by Herman Manson (@marklives) Sanlam, the listed South African financial services group, has announced a brand refresh and updated positioning. The group will sport a refreshed logo and a new payoff line, as well as a new brand architecture and communication aimed at a younger audience, according to Yegs Ramiah, chief executive of Sanlam Brand.
Ramiah says that the Sanlam brand has been lagging behind the business strategy as the group becomes increasingly global and becomes an integrated financial services firm moving beyond its life insurer roots. The group currently employs 12 000 people and manages more than R722 billion in assets.
Keeps its famous ‘protective hands’
The corporate logo has been updated to give it a more contemporary look but keeps its famous ‘protective hands’ (introduced in 1973) in place.
A simplified brand architecture will assist in building a monolithic brand identity and simplify the offer to consumers, says Ramiah. The group will aim to do away with sub-brands (Santam, which is majority-owned by Sanlam, isn’t affected), and is negotiating collapsing existing sub-brands under the flagship brand.
Ramiah says the brand architecture is constructed around five expertise fields, namely: insurance, financial planning, investments, retirement and wealth. Doing away with various sub-brands will assist clients to “navigate the business and allow us to demonstrate the breadth of the group’s offering.” It should also strengthen the positioning of the flagship brand as a diversified financial services group.
“Wealthsmiths”
The new payoff line is “Wealthsmiths” which replaces “Thinking ahead”. Ramiah says the previous one didn’t sufficiently differentiate the brand any more. “Wealthsmiths” encapsulates how the group does business and not just what it is selling. It focuses on how the organisation approaches its business, and is also creatively interesting.
A number of payoff lines were under consideration but they could all collapse under Wealthsmiths with some ease — which made it the winner.
Focus groups testing the Sanlam brand viewed it as engendering trust but, on the downside, viewed it as conservative. The new positioning hopes to speak to a younger audience and is meant to feel fresh and modern.
Group’s heritage
Ramiah acknowledges that the brand’s conservative image might in part stem from the group’s heritage. Sanlam was founded in 1918 as The Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Lewens Assuransie Maatskappij Beperk (The South African National Life Assurance Company Limited) and played an important role in mobilising “capital for the development of Afrikaner businesses” (as its website puts it).
That said, Ramiah is positive about the group’s Afrikaner heritage, saying it was a positive, instilling a culture of empowerment that also bore fruit after 1993, realising more than R15 billion for black economic empowerment (BEE) to date.
Ramiah says the new brand roll-out will be staggered, with a number of high-impact locations being the first to be fitted with the refreshed brand collateral. Branches and regions will follow — a purely pragmatic move from a pragmatic organisation, she says.
Appeal to a younger generation
Brand communication will talk to South Africans in a real and reassuring way going forward. It will appeal to a younger generation without alienating existing clients, Ramiah promises.
Sanlam gave the responsibility of developing the brand refresh to King James Group. A new television commercial which fully captures the new brand will be flighted on 15 June.
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