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ASB heads for home, starts focusing on meatspace

It hasn’t been a particularly good day for the banks. Westpac seems to have unintentionally offended a few Greeks with its latest ad and a massive class action suit over “the unlawful overcharging of Kiwis for many many years” was also announced. But that hasn’t stopped ASB from continuing on its empowering, successful path with the first product-specific ad after the launch of its Succeed On campaign. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg28ISGsQDk

The ad, which was again shot by Curious and features a typically boisterous Brian Blessed popping out of a cupboard with a packet of ginger nuts, drums home the ‘every success matters’ mantra and aims to show that getting approval for a home loan is something worth celebrating (of course the thrill wears off very quickly once you actually have to start paying that mortgage). And much like its last home loan ad from Saatchi & Saatchi, ASB is also offering a few enticements this time, with up to $1,000 and a free Sony Bravia smart TV on offer for all successful applicants. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnQgu8omq74

ASB’s Anna Curzon says she’s delighted with the response to the campaign so far—from staff, existing customers and the wider community—and the way it has sparked conversations around success (again, while it has now actually been proven that social media, and particularly Twitter, isn’t an accurate reflection of public sentiment, there are a few other conversations on its Facebook page that are most definitely not talking about the success of the campaign). 

“We want our community to talk about success and participate in it,” she says. 

While it’s only week four of a campaign she hopes might last as long as Goldstein, she says there are positive signs already, with its brand image tracking showing the number of people saying they have taken action after seeing the material being “higher than we’d expect” for a campaign this new. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-sjmFisk3E 

Also, ASB’s Shane Evans says 40 percent of the visits to the Succeed On microsite are coming from search, which he says shows the campaign is doing its job and creating interest. It has also received a whole heap of pictures showing people ‘getting their Brian on’ with the strap-on beard (the ASB team have also been getting into it and even did a bearded Harlem Shake) and there’s even been some Twitter riffing on Notorious BIG. 

These days the bits inbetween the big ads are crucial. And ASB has obviously factored that in, with a host of small nuggets of joy for the online space and various personal video messages delivered by Blessed to some of the country’s socialmedia-lites (it is also one of the few local brands we’ve seen using Twitter’s promoted trends function and it’s also been in the promoted tweets action of late, along with Vodafone).  

“The people who received those messages were chuffed and we respect everyone who works hard in that social space,” Curzon says. “And we’re delighted that they embraced the general message in them and shared them with their networks.”

Now that the campaign is “changing gears”, it is also increasingly bringing the idea to life in the real world, as evidenced by the bank’s big presence at the weekend’s Round the Bays event in Auckland (it worked with Smile Dealers on the day and had a cheerleading squad and a series of encouraging chalk stencils). 

“Success is everywhere you look for it,” says Curzon. And, as it looks to celebrate participation among New Zealanders, Evans says it is also reviewing all of its sponsorship properties to better tie in with the campaign. Evans says sport is obviously fertile territory for linking in with the campaign’s sentiment and it will definitely be ramping up its support of football. 

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