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Nedbank has been aggressively investing in digital transformation to enhance its banking services with the intention of being considered a leading digital bank in Africa. ‘Digital first, first in digital’ has therefore become Nedbank’s core strategic imperative. Digital-first is not just a choice but a necessity for banks to remain relevant and competitive in a rapidly developing financial landscape. As customer expectations continue to evolve, banks must prioritise digital innovation in order to meet the demands of both the current and future generations of customers. Today's customers, especially the youngest generations, namely Gen Z and their children, Generation Alpha, are tech-savvy and accustomed to digital services in all aspects of their daily lives. Generation Alpha is the first generation to grow up entirely in the digital age. Online gaming and persistent virtual worlds in particular have become a major part of Gen Alpha’s daily lives not only to meet their entertainment needs but also as a channel for digital social interaction with peers. For a brand to venture into the realm of online gaming in order to connect with this generation, it necessitates that consideration be paid to their digital fluency as well as their preferences for interactive and experiential content. In other words, for an esteemed corporate organisation (like Nedbank) to enter into this space to create meaningful content would mean being able to learn and adopt the "language" of their future customers. In 2022 Nedbank therefore embarked on an ambitious venture to partner with Sea Monster, one of South Africa’s leading Impact Game studios to create an innovative digital experience in the uncharted territory of ‘the Metaverse’ that would meet their future customers on their terms and in a digital space that is appropriate and relevant to them and their daily lives. In consultation with Nedbank, it was decided that the Roblox platform would be the best place to deliver this solution. Roblox is one of the world’s most popular gaming platforms for children, especially between the ages of 9-12-year-olds. The platform sees over 65 million daily active users worldwide (as of September 2023) and has exploded in South Africa with a very strong following of pre-teens. After understanding the needs of Nedbank as our client, the game that Sea Monster developed is Chow Town. In the game, children are immersed in an afro-futuristic street market where they are given a space to play by building their own restaurant business from the ground up. Key to the mechanics of the game is a game loop that promotes the learning of important money management concepts. This includes buying stock, saving up for business infrastructure and minimising wastage all while meeting the demands of hungry customers. Players who handle these concepts well are able to earn currency and progress, promoting faster game progression than those who do not engage with these systems critically. It was also important for us that the game was crafted to intentionally incorporate and reflect a strong South African identity given that this is largely lacking from the Roblox platform. As such, careful consideration was paid to the designs of the non-player characters (NPCs) within the game world to ensure that they were diverse and of mixed ethnicities in order to express and reflect the cultural diversity within South Africa. Beyond the NPCs, we also ensured to revolve the game around South Africa's local cuisine favourites and we built South African-specific scenes into the horizon of the game (ie. Cape Town's famous Table Mountain as well as Johannesburg's iconic skyline). The underlying aim of Chow Town is to teach and promote financial literacy (something desperately needed in South Africa and across the wider African continent) in a fun and engaging environment that a new digital generation can embrace, enjoy and share with their peers. We wanted to make a game for Nedbank’s target audience that would leave players with an understanding of entrepreneurship, money management, and how to run their very own small businesses all whilst having great fun along the way. Chow Town was launched in March (with the supporting marketing campaigns still being rolled out) and to date, has been visited over 110 000 times. On average the game sees over 16 minutes of engagement time per session and the feedback from the game has been incredible. Many parents of children who have played the game have expressed how Chow Town has actively motivated their children to start conversations with them about money and money management, and about Nedbank. As such, we feel the game successfully illustrates how well-executed gamified experiences can make educational content more appealing, engaging and as such, more effective. In extension, the game has successfully managed to build positive brand associations with the Nedbank brand in service of its long-term marketing strategy.