UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

SEMESTER ASSIGNMENT 1
2021
BUSINESS RESEARCH (BEC324)

Internal Examiner: Angela Pike-Bowles & Dr Tendai Chimucheka

Marks: 50 (mark will be given out of 100)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Write your student number and name below:

First Name STANELY

Surname NDLOVU
Student Number 201924638

2. Complete all the tasks

3. All answers must be typed onto this answer document.
4. Clearly indicate the question/task number # you are answering.
5. The document must be completed and then returned as an attachment via
Blackboard.
(Contact the lecturer for instructions on submission)
6. Please read the case study and respond to the questions/tasks set out in the
assignment and set out below in the space provided.
7. The assignment requires you to answer both theoretically and practically. The
theory parts of your answers therefore need to be in-text referenced and a
reference list must be provided at the end of your assignment. Use the APA
referencing style.
8. Complete the plagiarism declaration below:

I hereby declare that I am fully aware of the University of Fort Hare’s Policy on
Plagiarism, and I have taken every precaution to comply with the regulations.

Signature______ Ndlovu. S Date_______ 10 September 2021

9.

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 Absa Africanacity Rebrand
Case Study

In 2016, when Barclays PLC announced it was reducing its ownership of Barclays
Africa Group Limited to a minority shareholding, the opportunity arose for an
organisational re-set, allowing the Bank to take control of its own destiny and look to
a whole new future in Africa, says Marie Jamieson, Head of Marketing and
Corporate Relations for ARO (Absa Regional Operations).

Two years later in 2018 we launched our new identity for Absa Bank South Africa,
and for the Absa Group overall. This marked the official start of a new era for us; an
era characterised by even greater commitment to being an important part of the
African growth story. Our rebranding was an extensive and consultative journey
executed over the period of more than a year. We didn’t automatically start from a
place that assumed we would simply roll out the Absa brand across all other
countries in Africa. Instead we kept a very open mind.

We undertook a substantial research and had more than 130 000 conversations with
customers, shareholders and other stakeholders in all our markets. We also spoke to
more than 4 400 colleagues across all our countries so that they actively played a
role in the co-creation of our new brand. The result was that we elected to go with
the Absa brand. But importantly it would be a refreshed, re energised, and a totally
new Absa brand.

At the same time, this journey allowed us to redefine what we stand for. Our
colleagues were also instrumental in defining our new organisational purpose ‘to
bring possibility to life’; plus our new values. In the past, these had been decided by
a small group of people in a board room in London. Our new brand reflects our
unique African identity. Our logo was inspired by rich insights from across our
continent.  While our primary colour is a passion red, our brand embraces a full
spectrum of colours, all reflective of the African land and skies, as we go through the
day into sunset.

For our brand marketing campaign, we invented a new word, Africanacity. For us,
this epitomises the uniquely African ability to always find a way to get things done,
no matter what. We see this trait everywhere across the continent. We love it. It
inspires us to always find a way to help people get things done; to realise their goals
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and ambitions, whatever they might be. What was so fantastic was to see how each
of our countries embraced our new brand and all its distinctive assets; but also how
each market translated it in their own way, injected their own local insights, unique
voice and flair into it. So yes, definite consistency, but so richly diverse and locally
nuanced.  Which again is the epitome of our African continent.

With so many opportunities for things to go awry, relentless tracking across every
single component, in every single project, across every single country was key. But
the real killer app was the Absa teamwork. We called it Absa Africa United. The
desire to get things done, and done right, meant that everyone was not only
invested, but totally passionate about their delivery. This meant that people were
always quick to respond, agile in their solutioning and absolutely always prepared to
go the extra mile. Without this we could never have delivered as seamlessly as we
did. When the big launch day came we were ready. And we rolled out to customer
support and market positivity that, three years before, we could only have dreamed
of. We knew that this was just the beginning. That we still had a long journey ahead
of us but we had a meticulous plan. Then, what felt like two minutes later (it was
actually a few weeks later), Covid 19 hit.

As we all know, a brand lives in the now. It lives in the minds and hearts of people. It
has to be agile, responsive and always relevant. In an environment where a roll of
toilet paper suddenly costs more than a barrel of oil, where lives and livelihoods
become a balancing act, the best laid plans fall by the wayside. Guided by our
purpose, our one north star, we had to ask ourselves "what do people need us to be
right now?" And then we had to adapt accordingly.

Our role in society is more important than just selling products and services. When a
brand behaves well, the numbers will follow. We immediately set about focusing our
efforts on being part of the prevention messaging; to help spread the word and
empower people to protect themselves, their families and our communities. And as
hygiene becomes a new differentiator; we quickly re-engineered our branch protocol
to include all relevant safety measures, e.g. social distancing, regular cleaning,
sanitising, masks, etc.

