How Investec Stays "Fresh" after 50 years with Challenger Thinking

We’re back with Scratch! In this episode, we sit down with Abey Mokgwatsane, Chief Marketing Officer of Investec, an international bank and wealth manager that’s celebrating its 50th anniversary—and still thinking like a challenger. Abey shares how his team keeps the brand fresh by simplifying complexity, focusing on consistent storytelling, and staying true to the heritage that first propelled Investec into the private banking space. He also explains what it’s like to join a new industry as a “super sub” and how that outsider perspective drives authentic innovation.

One of the big takeaways from this episode is Abey’s focus on “making the complex simple and the simple exciting.” Whether it’s building a brand around the iconic zebra or doubling down on Investec’s legendary service culture, Abey’s mindset proves that consistency doesn’t have to mean boring. We also dive into what it means to remain “freshly consistent” instead of “consistently fresh,” a concept that’s helped Investec maintain its challenger DNA over five decades of growth.

Watch the video version of this podcast on Youtube ▶️: https://youtu.be/EGXZiOWQbsA 

          📚 Chapters:

• (00:00:00) – Intro 🎙️
• (00:03:30) – Abey’s favorite challenger brand 🏆
• (00:04:50) – Overview of Investec 💼
• (00:07:19) – Building a challenger ethos in finance 📈
• (00:14:30) – Making complexity simple and simplicity exciting 💡
• (00:21:30) – ‘Freshly Consistent’ vs. ‘Consistently Fresh’ 🔄
• (00:27:20) – The ‘Super Sub’ approach to marketing ⚽
• (00:46:18) – Lightning Round ⚡

🖊️Mentioned in the show:

• Four Seasons (service inspiration)
• Adam Morgan’s “Eating the Big Fish” (challenger brand mindset)
• KitKat (“fresh consistency” in action)

Scratch is a production of Rival, a marketing innovation consultancy that develops strategies and capabilities to help businesses grow faster. Scratch is hosted by Eric Fulwiler, and in this episode he’s joined by Abey Mokgwatsane, CMO of Investec.

Find Rival online at www.wearerival.com, LinkedIn, Twitter. 

Find Eric on LinkedIn and tweet him @efulwiler. 

Find Abey on LinkedIn.

Say hi at media@wearerival.com, we’d love to hear from you.

Scratch is a production of Rival, a marketing innovation consultancy that develops strategies and capabilities that help businesses grow faster. Past guests include CMOs from Mastercard, GE, Shell, Hyperloop, Adobe, PepsiCo, and Papa Johns.

If you’re interested in learning more about marketing from successful CMOs, we compiled a list of the top 5 CMO podcasts to listen to in 2024; check it out here 🔗  https://www.wearerival.com/content-hub-articles/cmo-podcasts-you-cannot-afford-to-miss-in-2024