Until recently, banks steered clear of using stars in the arts and entertainment industry as their brand ambassadors.
But now some banks are beginning to see value in employing the services of Ghanaian entertainers are brand ambassadors only after Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) blazed the trail.
The bank broke that jinx with a bang by choosing two Ghanaians stars – multiple awarding-winning hip-hop and hiplife artiste Sarkodie and screen diva Joselyn Dumas as brand ambassadors.
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Until then, the use of entertainers as brand ambassadors remained with telcos, smartphone dealers and players in the cosmetic, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, food, electronics and industries, while banks stuck with suit-wearing, corporate-looking persons with low public appeal.
The banks probably felt too corporate, prestigious and elitist to use entertainers to appeal to the middle to upper class of the society, who were their main target market.
The irony of it is that the very big companies and elite class the banks targeted as clients were the very companies and business leaders that use entertainers as brand ambassadors.
One bank had to disrupt the status quo and blaze the trail, and that was SCB, which is one of the oldest and elitist banks in Ghana.
Now two other banks have followed suit – Absa Bank (formerly Barclays Bank) has employed the services of another screen diva, Berla Mundi, while FNB Bank has also signed on multiple award-winning and longest-lasting dancehall artiste Samini as representative of the brand.
Joselyn Dumas
Joselyn Dumas thinks entertainer bridge the gap between the elite and the average
Joselyn Dumas, one of the brand ambassadors for SCB told Techgh24 that the decision by SCB to choose entertainers as brand ambassadors is a smart one because “myself and Sarkodie have bridged the gap between the elite and average Ghanaian.”
She explained that prior to their appointment, many average Ghanaians saw SCB as some prestigious and elitist bank that had no place for people like them, but “now we have gotten many of those people to open accounts with the bank and now others also aspire to reach that level.”
Joselyn Dumas said there was a time when some of the elite banks would never open an account for anyone who did not have at least GHC5,000 as an initial deposit, but now they allow deposit-free accounts.
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