The Campaign

Honouring a mistake is the quickest way to build brand trust – it shows we’re only human. The ‘mistake’, made by our intern ‘Tim’, was typo in an email to some of Velocity’s 7.5M members offering them a slice of 1 billion (instead of 1 million) Points. The more bank reward points people moved across, the bigger their share of the billion Points. After 24 hours of headlines and an explosion of commentary, we decided to honour the ‘mistake’ (like all trusted brands should) and framing this as the biggest points giveaway in Australian history. The Billion Point (that was supposed to be the Million Point) Giveaway. The consequences that followed were documented in a 40-part mini-series that played out across May.

Creative Execution

1st Party Data: Working closely with Velocity we mined their 7.5M member database to identify nine distinct cohorts based on interests, past transfer behaviour, and stage of the brand lifecycle. Black Mirror: Our proprietary ethnographic research tool, Black Mirror, was used to garner further insights into member and non-member audiences to validate existing behaviours, segmentation and campaign hypotheses. Focus groups: Qualitative research allowed us to examine non-members to gather insights into value driving propositions and sound out creative approaches without giving away the idea. Data identified our audience: We mapped the journeys and past interactions of the nine cohorts across all owned channels to ascertain what resonated. Determining their level of engagement and developing hypotheses around messaging and communications most likely to drive transfer behaviour. Data validated our hypotheses: Quantitative and qualitative research were used to find out what they valued and deemed important, but also got an insight into key barriers. We uncovered that trust is hard to earn in this sector, giving rise to our insight and creative springboard. Data modelling for an actionable plan: We created a statistical model which predicted the likelihood of conversion. Gaps identified by the model were analysed to develop tailored strategies for maximising conversions. The modeling allowed us to refine owned contact strategies and frequency of communications in favour of a single, holistic approach resulting in bespoke messaging for each cohort across all channels. Data for hyper-targeting and optimal investment: We built an addressable audience across Facebook-3.4M and DBM-1.2M to ensure the right message was being delivered to the right cohort. Personalised messages were delivered to each cohort sequentially regardless of the platform, providing a seamless narrative. Data matching in paid channels allowed us to extend the reach of the campaign in a relevant, highly targeted way, at scale.