A rebrand this bold takes true Africanacity.
The new domain extension program launched in 2014 and since that date brand leaders have taken the opportunity to market their brand under these "new" Internet identifiers. This shift can demonstrate a brand’s awareness of changing techologies and their status as a thought-leader. Companies now harness the opportunity to rebrand while using the new domain extension to differentiate their brand from others in the marketplace.
Africanacity
One massive and influential brand that decided to use a new domain extension is Absa Group. Absa recently went through a complete branding overhaul. This rebrand included a new logo, colour scheme inspired by Africa and launching a new corporate website under the domain name absa.africa.
The rebrand establishes Absa Group (which was previously trading as the African arm of the European Barclays) as a true African brand. Absa described the new branding as an “identity that reflects its African roots and which is fit for a forward-looking business in a digital era.”
Absa’s rebrand is best described using their very own slogan: Africanacity. Absa states “In creating a new brand campaign, we were looking for a way in which to express who the new Absa is and what we stand for. We were unable to find an existing term, so we created the word ‘Africanacity’ as the distinctly African ability to always find remarkable ways to get things done. It is about African tenacity, audacity and positivity.”
ABSA.AFRICA
With this focus on making Absa a truly African brand, it made sense for them to use the .africa extension for their primary website. Absa.africa projects their brand across the African continent and gives a unified message to all 54 African countries.
As Absa’s domain name registrar of choice, Lexsynergy advised Absa to register absa.africa during the Sunrise phase in 2017 due to the relevance of the extension and knowing it would be an important domain to own for, at the very least, defensive purposes. As it turns out, this defensive registration was the perfect domain for their exciting, fresh rebrand. Changing the domain extension to dotAfrica was a brave decision, according to Absa, which also moved all e-mail accounts over to absa.africa.
Lexsynergy, as a corporate registrar, prides itself on being proactive in assisting clients such as Absa Group to secure their trade mark within the developing domain name space so that they can take an advantage in the relevant market knowing their domain portfolio is adequately secured.