Athena and The Royals remind Aussies that mortgages shouldn’t be a life sentence
A game-changing shake-up of the mortgage market has arrived with the launch of Athena – a home loan company on a mission to help Australians pay off their home loan faster.
“Life’s too short for a long home loan”: that’s the message from Australia’s newest home loan provider, Athena, which has kicked off a national launch campaign via The Royals, around the rallying cry “Love us and leave us”.
The new challenger brand is taking on the big banks and inviting Aussies to free themselves from mortgage bondage. The campaign announces Athena’s arrival as a genuine alternative to the big banks in the $1.7 trillion mortgage market, positioning the newcomer as a home loan wrecker.
Says Natalie Dinsdale, chief marketing officer, Athena: “Our proposition is that we will give you a great home loan, then we will help you get rid of it. That’s why we want you to love us and leave us.
“Research has told us that nearly all borrowers (93 per cent) want to pay off their home loans faster, but fewer than 1 in 5 think their lender wants them to succeed.”
The campaign has been in market for one week and has already generated $345 million in application pipeline.
Says Dinsdale: “Australians are taking 10 years longer to pay off their home loans than a generation ago and collectively, they’re paying an estimated $10 billion more than they need to each year. Athena’s mission is to change home loan lending in every way so that Australians can achieve financial freedom faster.”
In a market that is ripe for disruption following the fallout of the Royal Commission, Athena has been on a two-year journey to build a very different home lender on different foundations, focused single-mindedly on homeowners and their needs. They are proudly not a bank, and never will be. Athena’s innovative digital platform creates customer efficiencies with technology – avoiding the costs of bankers, branches and overheads – so that they can pass on the savings to customers via lower interest rates.
The first phase of the campaign includes executions across digital, social, out-of-home and PR.
Says Dinsdale: “We asked for a bold and differentiated campaign to generate cut-through and also to reflect Athena’s unique mission, and The Royals delivered exactly that. ‘Love us and leave us’ perfectly captures the Athena spirit of cutting through the banking jargon and general crap.”
Says Nick Cummins, creative partner, The Royals: “Athena has created a model that is simple, focused on customers, and uses funding and technology in the smartest way – our work sticks to the same principles. ‘Love us and leave us’ is a no-nonsense message that demonstrates Athena’s customer-centric DNA.”
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4 Comments
Lots of advertsing doesn’t mean a good product.
Definitely noticed these.
Whether it’s great or not yet to be seen. But kudos for getting their attention.
The product seems to be plain vanilla like all other providers. So how exactly is this a “wrecker”? And how do they help me get rid off my mortgage?
Seems like the usual marketing spin disconnected from the actual product …
Wonder if Athena will ‘love and leave’ The Royals like iSelect did almost a year ago after the “Life Admin” debacle which saw 30% of acquisition budget sprayed out into the brand ether – causing lead gen and revenue to tank….. (at the busiest time of the year where approx. 30% of $revs are made in a month). Genius. No wonder the CEO got the boot.