Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

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 leveraging a small budget 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 just NZD$2,800 media spend, 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 <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 an ATL budget of <$50K … and achieve ambitious brand objectives: • #1 position in sponsorship recognition • Highest penetration with 18-30y/o segment • Positively impact opinion of Kiwibank by >40% • Reach and engage competitor customers

Describe the creative idea (20% 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) back to NZ.

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 (30% 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), 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 - 43% increase in new website visitors 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.