According to Nielsen’s homeownership statistics, 50 percent of New Zealanders aged 15+ own their own home (1,772,000 people). And of the homeowners in New Zealand, 53 percent own their home with a mortgage (934,000) and 46 percent own their home without one (819,000). And, when considered alongside the cost of houses these days, those 934,000 people translate into a massive revenue opportunity for banks.
Given the relevance of this issue to both banks and those who lend money from them, ANZ has released a new campaign called ‘Make it Yours’ to coincide with New Zealand’s Money Week, which runs from 13 to 19 October.
The campaign, which was conceptualised by WhybinTBWA and shot by 8Com, features a slow-motion auction scene playing out to an operatic score, before a voice-over chimes in: “Make it yours. When you find the home you want, talk to an ANZ expert about buy ready.”
Matt Pickering, ANZ‘s head of retail marketing, described the home-buying experience as a rollercoaster of emotions and says that the ad aims to bring this premise to life.
“As New Zealand’s leading home loan provider, ANZ understands that buying a home is a highly emotional experience,” he says. “We decided to demonstrate the bank’s empathy with New Zealand home buyers by re-creating an auction, filming it in super slow motion, and cutting the action to an emotionally charged opera piece.”
According to mortgage share statistics released earlier this year, ANZ’s 31 percent share of the mortgage market is the highest of any bank in New Zealand and worth about $57.88 billion (up from $3.92 billion from the previous year). This places ANZ above ASB with its $41.23 billion share, BNZ with its $29.6 billion share and Kiwibank with its $13.12 billion share.
In addition to its new campaign, ANZ is continuing its Property Unlocked speaker series, which sees financial professionals delivering speeches on various aspects of property ownership across the country. Speaking events are updated regularly listed on the PropertyUnlocked.anz.co.nz microsite, where Kiwis can also sign up to attend.
However, ANZ isn’t alone in its attempt to advise Kiwis on the best ways to purchase a home. BNZ has also recently been employing a didactic approach to its home loan marketing push through a series of different campaigns. This culminated in late September with the provocative shredded money campaign, which saw $6 million dollars of shredded cash put on display in Aotea Square as a tangible reminder of how much money Kiwis spend on interest every four hours.
Building on the premise of its ‘Be Smart with Money’ positioning, BNZ has launched several online activations that aim to give Kiwis access to advise. This started with the release of the ‘Good Home’ microsite and this was recently consolidated with the release of the BNZ Community, an online hub designed to facilitate business conversations between Kiwis.
The home loan market has always been fiercely competitive, and given the willingness of Kiwis to weigh up their options and shop around, this is likely to continue for quite some time.
Agency Credits:
Dave King – Executive Creative Director
Julian Andrews & Tim Huse – Creative Directors
Tom Johnson & Tom Knighton – Creatives
Nick Bulmer – Group Account Director
Amanda Green – Account Director
Steve Clark – Planner
Liz Rosby – Executive Producer
Production – 8COM
Katie Millington – Executive Producer
Director – Josh Frizzell