also reached N1.3trillion transactions mark in its short period of launch. FirstBank also became the first financial institution in Nigeria to achieve the latest version of ISO quality standards: the Quality Management Systems certification ISO 9001:2015 from the International Standards Organisation (ISO). The certification is proof of the bank’s demonstrated ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer needs as well as applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

After this sixth win in a row, what is next?

For us at FirstBank, the sky is no longer the limit, but a stepping stone. We are not going to rest on our oars, but will take the awards and various accolades as a challenge to continuously meet and exceed our stakeholders’ expectations by putting them at the heart of our business in line with our brand promise of ‘You First’. We would continue to lead innovative drive in the development of banking products, services and initiatives as well as strive to maintain the highest standards of performance expected of a global brand that is ahead of the pack with outstanding people, infectious passion and sustainable partnerships.