KCB Group has been named the winner of Africa’s premier social and digital media award, a recognition for the lender’s effort in the use of social media to communicate to its clients.
The Social Media Africa Awards gala held on Saturday in Lagos brought together players in the banking industry, with KCB scooping the award for “Best Use of Social Media by a Financial Institution in Africa.” “Social media has grown from being a mere digital channel for “socializing” to one of the most powerful digital marketing tools for products and brands. It has also proven to be a very cost-effective way of communicating to a global audience,” said KCB Group CEO Joshua Oigara.
The company has been in aggressive social media campaign since it began its social media journey in 2010, in a bid to reach out to all customers and woo new ones in the six African countries it operates from. It has over 57,000 followers on Twitter and its Facebook page enjoys at least 264,270 likes.
“Social and digital media caters for wide demographics regardless of sex, age, and social status. With majority of global internet users aged between 18 to 29 years, we are able to reach a big market for this age range and this win is a living endorsement that our investment and strategy is moving in the right direction,” Mr Oigara noted.
Other finalists in the category were Safaricom Limited, Guarantee Trust Bank-Nigeria, Access Bank- Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC-Nigeria, Zenith Bank-Nigeria, Diamond Bank-Nigeria, Standard Bank-South Africa, Finance Trust-Uganda and Fidelity Bank-Ghana.
The judges used were drawn from a Virtual Council and Jury consisting of specialized and related professionals and a second phase involving online public voting on the Social Media Awards Africa website. The awards are meant to appreciate the use of social and digital media as a means of mobilization and awareness sub-platform for deepening access to and enhancing the use of social media and to facilitate the clear-cut awareness about its positive impact.
Last year, KCB Group was named the best bank in Kenya at the 2014 Euromoney Awards in London, England. The UK-based financial magazine, EuroMoney Awards, honours firms with extensive global capabilities, depth of investment products, as well as dedication to developing and providing innovative products and solutions that ensure customer satisfaction.
Similarly, the bank was named the winner in four categories; namely Best Bank in Agency Banking; Best SME Bank; Best Asset Finance and Best Recovery Bank which went to its subsidiary business, KCB Bank Uganda during the inaugural East Africa Banking Awards 2014 Gala Dinner at the Safari Part Hotel organized by Think Business.
