Wakanow relaunches its brand, partners Zenith bank in Africa roll out

In a move which could only be characterized as maverick, Wakanow has made a major change to its new identity and has unveiled plans to partner Zenith Bank as its banker of choice in the brands’ roll out across Africa, UK and the UAE.

In a media launch which was graced by the management of Wakanow,  key members of the media, partners and friends of Wakanow, the new brand identity was unveiled by the Executive Director Zenith Bank,   (Place name and Portfolio here). The new logo, a combination of the very vibrant sea blue and orange colors, gives the brand, a more mature, and aspirational and fun outlook that resonates very soundly with her global intentions and with the dynamic nature of her target market.

Wakanow is Nigerians foremost online travel booking portal and has grown from a relatively humble beginning in 2008 to one of the power players in the travel industry in Nigeria today. Wakanow has distinguished itself in the online travel industry with the many achievements over the past 7 years. In 2013, she won the coveted Tony Elumelu All Nigeria Network Awards as one of the 50 fastest growing companies in Nigeria. In the midst of several awards including from airline partners and other stakeholders, the MD of Wakanow, Obinna Ekezie, won the prestigious All Africa Business Leaders Awards for West Africa for 2015. AABLA is awarded in partnership with the CNBC Africa.  Wakanow is the current exclusive ticket reseller for the 2016 RIO Olympics, a status that she also held for both the London Olympics and the World Cup in RIO Brazil in 2012.

Speaking on the launch, the Chief Marketing Officer, Mrs. Victoria Onwubiko, stated that in view of the plans by the company to go global, it was important for Wakanow to position itself to take on the headwinds of the new challenges. She stated that the new logo is a personification of upwards and forwards movement that is a key part of the brands mantra, with a simplicity that makes it easily recognizable among other leading world brands. She added that the Wakanow brand refresh is not just an external change, but will also run deep into the heart of the business forming a solid internal culture that will give it the back bone for excellence in quality service delivery.

In his address, the Managing Director and founder of Wakanow, Obinna Ekezie, expressed his delight at the events of the day, pointing out that Wakanow is poised to become a key player in not only Africa but of the world with an undying passion to change the way people do travel. He expressed his delight at the partnership with Zenith and saw it as a vehicle to take the innovative Wakanow products to Africa especially the new global DestinationsAfrica platform which will allow customers book travel packages to any African country, on one single platform, anywhere in the world.

The Wakanow vision is to delight her customers with well-priced packages that cannot found anywhere else and this proposition is made possible by the very extensive partnership that Wakanow has with Airlines and Hotels partners. Being an indigenous Africa company, Wakanow is well positioned to take the higher ground in making African travel an absolute delight for non-Africans as it targets new customers from Europe, US and the UAE.

In partnering with Zenith Bank for this global roll out Wakanow was looking for a banking partner that is not only nimble and forward focused, but also one that also has the capacity to take on the very rapidly expanding portfolio of the Wakanow brand. Zenith has good experience across Africa, with an impressive footfall in several African countries. It is globally recognized as a banker of choice with a keen eye for recognizing budding opportunities and taking them head one.  The synergy between the two companies makes them a natural fit.

Besides the online presence, Wakanow has over 25 travel centers across Nigeria with an intention to open 100 centers by the end of 2016.  Wakanow also has offices in Dubai, UK and Ghana. New offices are planned in the US and Kenya.

In a bid to diversify her business, Wakanow has also gone into the ground transportations business with the acquisition of Oya.com, a local bus, cargo and car hire services company.