Marc from Student Village provides a heads up on Nedbank's Social Media efforts in South Africa.

Amplify’d from www.crammed.co.za

Let’s face it, a ‘bank account’ doesn’t exactly hit the no.1 spot of most-wanted items on a student’s Christmas wish list. BUT make no mistake – students, and the greater youth, are passionate about money. And they’re well aware of how the availability of money or lack thereof at a vital time in their lives.

One banking brand hasn’t fallen into the trap that so many other brands have done by putting up a ‘page’ on facebook and saying “Hey, we’ve got a social media brand presence – Whoopee !.” Then their page is left to either stagnate or bore the audience with corporate gibberish.

Which is why Nedbank are currently co-creating with young consumers across South Africa by allowing student bloggers to share their personal money stories on their social network of choice – facebook. The facebook community is simply called SAM (Smart About Money) . Student insights and money tips are shared with their friends and other young people through the social network.

SAM is doing 3 things that are textbook ingredients to succeeding with the youth. They’re being:

1. Authentic – When you hit the landing page there’s an obvious absence of Nedbank branding. Instead it says “Meet SAM”. Who is this SAM anyway? “Sam is not a banker. Sam’s wise but no know-it-all….the mate who’s honest with you but won’t say ‘I told you so”.

2. Relevant – Nedbank get the fact that providing relevant content about money will get young people’s attention and respect. Better yet, the relevancy scoring goes through the roof when young student bloggers are adding to this body of content themselves.

3. Engaging – SAM engages by sharing smart money tips; by asking engaging questions; by posting riddles that get people participating in the conversation; and by showing on campus video’s of student tips. Read more at www.crammed.co.za