UBA & UBA Prestige Corporate Identity and Retail Environment

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In the past the Nigerian banking system was unregulated and not well regarded as an industry. In 2004, the Governor of the Reserve Bank passed legislation that upped the capital adequacy level for banks. This meant that banks needed to have a specified amount of capital available in order to operate. This new law forced banks to merge so that they could reach the level of adequacy. Today the sector is more stable and able to deliver services. UBA was formed from the merger of United Bank of Africa and Standard Trust Bank.

The Brand Union assisted UBA to create a brand positioning which leveraged the brand equity of both merging entities into the powerful brand which UBA enjoys today. Visually the new identity captures the pioneering spirit of STB, as well as the great heritage and trust of the old UBA.

Part of UBA’s strategy was to be a broad based bank that caters to all market segments, therefore they created an offering for the more affluent market, namely UBA prestige.

Our main brief was to create a sufficiently distinct brand to avoid confusion between the regular UBA branches; we did so and successfully developed the corporate identity, banking collateral, retail solutions and signage system for the retail environment.

 

UBA needed to appeal to a broad market set. They needed to be approachable and friendly, yet retain their strength and safety cues. Our philosophy for UBA was to create market awareness and recognition through their bold design and dominance of the colour red.

UBA Prestige needed to draw attention from the mass affluent market and posses a design which links strongly to the motherbrand with a more exclusive element, namely the strong focus on the colour black. It still however needed to retain the cues of safety, security and the large market footprint of UBA but also provide a superior service specially designed for UBA Prestige branches.
 

Today, UBA is one of the most dynamic banks in Nigeria and is actively expanding its footprint across Africa with the intention of becoming Pan African.