CASE STUDY: BUILDING BRAND FAME

How a Scottish stand-up helps Aussies sit up and take notice

Background
When we think ‘financial institution’ we mostly think of a large, faceless corporation. So when ING launched in Australia they wanted to change all of that to reflect a more accessible, down-to-earth image.

ING engaged Billy Connolly to front its campaigns in the lead up to their brand change from Mercantile Mutual to ING in early 2001.

His first campaign was to introduce ING as the global parent brand of Mercantile Mutual, then to launch the ING brand as the new name.

The use of famous Scottish comic, Billy Connolly, as the talking head of ING’s TV commercials was so successful in achieving that aim; he continues to be the face of ING Australia five years later promoting ING’s products, services and capabilities in investments, insurance and superannuation.

Objectives and Challenges
Sales & Marketing Brand Communications Manager with ING, Veronica Phillips, says ING wanted its messages to have credibility with the increasingly sceptical consumer.

“We were looking for a popular public identity, with a humorous, irreverent approach to fulfill the role of the sceptical consumer, rather than someone to be the spokesperson 'voice of the company', as we felt this would have stronger resonance with consumers.

“Billy had exactly the right personality and profile to fit the strategy.”

ING Australia’s ongoing campaign objectives are to:

• Maintain brand awareness, consistency and integrity
• Increase awareness of ING in individual product categories to help drive consideration
• Maintain our competitive position in relation to key image attributes

Target
Males and females between the ages of 40–65 with a household income of $70K plus and investments of $50K or more.

The Campaign
ING’s campaigns have been designed to deliver simple, clear messages about what the company offers and what ING can do for its customers.

The bulk of advertising is focused on Free TV with four bursts of 4 weeks each spread across the year between March/April to November. Outdoor, pay TV and print are used to complement and support the primary TV activity.

“Using a talent such as Billy Connolly lends itself to TV executions,” says Ms Phillips.

“Through TV we are able to use Billy's distinctive irreverent humour to gain attention, connect with the public and deliver our clear and simple messages about what ING can deliver for our customers.”

Results
Within one year of the brand change, ING had established stronger brand awareness and performance against key attributes than it ever had under the Mercantile Mutual brand.

To maintain ING as a leading wealth management brand in Australia, Billy Connolly continues to front ING campaigns.

Ms Phillips says ING undertakes regular brand health research to assess brand awareness, performance against key attributes and effectiveness of communication.

“These show we remain one of the leading brands in wealth management.

“Our awareness levels are above 90% and we are tracking ahead of competitors in key image attributes that are associated with the brand.”

The role of Free TV
Ms Phillips says the use of Billy Connolly in the TV executions have led to memorable creative executions.

“It’s enabled us to keep the messages we are delivering around superannuation, investments and insurance, fresh and interesting.

“Our research shows that TV consistently has the highest level of recall for our advertising. On average, recall for our advertising on TV is 4-5 times higher than any other medium.”

CASE STUDY: AAMI

Why AAMI loves TV

AAMI has a strong heritage of using television and humour to successfully engage audiences.

Its latest effort is no exception.

Background
AAMI understands that many Australians are paying more than they need to for insurance.

Last year, to underline the competitiveness of its pricing AAMI’s advertising featured a series of light-hearted TV executions which told people ‘There’s a better way to save’. These focused on the funny (and often fruitless) things people do to save money: such as the father who takes a family on an outing on a hot summer’s day and tries to save by not using the car’s air conditioning; or the Dad who tried charging his kids a fare for their lift to school (morning Max!).

The ads got people thinking of ways to save money, and then presented them with a better option – switching to AAMI.

Objectives
At the beginning of 2008, AAMI’s agency, Badjar Ogilvy was again set the challenge of telling Australians that AAMI could save them money. As in previous work, AAMI wanted to convey this message with humour through the use of memorable and engaging characters. The aim was to increase brand awareness and drive sales.

Target Market
Insurance is a product for anyone who has something to protect (a car, home or belongings) – so AAMI has a very broad audience. However, the core target for the campaign was People 25-49.

The Solution
A campaign was developed with a new twist on the ‘save money’ message. This time, instead of people saving money to benefit themselves, we see things from a different perspective; ‘Save for their sake’.

In all three ads created for the campaign, the central character sends a message to a loved one under the pretence of wanting them to save money by switching to AAMI.

The popular and much-talked about ‘jewellery store’ execution sees a girl pleading to her boyfriend, ‘Toddy’ to save money, in the hope that he will one day soon present her with an engagement ring. The ad is a light-hearted take on the notion that women are sometimes ready to tie the knot well before their partners have even considered the idea.

