Understanding how customers would react to ANZ’s decision to close the National Bank meant it was able to come up with a strategy and tailor its comms accordingly to limit the damage.
Browsing: National Bank
In a career full of successes, leading the transformation project that brought together the National Bank and ANZ was one of the sweetest for Mike Cunnington.
The Great Bank Wars of 2012 made for enthralling marketing viewing and, after the National Bank shuffled off, its competitors smelled blood. Now Roy Morgan has provided some figures on just how many Kiwis shifted banks in the past year and where National Bank customers went.
Big changes to the awards schedule, the creation of ethical guidelines and general herding of agency cats to try and push the industry forward ensued last year for CAANZ. Chief executive Paul Head has his way with 2012.
Fiona Woolley swapped postage for precision German engineering in 2011 and now Audi’s head of marketing spills her guts on 2012.
After saying goodbye to BNZ, ‘recalibrating’ the agency and adding a couple of ex-Ogilvy chaps to its creative arsenal, Sugar&Partners had plenty to contend with this year. But it took it in its stride and released some quality campaigns for TAB, new challenger telco Flip and, slightly controversially given its similarity to a popular cat video, Mammoth Insulation. Dave Nash and Damon O’Leary sum up their 2012.
As head of marketing for ANZ, Mike Cunnington is donkey deep in one of the biggest ever changes to New Zealand’s financial landscape. And the campaign to fuse the brands is now in its final stages. We had a chat with him for the November/December edition of NZ Marketing. And here’s what he said.
The trusty Huntaway took the departure of the National Bank brand in his stride, and last night saw the launch of the first brand campaign for the new ANZ since the big announcement was made a few weeks back, with a Kiwi-specific cameo from Aussie actor Simon Baker back in character as The Mentalist’s Patrick Jane. And while we’re impressed with his use of two tea bags, a classic trick used by tea-nerds who like a stronger brew without the ‘nyertch’ factor of tannins, we fear our fictional friend may be stretching the truth a little.
The fusing of two financial entities that between them have nearly half of the population on their books is a massive—and massively complicated—task, both logistically in terms of back-end systems and emotionally in terms of assuaging customers’ fears through communications. It’s been in the planning for a while, of course, and in response to yesterday’s official announcement that ANZ would be phasing out the National Bank over the next two years, Whybin\TBWA is about to launch a big integrated campaign that “heralds the start of a new era for ANZ and reassures customers they will be getting the best of both worlds”.
The vultures have been circling for a while now, and the official announcement that the National Bank brand is finally heading for the knacker’s yard and will be folded into its Australian-owned parent bank ANZ over the next two years, with remaining branches rebranded at an estimated cost of $100 million, marks what will be one of the biggest changes to the financial marketing landscape in over a decade. NZ Marketing ran a cover story on the looming disappearance of the black horse and what kind of treasures were up for grabs back in May. Here’s an edited version of that story.
Who’s it for: Rexona by Naked and Curious.
Why we like it: Depending on your viewpoint, the last Rexona spot that aired around the Rugby World Cup was either overwrought and overly earnest or powerful and beautifully shot. The follow up is fairly earnest as well …
As the biggest lender to the rural sector, the National Bank knows more about how our agrarian warriors tick than most. And while this ad is an oldie that was made by DraftFCB and Robber’s Dog around the same time as the National Bank ‘For the Places you’ll Go’ campaign (we obviously we don’t watch enough Country Calendar and hadn’t seen it before), we reckon it’s a goodie.
While murmurings of a possible merger with the National Bank remain shrouded in secrecy, what is certain is that ANZ’s super-regional strategy, and more specifically the associated brand roll-out that comes with it, is doing something right after Asia-Pacific brand delivery company Diadem won an award for best brand implementation for its ANZ project as part of the seventh annual REBRAND 100 Global Awards.
The first episode of the new season of Country Calendar screened on ONE on Saturday night and it was interesting for a few reasons: 1) it’s the 45th year of the show. 2) Hyundai is the show’s new sponsor, bringing to an end a long relationship with the National Bank. And 3) it seems to add some weight to swirling speculation that the National Bank could be gearing up for a much-discussed merger with the big, blue ANZ mothership.
The RAPP team consisting of creative director Jason Hall, copywriter Kathy Riley, designer Asher Hutchings and Rachel Street on production duties has taken victory in the latest round of New Zealand Post’s Art of the Envelope awards for ‘Look Smart’, a piece to celebrate the launch of the National Bank’s Visa Debit card.
Behold these vespertine delights! Bluebird’s ‘Do us a flavour’ experiment reaches the stores; Vodafone’s new brand campaign is the pick of the always competitive telco bunch; the Big Mac and Quarter Pounder spots out of DDB Sydney hit the mark; Honda embraces Michaelangelo for its new Insight ad; the National Bank follows up its big brand relaunch with a suitably quirky home loan spot; Sam Neill multiplies for Kiwibank; the rise of Wilson continues; and Dan Carter strips off and goes extreme unicycling for Rexona.
Everyone loves passing judgment on new TVCs. Almost as much as they seem to love passing judgment on new logos. So here’s a massive selection of the newest/best Kiwi commercials we’ve seen recently, including the continuation of Wilson’s journey and some nice work for National Bank, Purina One, Jim Beam, Apex rentals and Kapiti ice cream.
DraftFCB snatched the National Bank account off Clemenger BBDO in October last year and since then, industry chinstrokers have been eagerly awaiting the fruits of the new relationship. Well, the new, zany, big budget, weirdly patriotic TVC epic has finally hit the shelves and it’s an interesting—and entertaining—evolution to a banking brand that’s long been seen as a fairly serious one.
Who’s it for: National Bank by DraftFCB and Robber’s Dog
Why we like it: Diehard Dr Seuss fans could potentially cry into their hands at the use of ‘Oh, the places you’ll go’ in a bank ad. But bank ad fans will presumably rejoice because …
Despite anecdotal evidence that suggests all banks are sneaky, recent actual research from the June 2010 Roy Morgan New Zealand Banking Customer Satisfaction Survey has revealed positive shifts in the overall satisfaction levels for most of the major banks, with TSB retaining its position at the top of the satisfaction pile, but Kiwibank is on its tail.
The axe appears to be in the process of swinging at Clemenger BBDO in Wellington.
The shift that dare not speak its name is true. ANZ/National has shifted its entire media account to Ogilvy, away from OMD.
The surprise move is a huge win for Ogilvy, which already handles the creative work for banking rival Kiwibank. According to Nielsen data, the combined ANZ/National …
Could spring winds finally be blowing to a marketing budget near you?
Recruiters in the marketing and communications industries are cautiously welcoming a ‘green shoots’ style recovery, lending credence to yesterday’s National Bank survey which claims record boosts in Kiwi business confidence.
The optimism is in stark contrast to …