What Does Cowrywise Simple Billboard Tell Us About Branding?
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There’s a famous Kenyan proverb which says the bird that flies off course often discovers new horizons.
Cowrywise, Nigeria’s leading fintech company for wealth management, became this proverbial bird after defying the rule of marketing that says your advert must have a clear call-to-action (CTA).
Recently, the Nigerian savings and investment platform made waves on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) with their minimalist billboard campaign. The billboard featured only the words “cowrywise.com” in bold, without any additional information or design elements.
The post that shared a picture of the billboard garnered over a million impressions (at the time of writing), with many of the platform users questioning the effectiveness of the advert and labelling it a waste of funds.
However, we need to take a few steps back to understand the bigger picture.
They’ve Done The Homework
In recent times, many outstanding designs and presentations have been associated with minimalism. A 2023 study was conducted to test the average person’s attitude towards minimalistic and non-minimalistic marketing communication.
The research revealed that minimalistic elements were preferred over their counterparts, with even millennials preferring it more than Gen Z and Gen X.
Many of the arguments that support Cowrywise’s approach are centered on minimalism. But let’s remember that this concept involves the use of only the necessary elements, such as images, text, and design, to create a clear and concise message.
So, by showcasing solely their website URL, did the marketing team of the fintech brand make an overkill?
One can only answer this perfectly when the intent behind the simple design is known. Whatever the mission of the marketing team is or was, a key takeaway from the virality of the advertisement is that they aim to spark interest and provoke curiosity among observers.
With this in mind, Cowrywise’s choice to adopt a minimalist strategy for their billboard shouldn’t be overlooked as a mistake.
Your Target Audience Matters
When criticizing a campaign, we have to consider the target audience.
Like Rudy Yaone, marketing and communication manager at Silikin Village, once stressed in an Interview with TechCabal, “It is important to know the needs, preferences, and behaviours of your target audience in order to design an effective marketing strategy.”
When thinking about putting ads on big signs on a busy road, one must realise that people driving by are in a hurry. They don’t have much time to read lots of details or do what the ads ask them to do.
Also, we can argue that the billboard aligns with modern consumer behaviour. They understand their target audience is likely to look up a website rather than make a note of it.
By featuring only the website address alone, it draws attention to the direction. Of course, a simple URL isn’t a CTA by definition. But adverts like this aren’t always to make observers take action right away.
They just want you to know about the brand or product. Sometimes, they hope the ad will make people talk about it. Alas, the advert indeed sparked conversations online!
That is how a brand can try to get more people interested in buying their product or using their service.
Curiosity Sparks Interest
The core of Cowrywise’s design approach is to spark curiosity. Even those who have no idea what the brand does may wonder what Cowrywise is about, leading them to visit the website for more information.
Every single soul who attempts to follow the URL on the billboard will be greeted with what you see in the image below:
If the simple billboard doesn’t shepherd observers to the Cowrywise website for sign-ups, it will at least find a place in their memory for future reference.
Beyond curiosity, it can be seen as an effective Top-Of-Mind-Awareness (TOMA) advert, an avenue to boost brand visibility, build trust, and increase website visits.
Memorability & Brand Focus
The simplicity of the design makes it easy for people to remember. Even if viewers don’t immediately visit the website, they may remember the name.
It is not out of place to predict that the location of that billboard will be referred to as “the cowry wise junction” for the duration it will be there, especially for people new to that area. People can quickly tell drivers they wish to highlight a “Cowrywise billboard” if they have no idea about the name of the bus stop where the billboard is mounted.
The design also puts the focus squarely on the brand name, helping to reinforce brand recognition and identity.
Meanwhile, for a fintech platform with over 500,000 customer base, it is safe to conclude that Cowrywise needs no introduction to many Nigerian teens and tech-savvy millennials. So, the criticism of anonymity doesn’t harshly apply to this situation.
The Blue brand has always been intentional about the way it grows its customer base. When Cowrywise raised $3 million in seed funding in 2021, the CEO, Razaq Ahmed, told TechCrunch that service delivery has helped them bridge that trust gap to a huge extent.
“I feel it has reflected in the user growth and adoption we’ve experienced. Trust was a major issue we faced, but right now, we’re crossing that bridge pretty well,” Ahmed said.
Cowrywise Isn’t The First…
The recent billboard advert from Cowrywise isn’t the first to preach the “less is more” gospel of marketing.
We have seen this game of curiosity deployed in the campaigns of other brands. A solid example is the McDonald’s 2018 Follow The Arches billboard advert. The iconic Golden Arches were deconstructed in order to guide drivers to the fast food chain’s nearest outlet.
Apple’s billboard ad to celebrate Lionel Messi is another solid example. Even OhMobility, a Nigerian mobile phone and accessories brand also take this minimalistic approach. People have shared online how they just pull out their phones to check these brands websites to feed their curiosity.
However, the URL-only design on billboards will reasonably work well only for brands with already established market dominance, brands who are already running multiple ads across channels concurrently, and brands who are in for the long game.
Based on the school of thought that the URL-only design is against best practices of
marketing, we can’t absolutely recommend it as an effective strategy for new brands with no existing market dominance.
Nevertheless, what we can learn from Cowrywise simple billboard advert is that they’ve used a single stone to kill multiple birds. We can see the Ad as one that will increase TOMA, brand visibility and trust, website visits, and, of course, curiosity.
Let’s Appreciate Ideas From Outside The Box
As long as traditional advertising remains alive, and thousands of billboards on Lagos roads keep fighting for commuters’ attention, creative design ideas from outside the box will stand out. The crux of the debate over Cowrywise’s simple billboard is that every brand should have an adequate understanding of how their customers’ behaviour continues to evolve in the marketplace and how they can strategically use it to stay ahead of the game.
Just like how the Airtel brand has become a solid reference for stellar TV commercials, the recent Cowrywise billboard advert will arguably remain a solid reference for strategic outdoor campaigns — at least, for a while.