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Questions:

1. Discuss the need for ABSA to attain marketing information in order to rebrand.
[6]

Answer:
The rebranding process can be challenging in the sense that a business may alienate loyal
customers who have built their trust in the existing brand, while on the other hand spending
money without gaining any benefit (Strydom,2011). In the case of ABSA, it becomes possible
that, without pertinent marketing information the team could alienate existing stakeholders who
invested their trust in the brand Barclays Africa Group Limited.  For this reason, it is imperative
for ABSA team to make sure that every aspect of marketing information is gathered and
interpreted first in order to initiate a rebrand process that resonates with customers.

Customers, in particular, are sceptical of change, and if they feel ambushed by an overnight
rebrand that does not resonate with them, they could easily abandon loyalty to brands (Wiid &
Diggines, 2015). In this regard, it becomes incredibly important for the ABSA team to acquire
marketing information first before initiating the rebranding process. For it gives them insights
from stakeholders that need to be incorporated in the creation of brands that resonate with
them, so that customers will not feel ripped away from the brand they are used to.

Through a brand, a business establishes what it represents to customers in terms of its value
proposition. In order to create this value proposition, it is important to consult the minds of the
stakeholders so that as the business creates its brand, they feel involved. In this regard, ABSA
is able to gather opinions from stakeholders via marketing information, thereby customizing a
brand to become a value proposition in the minds of stakeholders.

To conclude, it is imperative that ABSA has gathered as much marketing information as

possible in order to start the rebranding process. In order to rebrand, marketing information is
of utmost because it provides ABSA with a lot of stakeholder insights, which are very important
in resonating the brand with whom it is created. 

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 2. Define research ethics and discuss the ethical considerations the research
team for ABSA would have taken into account when conducting their
marketing research for rebranding. [10]

Answer:
Research ethics refers to the set of moral rules and behaviours that must be adhered to when
conducting research[ CITATION Wii15 \l 1033 ]. All aspects of the research process need to be
ethical, as unethical behaviour can harm participants. To this end, all researchers are required
to comply with ethical considerations when conducting and disseminating their findings.
Research conducted by ABSA team would have been ethically compliant if participants'
consent was obtained, participation was voluntary, participants were adequately informed, and
participants' autonomy was respected.

Any researcher conducting research is required to obtain informed consent from the
participant beforehand so that they will understand that they are part of the research. It implies
that the researcher must disclose all relevant information and request permission from the
participant before proceeding with the research[ CITATION Sha15 \l 1033 ]. It can be seen from
the ABSA case that the research team engaged in conversations with different stakeholders.
In regard to this ethical consideration, all relevant information regarding the research would
have been provided by the ABSA team to the respondents, so that participants would have
fully understood and consented to participate.

Every research participant should be voluntarily involved in research meaning that the
research should not be in any position of forcing or influencing the participant to get involved in
the study[ CITATION Sha15 \l 1033 ].  In this context, it would have been well for ABSA
researchers to keep this in mind knowing that the stakeholders they had conversations with
were there to assist them in their study. Therefore, they should not be forced to participate but
be invited to participate with an understanding that they are not forced to do so and that at any
time they feel like they do not wish to participate, their consent can be revoked.

Researchers are obligated not to deceive respondents in any manner, and it is their
responsibility to act responsibly and with integrity when conducting research. In this regard,
when ABSA researchers had research conversations with different stakeholders, they would
have observed this consideration. This increases the credibility of the collected data in the
sense that respondents will be more willing to give honest answers anytime they feel like the
researcher is acting responsibly and with integrity with no intention to deceive them (Wiid &
Diggines, 2015).

To conclude, all researchers are bound by ethical considerations when conducting research
so that the data collected, and the results disseminated are credible. As such, ABSA

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researchers would have considered the above ethical considerations when they spoke with
the respondents for the purpose of gaining insight into them.

3. State and discuss the primary research objective for ABSA rebranding. [6]

Answer:

The primary research objective of the study was to gather comprehensive stakeholders’
insights which could help to reimagine the ABSA bank in a way that points to a whole new
horizon with an African perspective. When the announcement by Barclays PLC was made
that it would disown its stake in Barclays Africa Group, a complete review of the business
was required, in terms of the brand that is African inspired. In light of this, the ABSA
research team was therefore compelled to look closely at the perspectives of stakeholders
so that it could identify insights and articulate them in an articulate manner that would help to
redefine the new ABSA identity that portrays an African heritage. By focusing its research
thrust on exploring stakeholders' insights, ABSA may have an opportunity to resonate with
stakeholders and make the new brand resemble their feedback which, in turn, will make
stakeholders more prepared to integrate the brand into their everyday life.

