Following on from the series of unfortunate events that provided the narrative for the first part of ‘Time really is money’ campaign, ANZ has now released a sequel that gives a markedly more positive re-imagining of the day in the protagonist’s life.
The first spot, which was released on 29 June, depicted the unlucky Kiwi misstepping his way through an afternoon and eventually upsetting his partner his partner sufficiently to justify the purchase of a ridiculously expensive bottle of wine.
This misfortune is then countered in the second spot, which gives a scene-by-scene reversed reworking that eventually presents ANZ’s mobile banking as the catalyst that allowed the evening’s proceedings to run more smoothly.
WhybinTBWA creative director says that the new campaign has been well-received by both consumers and the ANZ marketing team.
Huse says that the creative team at TBWA “wanted to connect on a local level” and thus opted for a narrative that was applicable directly to Kiwis.
This marks a divergence from the ads created across the ditch, which have since 2011 relied on the celebrity appeal of The Mentalist’s Simon Baker. And this move has appeased at least two online commenters who are particularly unimpressed by Baker’s nosy shenanigans in the previous spots.
@StopPressNZ @kyliebulling Hate that ANZ guy. Always poking his nose into everyones business
— nathan sutton (@nathansutton30) July 8, 2014
Those averse to Simon Baker’s intrusions will however be disappointed to hear that the actor will return for more ads in the future, with the TBWA creative director saying that he remains an important part of the brand.
Despite the high production value of the new two-part TVC, Huse says that “it wasn’t too expensive” to produce and that the team worked “closely with [production company] Robber’s Dog to keep it feasible” and within the budget provided by ANZ.
In addition to launching the new campaign on television, TBWA has also unveiled a related outdoor campaign that encourages consumers to switch to ANZ to stand a chance of winning three months’ salary.
Huse was also asked whether the campaign has any digital elements, but he said that at this stage online activations have been limited to banner ads.
As a side note, BNZ also launched a two-part campaign a couple of years ago with the release of its ‘Money is Bad/Money is Good’ teaser campaign that eventually culminated in the ‘Be good with money’ tagline.
