Kiwibank has released a cheeky clip (by Assignment Group and director Peter Cudlipp), showing the response of Australians to news that a new faux bank, dubbed Oz Bank, would operate throughout Australia but then send all its profits to New Zealand.
The response from the group of Australians sitting in the focus group is general outrage.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” proclaims one particularly vocal participant.
Another asks: “Who’s going to fall for that?”.
The point Kiwibank is, of course, making is that Australian banks operating in this market often send their profits across the ditch—and this plays nicely into the hands of a locally owned bank.
Kiwibank head of marketing and communications Regan Savage says the real purpose of the campaign is to show consumers that they have the ability to choose an alternative.
“We know it matters to Kiwis that New Zealand has a major locally-owned bank, and the truth is, the real power is in the hands of consumers,” Savage says. “If it really matters to people, then the most important thing is for them to do something about it, by choosing a major locally-owned bank.”