4. What research design did the ABSA research team select and why did they
choose such a design? [8]

Answer:
ABSA researchers have chosen an exploratory design for their research. It should be noted
that, following the announcement by Barclays PLC that it would disown its stake in Barclays
Africa Group, a complete review of the business was required. In this regard, the ABSA
researcher team had to undergo an extensive consultative process with different stakeholders
so as to gather a comprehensive understanding of how to redefine a bank in a way that is
African inspired. To this end, having the option to embark on exploratory research was the
most appropriate way to achieve its research endeavour.

Moreover, the ABSA research objective indicates that exploratory would have been the most
appropriate research approach to follow in their study. As a result, they were simply looking to

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gain stakeholders' insights so they could redefine the bank in a way that incorporates their
perspectives, and all of this resembles exploratory research.

To conclude, an exploratory research design was the most appropriate in the case of ABSA
because it enables the bank to acquire more insights from stakeholders that will help to review
the brand.

5. What research methodology did the research team for ABSA follow? Discuss
the main characteristic of the research method selected. [10]

Answer:

A qualitative research methodology has been used by ABSA researchers. With the ABSA
case, it is clear that the primary goal of the research was to gather stakeholder opinions,
which can be more accurately captured with qualitative techniques. In light of this, qualitative
research methodology would have been appropriate for conducting their research.

An important characteristic of qualitative research is that it is interpretative. By this, it follows

that the outcome of the research is reliant on the researchers who must interpret data based
on their observations and understandings. Thus, qualitative research is driven by the
researcher’s knowledge because the outcome of the research is reliant on how the
researcher interprets its findings. By this, it is necessary to have highly experienced
researchers to interpret qualitative data with precision in order to derive unbiased
conclusions. (Silverman, 2020).

An important aspect of qualitative research is the use of non-numeric data. By this, it is

meant to be restricted to the gathering of qualitative data such as thoughts, experiences,
and opinions of the respondents. Considering this kind of data obtained through qualitative
research, it is worth noting that it is analysed using inductive reasoning, through which ideas
and hypotheses are developed rather than testing existing theories as in quantitative
research (Hennink, Hutter, & Bailey, 2020).

As a means of collecting data, qualitative research methods utilize focus groups, interviews
as well as projective techniques. These techniques generate qualitative data that cannot be
measured numerically and are therefore most appropriate for qualitative research.

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Ideally, a qualitative research approach is appropriate to use when a researcher wishes to
fully explore the perspectives of participants, as was the case with ABSA researchers as
they sought to gain a deeper understanding of stakeholders' perspectives.

6. Define primary data collection and discuss the primary data collection selected
by the research team of ABSA. [10]

Answer:

Primary data collection is a process of gathering new data that has never previously been
published or existed directly from the source. An example of primary data collection would
be by conducting a household survey (Heap & Waters, 2019).

Researchers at ABSA have chosen to collect primary data using an interview technique. It is
evident in the ABSA case, that a massive consultative exercise was undertaken to decide on
the best brand strategy going forward. As a result, ABSA research team had over 13000
conversations with stakeholders, customers and 4400 colleagues in an effort to gather their
insights. Thus, a qualitative interview technique is evidently utilized by the ABSA researchers
to collect the primary data.

As recommended by Hesse-Biber & Leavy (2010), interviews are most effective for
qualitative research where the researcher intends to explore individual opinions and motives.
With regards to ABSA, the research team's intended goal was to gather a broader
understanding of stakeholders' perspectives in order to incorporate these perspectives into
the reimagining of its brand. As such, it became prudent to utilize interview techniques so
that the ABSA research team could acquire insight from a large and varied array of
respondents from across Africa.

To conclude, primary data collection techniques are appropriate to use when the researcher
intends to gather new data that has not yet been published or existed. Based on the facts of
the ABSA case, the researchers chose to use qualitative interviews in their consultative
exercise as it was suitable for them to gather opinions and gain stakeholders' insights from a
large pool of diverse respondents across Africa.

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References List
Heap, V., & Waters, J. (2019). Data Collection Methods. Routledge.

Hennink, M., Hutter, I., & Bailey, A. (2020). Qualitative Research Methods. Sage.

Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Leavy, P. (2010). The Practice of Qualitative Research. Sage.

Shamoo, A., & Resnik, D. (2015). Responsible Conduct of Research (3rd ed.).
Oxford University Press.

Silverman, D. (2020). Qualitative research. Sage.

Strydom, J. W. (2011). Introduction to marketing (4th ed.). Juta.

Wiid, J., & Diggines, C. (2015). Marketing Research (2nd ed.). Juta & Company Ltd.

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