Belarusian banks primarily use digital communications. Print products are usually leaflets, advertising brochures or internal corporate publications. Financial-literacy content is often technical, mixed with direct product advertising or limited to narrow topics. Alfa Bank rethought the format as a combination of brand media, education, lifestyle and art. ALFA PAGES was created as a publication people would want to read, take home and keep.
Problem
The newspaper was distributed in branches, where the smartphone was the main competitor for customer attention. Simply creating a useful banking publication was not enough to make customers pick it up while waiting. The task was to create a physical object with independent value: visually attractive, useful and interesting, able to compete with digital content for several minutes of attention. It also had to discuss financial literacy in accessible language, softly integrate bank products and create value for business customers.
Solution
ALFA PAGES became a quarterly physical brand-media platform. Each issue was created for a specific audience and context: “No Ifs, No Buts!” — a New Year issue for individuals and legal entities, featuring goal-setting, financial cushions, bank benefits and a financial horoscope. “RED in the City” — an issue for women, featuring stories of businesswomen and bank customers, self-development, starting a business, red products and Alfa Bank merchandise. “Summer” — a summer issue for people interested in travel, sport and new experiences, featuring bloggers and a restaurant guide. “alfa4alfa” — an issue for teenagers aged 13–16, created together with UNICEF volunteers and teenagers aged 14–15 for the back-to-school season. Each issue combined financial and lifestyle content, experts, clients and a strong visual identity. A poster inserted into each issue worked as a standalone object and gave readers a reason to take the publication home and keep it.
Results
Four issues produced. Total print run: 20,000 copies, fully distributed among customers. Distribution through 37 branches in 15 cities across Belarus. Business customers increasingly wanted to participate and began contacting managers themselves about future issues. Entrepreneurs and business owners shared ALFA PAGES on their own social channels.
