Capitec Bank Launches Winning Concept
Daniel Neville
If you have not seen the announcement yet last week Thursday Capitec Bank announced the winner of their recent brief that was looking for a print and online banner ad concept that would help celebrate their inclusion in the Credit Suisse 'Great brands of tomorrow' report. It was a hugely exciting brief and with over 600 Ideas submitted picking a winner was not easy, but pick a winner they did (Click here to read the full winners announcement) Not only did Capitec Bank choose their winner in record time but they also managed to the final concept into their design studio and out to the printers in record time. As a result the print ads ran for the first time this weekend in national and regional South African newspapers. So for those of you who dont live in South Africa here is the winning concept and what it looked like:
Comments
I agree with Tony above. Technically the ad isn't on brief. The idea is also so much nicer than the execution which design wise looks like it's been butchered, bad typesetting - left aligned and right aligned all over the place, irregular line lengths and very inconsistent punctuation - no caps, then caps in the body copy, no punctuation, then punctuation in the body copy. The final ad is a mess.
Hi Andy & Toy
Thanks for your comments.... awesome to have you chip in!
I hear some of the points you have made although personally I can see how the Idea does meet the brief on all four points, even if it does not meet each one 100%.
I think the two where it is the most hazy are the first two - having said that reading the body copy gives a clear idea of what the report is and what is means to be included but using other brand names (apple, Amazon etc)
What won this Idea the Bounty was the way it used Capitec Banks only account offering in a very cleaver way in the copy - the account is called the Global One and Capitec is the only African brand to make it onto the list globally - so I can see where the Capitec Bank brand teams thinking was going.
I have actually just posted a few words from Charl Nel Capitec Banks brand custodian here if you are interested: http://www.ideabounty.com/blog/post/2562/a-few-words-from-capitec-bank
As for the design - I cant comment on that as Im not a pro designer at all!
Thanks again for your comments, awesome to hear your opinions!
Daniel
1. Congrats to the winner. Personally, I think it's on brief - they just chose to place a different emphasis to some of (and probably a more creative one).
2. Kudos to the client too, for choosing this ideabounty. It's a pretty daring thing to do and they should get some respect for that. I hope they do it again.
3. The comments about how many of the entries fell into one of 5 categories was very illuminating, and I was gutted therefore to discover how unoriginal I was, dammit.
4. The idea is WAY stronger than the finished article though.
Hi Adrian,
Thanks for the comments!
I would have to second your Kudos to Capitec bank for posting the brief - I think its so refreshing to see a bank (not an industry that is know for trying new things) doing something so different , but then again Capitec Bank are not your average bank.
Im also glad you found Charls comments useful - It just highlights the fact that feedback like this is the best thing in the world and we will be doing more of this kind of thing with all of our future briefs.
Thanks for your contributions, both Ideas and comments - looking forward to seeing you around for the next brief!
Daniel
Let me be honest. The "execution" of this idea is a hyena's breakfast.
It isn't eye-catching, it's verbose, it includes a product that wasn't mentioned in the original brief and excludes details that were.
This seems extraordinary to me. You want to stand out but instead you choose to lose your product, the message and the whole of Africa in this muddled execution. It is a real missed opportunity.
Judgement is a very subjective thing but I can't help thinking that if Capitec had shown the execution and the idea to a gathering of art students or the general public - not one would have chosen the execution.
Unbelievable.
Daniel - you owe it to the participants on this site to make sure that the brief is the brief is the brief.
Hi E, Hart
Thanks for your comments,
I cant disagree with your personal opinion of the execution - design is after all subjective but I would have to disagree with some of the points you make.
The execution does contain more copy than the Ideas but if you look closely this is because all the information required in the brief is contained in the ad. The execution revolves around Capitec Bank being the ONE brand in Africa to make the report and uses a reference to the banks one product the 'Global One' to drive this home. What the Credit Suisse report is, is emphasised by the inclusion of other brands that made the list and at the same time helps drive home the gravity of being included.
I do agree that the 'African' connotations are not as strong as they could be and it is not the most eye catching ad out there. Although I have to point out that the Global One account/facility was included in the brief, -
"Capitec Bank’s innovative Global One facility proves that there is a real alternative to South Africa's traditional boring four banks when it comes to financial products and services. This single banking facility offers a range of transacting, saving and credit options which are all accessed using a paperless, card-driven process in real time."
What swung this Ideas as the winner was the fact that all the info in the brief is communicated and it bought in a clever reference to the brands flagship product. If you are interested in how this process went there are some comments from Charl Nel who is the Capitec Bank brand custodian here:
http://www.ideabounty.com/blog/post/2562/a-few-words-from-capitec-bank
This was a very tough brief and the turn around time from brief going live to the ad running was two weeks which is incredible if you ask me - I do agree that the execution is not the best designed ad out there but the concept behind it is solid and clever.
Thank you very much for your comments though - It is awesome to get feedback and I will keep your suggestions in mind for the next brief. I am also aware that there is a need for a more robust feedback system on Idea Bounty. We are in the process of implementing these changes at the moment.
Thanks again for the comments and support.
Daniel
Daniel
Thanks for your comments.
I think the site works well and it was good to see the result and get the rationale for the winning execution.
Personally, I like the idea of a quick turn around because it encourages a sense of urgency among respondents and reinforces the value of this medium to the client.
Ed
I'm surprised there have been so few comments on the abominable advert produced by Capitec
Perhaps most of you out there are still dumbfounded?
I'm not an art director or designer myself but I hearti9ly agree with all the criticism
levelled at this apparently 'junior rubbbish'... I think a Grade 1 art5 student could have done a better job at the art direction.