The other executions feature a young boy who is hoping for a new remote control car and twins who desperately wanted some new (non-matching) clothes.

The ‘jewellery store’ execution is aimed at the younger end of the core target; while the ‘toy car’ and ‘twins’ executions were aimed at the older end of the spectrum; those who were more likely to be parents.

The core ideas from the 30 sec TV ads were all leveraged across other elements of the marketing mix including press, radio and online.

The Role of TV
AAMI maintains a strong on-air presence right across the year with the aid of its sporting telecast sponsorships (summer cricket, AFL and NRL). They say this strategy has worked well in keeping AAMI top-of-mind in a marketing landscape that is increasingly commoditised and features high levels of switching behaviour.

Television was employed in the campaign because of its ability to raise awareness with a broad audience. In particular, the way television could get their brand talked about. The ‘jewellery store’ execution became a perfect example of this, generating lots of conversation whenever it airs.

Results
When the ‘jewellery store’ execution came back on air in June this year, AAMI saw its advertising awareness score reach a record high of 83 per cent.

AAMI executive manager of marketing, Richard Riboni, says the campaign works on many levels. “It has led to an increase in calls and an increase in sales,” he says. “But just as important, it has been responsible for implanting the brand on the public; there is no mistaking or misunderstanding that ‘that’ commercial is for AAMI.”

CASE STUDY: BANKWEST

Happy Banking

Background
BankWest has been serving Australians for over 100 years - originally as the Agricultural Bank of WA; then as the R&I Bank and since 1994 as BankWest. In its home state of Western Australia, BankWest is a well-established brand with over one-quarter of all bank advances and deposits. In 2007, BankWest began a major expansion plan to the eastern states.

Challenges & Objectives
The major challenge was to create brand awareness. Prior to the Happy Banking campaign; brand awareness didn’t really exist outside of WA.

The objective of the campaign was therefore two-fold: create brand awareness with an immediacy that would support the new stores; and provide a reason for consumers to consider the bank by positioning it as offering something different to the “Big 4”.

Target Market
The core audience for BankWest’s messaging is people who are generally less traditional in their life/world view and open to the suggestion of trying new things. These customers know that it’s not just about the price; they judge value according to what’s important to them.

Research/Insight
BankWest found the strength of animosity towards the Big 4 banks was considerable right across the country. Yet an initiative it had as a brand was to strive to give its customers the happiest experience possible. So BankWest knew that its point of difference - its customerfocus – had to be central to the communication.

Research into what exactly it is that Australian’s want from their bank has been fundamental in creating the Happy Banking experience. The plan was to win new customers by offering genuine differences in the banking experience.

The new BankWest stores for example, are located in major east coast shopping centres, retail precincts or commercial districts. Extended opening hours including weekends and innovative product offerings are features of the new stores.

The Solution
Happy Banking! Happy Banking was developed by BankWest to provide a more happy and positive banking experience for Australians. The new BankWest stores break the traditional banking mould, ditching unfriendly teller barriers, frustrating customer queues, pens on chains and bland design in favour of comfortable and inviting open-plan spaces that feel more like a café than your local bank. BankWest’s communication at all levels needed to reflect this philosophy and so the Happy Banking campaign was developed.

The key communication messages have had to differ from state to state. For example, in WA and NSW BankWest is an established brand so communications have had a more product-based focus on mortgages and savings accounts. In Queensland and Victoria however, where there wasn’t as big a presence with store networks, the TVCs were the main vehicle for uplift in brand awareness as well as promoting the online products.

The Role of TV
As creating brand awareness on the east coast was critical in the early stages of the bank’s expansion, television was chosen as the key media for the campaign. Not only did BankWest want people to become familiar with the brand, but it wanted Australians to know it was not a traditional bank. And so the campaign was not at all like a traditional banking campaign, featuring talking animals and flowers.

“Television is very important to us. Why? Because customers watch television,” says BankWest’s Chief Marketing Officer, David Morgan. “We’re really trying to find ways to get our brand awareness out with immediacy, and with strength and with stature – and television is a fabulous opportunity for us to do that.”

Results
The use of television commercials has been very successful. BankWest has had measurable success through significant spikes in enquiries about its products via the website and telephone as a direct result of the TVCs running in both the west and east coast.

Quantative, qualitative and anecdotal research reveals the success of BankWest’s marketing strategy: Roy Morgan polling after the Happy Banking campaign was launched showed BankWest jumping well ahead of the Big 4 on customer satisfaction; and brand awareness on the east coast more than doubled through 2008. BankWest was awarded the 2008 Bank of the Year in the Australian Financial Review Smart Investor Blue Ribbon Awards; testament to the success achieved to date in becoming a major player in the Australian financial sector.