Banking

South Africa’s coolest bank

Staff Writer

 ·30 May 2014

A new survey amongst South Africa’s youth finds First National Bank to be the ‘coolest’ bank in the country.

Now in its 10th year, the 2014 Sunday Times Generation Next Brand Survey Awards, reveals what the South African youth, aged between 8 and 22, deem cool.

The survey polled a sample group of 5,500 South African youngsters, with FNB coming out tops.

“Coolest” Bank

1. FNB
2. Standard Bank
3. Absa
4. Nedbank
5. Capitec

BMW South Africa walked away with the “Coolest Brand Overall” award, while Coca Cola came in second, and Nike third.

Last year BlackBerry was the coolest brand in South Africa, but a trend from this year’s Generation Next results was that the smartphone maker seems to have lost its edge among the youth.

Coolest Cellphone Application

1. WhatsApp
2. BlackBerry Messenger
3. Facebook

WhatsApp has taken the top spot as the SA youth’s coolest cellphone application, unseating BBM in the process.

Coolest Cellphone

1. Apple iPhone
2. Samsung
3. BlackBerry

Awarded by international YouTube celebrity Casper Lee, a South African, BlackBerry dropped two places since last year while Samsung rose two, with Apple’s iPhone walking away with the prize.

Coolest Telecommunications Provider

1. Vodacom
2. MTN South Africa
3. Cell C

Little has changed in the rankings of South Africa’s coolest network operators among youth, with Vodacom, MTN, and Cell C making up the top 3.

Coolest Hi-Tech Gadget

1. Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet PCs
2. Xbox
3. iPad

BlackBerry and the iPhone have dropped out of the top 3 coolest hi-tech gadget rankings, with the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Xbox stepping in to take their places.

Coolest Computer Brand

1. Samsung
2. Apple
3. Sony

Apple lost ground to Samsung in the battle for the coolest computer brand. Unfortunately for those youth who love Samsung’s PC brand, the company has announced that it will no longer be selling its notebook computers in South Africa.

Coolest Console/Computer Game

1. FIFA 14
2. Grand Theft Auto
3. Need for Speed

Need for Speed has lost its place as second coolest video game to Grand Theft Auto. GTA carries an age restriction of 18 in South Africa, so here’s hoping its popularity is drive by the 18–23 year old segment interviewed by HDI.

Coolest SA Company

1. Google
2. BMW
3. Apple

Google has come from below the top 5 to take the top spot among the youth’s coolest South African companies, unseating DStv, which dropped to the sixth spot.

The full results will be published on Sunday, 1 June 2014 as a supplement with the Sunday Times newspaper.

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