We have a saying in
Ad-land:
"You can't polish a turd, but you can paint it gold!"
I agree with Amud's comment when told he'd won and I thought exactly the same:
"You're shitting me guys!"
Best we raise the standard of judging AND BRIEFING next time:
The fact that EVERYONE except the Gold Award winner actually 'missed the brief' proves the point.The brief sucked!
Hi Greg,
Thanks for you comments - always appreciated!
I cant disagree with you on your personal feelings about the final art direction and execution of the ad - I agree that it is not the best designed ad out there neither is it the most eye catching, but what it does do (and this, at least from the Idea Bounty perspective, is the important thing) is contain a really solid concept and bit of communication that does what the brief requires it to.
You have to remember that the briefs that get posted on Idea Bounty are looking for the Idea and not the final execution - this means that this Idea did not win becuase of what it looked like but becuase of the Idea or concept behind it. Added ot this I must point out that you are wrong in saying that EVERYONE missed the brief, this is definetly not the case. We had over 600 submission and I can garentee you only about 20 of those missed the brief - i.e the Ideas did not tackle the problem at hand.
Infact out of the over 600 Ideas there were 350 that all met the brief and seriously pushed the message and the limis of creativity around how to communicate it. The concept you see above won because it was the only Idea presented that used the Global One (the only account offering from Capitec Bank) as a clever center to the copy and concept of the ad which the team over at Capitec Bank liked.
If you are interested Charl Nel the Capitec Bank brand custodian had some comments about the whole process here: http://www.ideabounty.com/blog/post/2562/a-few-words-from-capitec-bank
One of the things that is very clear to us is that we need to provide you all with more feedback on your submissions - we are currently implementing a system that will allow us to individually feedback to you on each of the Ideas you submit in the future. We hope this will make the process more valuable and better for all of you!
Thanks again for your comments Greg - will be keeping them in mind while making the changes!
Cheers,
Daniel
Thank you for all your comments and insights. They are all appreciated and
taken note of.
The bank is built on non-traditional thinking. If we were to follow
traditional thinking in the way we are building the bank or the brand or any
other section of our business we will just become another traditional bank.
This is not what we want – for obvious reasons if you only look at what the
banking industry offered clients for so many years.
I realise that it is not the norm to have such an open process about a
brief, how we decide on the winning choice and the execution of that brief.
But this is the beauty of the process and the insights that come along with
taking this non-traditional approach. It was of great value to us.
I also realise that this non-traditional Idea Bounty approach threaten the
way things have always been done in the industry and that it will be met
with some resistance. This openness may even be abused to force brands to use the
traditional approach. As mentioned, traditional thinking does not form part
of our DNA and that is where our success in the market lies.
I trust that this interesting debate has stimulated everyone in the Idea
Bounty community to even bring deeper insights to the table when we do our
next Idea Bounty brief and use the crowd-sourcing method to get great
insights from across the globe.
Until next time.
Charl
I like the ad! I prefer the first execution though!
this is a joke! it's totally embarrassing what Capitec did, imagine what they will do to your money
@ Jannie
I think that is a highly unfair comment. I agree that the ad is not the most eye catching but to equate that with the way they will deal with your money is just silly. How many brands do you know of that have amazing advertising but crap service? I can think of quite a few off the top of my head.
Im of the opinion that the ad does what the brief required it to do. Added to this the tweeked copy actually adds rather than takes away. Mentioning other brands puts the commendation in context which I think was the most important thing - besides what financial institution can you name that does not have copy heavy ads?
Congratulations to the winner, well deserved! Im going to have to step up my game for the next brief!
Capitec looks unprofessional, it will reflect what you think about what they do, image is perception and perception is reality for the viewer. The marketing director should be fired for this, and doing it in public is even more shocking. More than 600 entries and then Capitec turn it into something really shockingly bad. I think the team did a good job. Capitec on their side did a really bad job. Don’t be so defensive.
advertising wallpaper. The kind of work that gives crowdsourcing a bad name and makes self-respecting creatives want no part of it.
Look at the bright side, at least the ad got printed and published for all to see, which means idea bounty and the client capitec are not bogus. They indeed did select the idea they thought was best and paid the guys whose idea they used. I've been on crowdsourcing sites where i can say for sure, that fake-ids were being awarded and ideas were being taken from unpaid people. No such doubt here on idea bounty, which is a great relief.
Thanks for your comment Karan.
Yes Idea Bounty is real and we do our utmost to make sure our creatives' rights are respected and keep an open line of communication. I hope to see your Idea submission for our new Briefs soon.
Tony Starks on 30/03/2010
Hi Daniel
Capitec Bank claim this ad/concept trumped the other submissions because it told people what the Global One product is all about. This was never the aim of the ad. The objectives (as per your brief on the website) were:
The Objectives:
The objective is to produce one print ad concept and one online banner ad concept that helps spread the word about Capitec Banks inclusion in Credit Suisse “Great Brands of Tomorrow’ report. We are looking for these concepts to focus on the following:
* * What the Credit Suisse “Great Brands of Tomorrow” report is
* * What it means that Capitec Bank has been included in the report
* * Communicate to the world that Capitec Bank IS one of the world’s great brands
* * And if possible thank all the bank’s customers, clients, shareholders and staff for making it possible to be included in the report
This ad/concept might have fulfilled the last 2 - but it certainly didn't do the first 2 objectives, which I would have thought were the most important. The brief seemed to have changed at the last moment if this is the case.
Anyway, that's my two cents worth.