The Campaign

Australians have always believed their 4 biggest banks, Commonwealth, Westpac, ANZ and National Australia Bank (NAB) work together fixing fees and eliminating competition. The reality however is the opposite. NAB had in fact spent 2 years making dramatic changes abolishing fees and lowering interest rates, all to be considered fairer and more competitive by customers. But due to this perception of being ‘together’ people had almost refused to notice. Instead of fighting this perception of the banks being ‘together’, we instead decided to embrace it by letting the public witness NAB break up with the other banks. Every moment of the break up had to help people believe NAB had really changed. Thus it couldn’t work through conventional advertising, but instead had to come to life in a channel people already readily believed: the news. In a single day the public’s perception of NAB was transformed. By dominating the Australian news, NAB’s changes were given an immediate credibility advertising alone simply could not deliver. People now see the bank as not only different, more fair and competitive, but also much more relatable and human. The break up generated $5 million of earned PR media in a single day.

The Brief

Consumer research had told us again and again how much people disliked and distrusted the four big banks. More specifically why - they were annoyed how the big banks pretended to be competing when they were in fact in bed together trying to make a profit. Regardless of the truth, the perception of big bank collusion was clearly deeply imbedded in their minds. So much so, we knew our goal had to be: Overcome this perception barrier, so the public would finally acknowledge the 2 years of change NAB had undergone to become more fair and competitive.

Results

In a single day the public’s perception of the bank was absolutely transformed. By actively harnessing the Australian media across multiple channels simultaneously, NAB’s changes were given an immediate credibility traditional advertising simply could not deliver. People now see the bank as not only different, more fair and competitive – but also much more relatable and human. The break up itself generated $5 million of earned PR media in a single day. It was the most discussed topic on Twitter in the country. Positive online posts about NAB have increased 320%. While the original objective was a 15% lift in loan and credit card enquiries, since the break up there has in fact been a 79% increase week on week in NAB home loan enquiries. A 50% increase week on week in NAB credit card applications and finally - a 20% increase week on week new transaction accounts being opened.

Execution

Every moment of the break up was orchestrated to be both shareable through social media, as well as a potential news grab for the media. It began with the bank posting a simple tweet about ‘hurting feelings’ that everyone immediately assumed was a mistake and therefore spread, starting huge online chatter about NAB. Next a very personal break up letter to the other banks appeared in every major Australian newspaper, while simultaneously online, people discovered 60 films of NAB bankers breaking up with the other banks nationwide. Both immediately generated enormous news coverage. Soon the media was struggling to keep up, as NAB then ambushed the other banks with break up messages on the streets and in the sky. As the media story exploded as planned using all our created content, it made people visit an online ‘break up blog’ that let them finally discover all of NAB’s changes.

The Situation

Australians have always believed their 4 biggest banks, Commonwealth, Westpac, ANZ and National Australia Bank (NAB) work together fixing fees and eliminating competition. The reality however is the opposite. One of the four, NAB had in fact spent 2 years making dramatic changes such as abolishing fees and lowering interest rates, all to be considered fairer and more competitive by customers. But the changes had little impact on the public because the perception of collusion between the banks was so strong that it had actually prevented people noticing. NAB needed to somehow make people see the bank they had become.

The Strategy

We believed NAB could in fact embrace this perception of being ‘together’ and actually use it to make people see how they had changed. How? By letting them witness NAB break up with the other banks. In one extremely public, powerful moment, that would capture the media and the nation’s attention. A public moment that would make it clear NAB was now different from the other big banks. We understood that to truly alter people’s perceptions about the bank, every moment of the break up had to help people believe NAB had really changed. To achieve this we realized we couldn’t communicate through conventional advertising methods, but instead had to work through channels people already readily believed – the news.