KIWIBANK NEW ZEALANDER OF THE YEAR

TitleKIWIBANK NEW ZEALANDER OF THE YEAR
BrandKIWIBANK
Product / ServiceKIWIBANK BRAND
CategoryB10. Use of Social Platforms
EntrantKIWIBANK Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation FUSE NETWORK LIMITED Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Media Placement OMD NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
PR KIWIBANK Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
PR 2 FUSE NETWORK LIMITED Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production FUSE NETWORK LIMITED Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production 2 TVNZ BLACKSAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
David Lister Fuse @ OMD New Zealand Head of Experience
Gina Kindred Fuse @ OMD New Zealand Creative Director
Vikesh Patel Fuse @ OMD New Zealand Senior Social Account Director
Hannah Roberts Fuse @ OMD New Zealand Social Media Manager
Shaun Ellis TVNZ Blacksand Junior Creative Producer

Why is this work relevant for Media?

Creating a movement. Kiwibank is principal sponsor of New Zealander of the Year awards. Whilst a proof point for a Kiwi-owned bank, it was a property in decline. We needed to redefine our passive role and live up to our purpose: “Kiwis making Kiwis better off”. Using a socially-led strategy, we challenged Kiwis to support the winner’s suicide prevention affirmation ... “I AM HOPE” … on their Facebook profiles. With NZD$2,800 in social amplification, over half a million Kiwis (1 in 4 adults) uploaded the “I AM HOPE” profile frame – 1.9M engaged! Kiwibank got NZ talking about suicide prevention.

Background

Kiwibank operate in a category cluttered by overseas-owned competitors with large budgets; our SOV is under 10%. As a purpose-driven organisation we partner to drive positive change, including our longest-standing partnership as principal sponsor of the NZoTY. But, NZoTY was a property in decline (-6% awareness YoY), and was losing relevance for Kiwis. Positive impact for Kiwibank had plateaued. We had no natural place to play except as a badge sponsor looking for a halo effect; the current sponsorship format couldn’t address our declining brand metrics of differentiation, likeability, consideration and intent. We needed to redefine our passive role, get maximum leverage to overcome <10% SOV with a ATL budget of <$50K … and achieve ambitious brand metrics: • #1 position in sponsorship recognition • Highest penetration with 18-30y/o segment • Positively impact opinion of Kiwibank by >40% • Increase positive social sentiment by >20%

Describe the creative idea/insights (30% of vote)

Traditionally, we leveraged the announcement of award winners to drive awareness and association. For a purpose-driven organisation this passive role didn’t sit well – we challenged ourselves to make NZoTY a scalable proof point. The creative idea was to not focus on the winner, in 2019 a youth suicide prevention advocate, but rather their good work. Not an easy topic for a bank! With limited budget and a big cause we decided to make Kiwis the message and the media through a Facebook profile upload campaign… risky for a bank to get traction! We challenged NZ to collectively make a statement supporting fellow Kiwis experiencing mental health issues. Placing the affirmation, “I AM HOPE” across Facebook profiles and supporting each upload with a $1 donation allowed Kiwibank to enable a wider conversation than just NZoTY, powerfully linking our purpose (Kiwis making Kiwis better off) to NZ exclusively through social media.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The primary audience was 18–34; secondary all Kiwis. The strategy had 5 pillars based on our insight of focusing on award winning work: Live in social; Connect one-to-one and to many, creating a national discussion lead by 18–34y/os. Social holds us 100% authentic; Kiwibank were the enabler and no more. Overemphasizing our role would be easily identified by our audience and prevent uptake. Not our right to speak; We used the NZoTY winner as the influencer and voice of the campaign. He promoted the cause in social interviews. NZ was the message and media; Saying less worked – positive sentiment increased +74% as Kiwis drove our message and out-shouted critics on Kiwibank’s behalf. Have a real proof point; Kiwibank used actions not words with $1 per profile upload, going viral, peaking at 536,000. The strategy differentiated Kiwibank, authentically built corporate reputation by creating a movement.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

An agile working group of 2 Kiwibank and 2 agency representatives had the mandate to move at speed. With an ultra-light NZD$2,800 (USD$1,801) social spend this team created rapid exponential growth in earned media in just 6 days: 1. 4pm 18/02/2019 – Facebook interview live with a leading TV personality filmed 12hrs after NZoTY announced the winner, cause and the profile upload. 2. 19/02/2019 – Within 24hrs we had 18,236 uploads, by 48hrs we had 53,994 with strong earned media pick-up and commentary. 3. 20/02/2019 – A second Facebook video announced increased support up to $50k. 4. 22/02/2019 – We announced a final pledge of $100k which was achieved same-day. 5. Late 22/02/2019 – Uploads peaked at 536,000 driving talkability across every media channel. 6. We pivoted the conversation to Gumboot Friday, a day where all NZ could donate toward free counselling for young Kiwis.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign went viral with <$3,000 media spend ... - 536,000 Kiwis uploaded “I AM HOPE” in a country of 4.8Mil people - 48% of Kiwis reached & 40% engaged via social - 16Mil earned reach (NZ population 3x over) - 34,000% media ROI delivered - 41% sponsorship brand awareness (#1 overall), 486% above NZoTY’s secondary sponsor - 68% overall campaign awareness, with 89% across 18–24y/os, 79% across 24–39y/os - 74% lift in positive social sentiment towards Kiwibank Jan–Feb, 63% positive social sentiment score - 67% increase in opinion for those aware of the NZoTY sponsorship - 70% of major competitor customers reached, 26% engaged Kiwibank moved from a badge sponsor to a bank raising awareness of a critical issue on a shoe string budget, and rallied the country to raise in excess of $1.2 million in donations to charity Gumboot Friday through the use of social.

Links

Social Media URL   |   Social Media URL