As Stanbic IBTC celebrates 30 years of providing quality financial solutions to clients and Nigerians, ADEBOLA, ADEBAYO takes a look at a typical engagement by the brand with its stakeholders and how such thoughtful events allied with quality services have helped to position the brand as the leading end-to-end financial services organisation today.
Looking across the hall, as the stage play unfolds; one could tell the audience was thoroughly having fun. You could hear the occasional chuckle in response to particular funny scenes, and there were many arms raised in the selfie posture as many took pictures of scenes they liked. The Chinese clients were particularly excited by the stage play; many of them clapped intermittently, some took pictures, and some others kept pointing towards the stage as they talked animatedly among themselves. It was a fun-filled night, no doubt.
The event was the 2018 Stanbic IBTC Client Appreciation Dinner held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. And performing was Bolanle Austen-Peters troupe, which brilliantly re-enacted the 12th Century exploits of one of the greatest folk heroines in African, nay Nigerian, history, Moremi Ajasoro. It was a musical rendition of the compelling story of the incessant attacks on Ile-Ife and the people’s enslavement by a neighbouring community called the Forest tribe, and how a courageous woman, Princess Moremi, sacrificially confronted the relentless invaders of her community, and helped destroyed them. It was a riveting performance that was well appreciated by the audience.
The entirety of the event underscored Stanbic IBTC’s much-talked about Africanness and support for arts. Starting from the passageway leading into the event hall to the hall décor, the attire worn by the ushers, and then the musical play, it was clear Stanbic IBTC had made deliberate efforts to proudly proclaim its Nigerian/African roots. Guests were welcomed at the entrance to the passageway leading to the event hall by beautifully attired ladies in blue aso oke. Adorning the walls on both sides of the passageway as one proceeds to the hall were framed artworks produced by children. The hall itself was decorated in blue patterned ankara with clay pots on stands on each table.
Indeed, Stanbic IBTC Group’s involvement with arts, through the Standard Bank Group, dates back several decades. According to Stanbic IBTC, the involvement is driven by a goal to nurture and promote the development of the various art strands in Africa. “Our support and collaboration with the arts community is designed to attain several outcomes, notable among which are to inspire creativity and innovation; drive economic development; and create the background for the existence of a diverse group of people whose skills and expertise are instrumental in moving society forward,” Stanbic IBTC had said of its involvement.
Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Yinka Sanni, set the tone for the evening when he welcomed those present and thanked them for their patronage in 2018. He also talked about Stanbic IBTC’s support for the arts, in its various forms. He particularly highlighted the company’s support for arts and nurturing of budding artists. According to Sanni, the artworks displayed on the passageway were those of pupils of Lagos Progressive School, Surulere, the financial institution’s adopted school.
Business and the arts are congruent, undoubtedly. A vibrant arts community needs business to flourish; while arts are also good for business. Stanbic IBTC says arts provide a canvass for both business engagement and social interaction. This belief underlines its yearly evening of fine arts and the acts, the encouragement of young artists and the stage play it yearly regale its clients with at its year-end dinner events. “This eclectic mix is reflective of our history. As Africa’s largest bank with operations in 20 African countries, our activities have naturally reflected the diversity of our business,” Stanbic IBTC said.
Also reflective of the Stanbic IBTC brand essence is the heroine of the stage play, Moremi Ajasoro. It is easy to see the correlation between the two. Stanbic IBTC has always prided itself as an equal opportunity employer, one that enables its workforce, male and female, to aspire to the top. Just as Moremi played a prominent and impactful role in her community so do the women at Stanbic IBTC. The brand has an equal mix of male and female staff across all cadre of the business, including the top management.
Moremi Ajasoro is the story of leadership, courage, selflessness, resourcefulness, unwavering commitment and the willingness to embrace opportunity to move society forward. These are all virtues that define the Stanbic IBTC brand. It is single-minded in its promise to help move clients forward as individuals and as businesses, from the cradle to the legacee. Its mobile app, the Appyness app, for instance, underlines the brand’s customer centric approach to service delivery. The app is a highly functional one that enables a customer to transact banking, pensions, mobile money, and mutual funds businesses in one place. As the country looks to strengthen our trade relations with China, one of its biggest trading partners, through a recently signed currency swap deal, Stanbic IBTC has been in the lead in terms of providing a platform for robust engagements between Nigerian and Chinese businesses.
At the time of the Stanbic IBTC dinner, the Moremi stage play was a new production from the stables of Bolanle Austen-Peters Production that was expected to open to the public around the Christmas period. So, the audience at the Stanbic IBTC dinner was the first to see the public performance of the stage play. Again, a demonstration of the brand’s willingness and commitment to ensure clients enjoy the best experience in their engagements with it.
The play, a historic rendition of a pivotal period in Yorubaland, could also serve as a metaphor for the historical richness of the Stanbic IBTC brand, which clocks 30 years of unmitigated success this year while equally drawing on the over 155-year pedigree of the Standard Bank Group, to which it belongs, to provide cutting-edge, best-in-class financial services.
Experiences such as the year-end dinner are very emotive and are deployed by organisations to help build brand warmth among clients, and even prospects. A client at the event, Oyinlola Oyebamijo, said she was glad she didn’t miss it. She said she was appreciative of such platform by Stanbic IBTC that provided networking opportunities and engagement with an art form, the stage play, she loves but hardly has the time to enjoy, ordinarily. There is no doubt that many, like Oyebamijo, had a great night that day in December.
Indeed, the well-attended event provided a platform for industrialists, entrepreneurs, bankers, business people, and others to interact and for networking opportunities exploited to advance business interests.
IK Osakioduwa compered the event and participants were treated to a thrilling performance by the Terra Kulture crew.
Sanni assured that Stanbic IBTC would continue to draw from the rich experience of the 155-year-old Standard Bank Group as well as its 30 years history to provide business leadership and direction by supporting arts and other sectors of the economy in a way to ensure the socio-economic growth and development of society.
ADEBOLA ADEBAYO
