Playing It Too Safe: Thoughts on the Absa Rebrand

With public discourse around the recent Absa rebranding leaning toward the inevitable wave of negative sentiment, I was reminded of the power and necessity of long-term design strategy in shaping business success.

Could you imagine BMW without its iconic kidney grill? Or Coca-Cola® without its Spencerian script? Almost unthinkable. And yet, history shows us that drastic changes do occur when the bond between brand and consumer weakens, or when businesses shift direction entirely. Think back to BP’s repositioning in the early 2000s, sometimes a bold reset feels like the only way forward.

For Absa, the unbundling from Barclays and the opportunity to expand across the African market presented just such a moment. A chance to redefine, reconnect, and reposition. But while choosing a completely new identity might seem bold, it also carries great risk.

As the designer of the outgoing Absa identity, I’ve been asked countless times: “So, what do you think of the rebrand?” The honest truth? I’ve felt no emotional reaction at all. And perhaps that’s the problem. I mentally filed it alongside the growing list of unremarkable South African rebranding projects of late.

I didn’t know who was responsible for the redesign, but I understood their enormous task of making the brand relevant to a new market. To be fair, the execution is polished. The visual system is clean, the positioning is relevant (if not groundbreaking), and the campaign material holds together well. But the new mark itself? Safe. Too safe.

Great brands need distinctive assets to defend their territory. When the hype around this rebrand inevitably fades, I’m not convinced Absa will be left with anything iconic in its arsenal. Because in the end, branding is about more than relevance. It’s about forging symbols that endure, that connect, that cannot be mistaken for anything else.

What Absa’s rebrand isn’t, and what it desperately needs to be, is its own version of a BMW kidney grill.

Robert du Toit