NAB gets even more ‘Unpopular’ in new phase of the campaign via Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

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Screen shot 2011-05-09 at 12.08.03 PM.jpgNAB has launched the next phase of its ‘Break up’ marketing strategy with a TV campaign via Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

The first television commercial called ‘Unpopular’ will be followed by further TV, radio, digital, large format outdoor, experiential activity, social media and PR over the coming week.

The initial phase of the ‘Break up’ campaign was launched on Valentine’s Day earlier this year with a public announcement that NAB was ‘breaking up’ with the other banks. The campaign included social media activity followed by public break ups in restaurants, messages delivered directly to the other banks and a ‘Dear John’ letter that ran in media nationally.

 

‘Break up’ is the latest installment in NAB’s differentiated strategy, launched over two years ago.

 

During this time NAB has led the industry in abolishing some of the most disliked fees, differentiating them from the other Big Banks. They no longer fitted in.

 

The ‘Break up’ campaign delivered strong business results for NAB; a 79% increase in home loan enquiries, a 50% increase in credit card applications, and a 20% increase in transaction account openings week-on-week. To date, over 175,000 new customers have joined NAB since February 14, demonstrating that what is good for customers is good for business.

 

The second phase of the ‘Break up’ campaign carries the theme of ‘We’re not very popular with the other banks anymore. We must be doing something right’.

 

Launched on Sunday night, it shows the consequences from the ‘Break up’. Predictably the ‘Break up’ hasn’t won NAB any friends within the industry. It has put the spotlight on ANZ, CommBank, and Westpac and not surprisingly, they haven’t taken kindly to it. The television commercial takes a wry look at how the other banks have reacted to ‘Break up’.

 

Says Andrew Hagger, group executive, NAB: “Our half year results have shown that there is good momentum in the business.  We have lifted our market share in both home lending and household deposits.  NAB has also won a number of industry awards this year, including Cannex’s Most Satisfied Customer Award.

 

“We recently announced that we would extend our offer to pay the $700 home loan exit fees for CommBank and Westpac customers until the end of financial year.  We have seen a significant increase in the number of CommBank and Westpac customers that have switched to NAB to access its lower standard variable home loan rate – by 43% and 37% respectively, since NAB broke up with the other banks.

 

“We’ve also seen over a 70% increase in the number of new mortgage customers to NAB since we broke up with the other banks.

 

“The “Break up” campaign was a deliberate move by NAB to underpin these initiatives and encourage fairer and more competitive banking for Australians.  Collectively these steps and positive results have made us unpopular with our peers. We see this as a mark of its success that will continue to pave the way for more competition in the banking marketplace.

 

“The only popularity we are looking for is with our customers, and we continue to listen to them and work hard to deliver the sort of banking Australians are really looking for with their personal banking, business and wealth needs.” says Hagger.