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4 | The Lion King
Living Africa’s
Global Brand
C
ulture is one of the impor-
tant elements of an
organization. It is a way
of life. It is the dominant style of
living, thinking and behaviours
that become part of lives of the
people within the organization.
It is what the organization exhib-
its as an identity. Thus, culture is
embedded in the brand; brand
is embedded in the culture.
William C. Taylor supported the
relationship between brand and
culture when he asserted that “A
brand in order to be relevant to
consumers and sustainable over
time must operate much like a
culture”.
Living an organization’s brand is
reflecting its culture in the servic-
es rendered, image portrayed
and in the customers’ percep-
tion about the entity. The brand
and culture of any company
are displayed through its behav-
iours, symbol and systems. The
behaviour is what the company
portrays to its customers in
terms of services, support, value
addition and the operating
environment through its Corpo-
rate Social Responsibility. This
aspect is adjudged through what
the people can feel and see. The
symbol is the artistic image being
communicated to the public. The
symbol represents the customers’
connotation of the company’s
culture and brand. The third is
the system which complements
both the behaviour and symbol.
A good system makes complex
things or processes simple and
aids the culture or brand image
of the organization.
United Bank for Africa as a brand
dates back to 1948. It evolved
over the years through indigeni-
zation, mergers and acquisitions
of multiple excellent brands and
cultures. It is an expression of the
blend of enduring cultures and
the African spirit of resilience.
Brand UBA is identified by its
name and the mustard seed. This
identity has a strong personality
of thought leadership, energy,
dynamism, courage supported
by long-standing customers’
experiences and perceptions
built over decades in endur-
ing loyalty manifesting the
brand essence of Simplicity and
Convenience. Hence, “Brand
UBA is a customer-centric brand
committed to providing conven-
ient, reliable and innovative
financial solutions to customers
across the globe”.
Since no organization can be
better perceived above its inter-
nal perceptions, living our brand
is to live our culture as denoted
by the bank’s shared values.
Our shared values of Humility,
Empathy, Integrity and Resilience
must be entrenched in our daily
thinking, decisions and actions.
Our capacity to truly live our
shared values internally in all we
By Ola Babs-Olugbemi & Toruka Osadunkwu
Cover Story