MyState Bank launches new ‘Numbers and Feelings’ campaign via The Royals

MyState Bank is a 62-year-old Tasmanian bank with a big plan – a determination to become remarkable, cut-through to a new audience and get noticed nationally, all while keeping banking services simple and staying ‘human’ for their customers. The bank has launched a new campaign by The Royals.

This new and ambitious focus on marketing stems from MyState’s bold corporate strategy, created to dramatically grow the business. The significant expansion of activities is designed to build MyState’s brand beyond Tasmania to the mainland, without alienating its large and loyal local customer base.

The campaign spend and long-term creative platform investment signifies the largest ever advertising push from MyState Bank and leverages off its strong financial position, reputation as a community-player, and high customer advocacy scores in their homeland of Tasmania and across the eastern states.

MyState Bank now has over 150,000 customers, with more than 18,000 joining over the past year. With a traditional branch network still operating across Tasmania and a Hobart call centre, MyState Bank is using the strength of its human connections to shape and forge its way nationally into the digital bank territory, with a focus on better online and app experiences.

Being ‘the human way to bank’ forms part of how MyState Bank connects with its customers – showing them how a bank fits into their life, not the other way around. And it’s working, with industry-leading NPS scores for both new and existing customers.

MyState believes the time is right for a campaign of this scale. The ASX-listed business is now also one of Australia’s fastest growing home loan lenders, providing a streamlined loan approvals process, modern digital platform and consistently delivering conditional approval turnaround times of two business days.

Being ‘the human way to bank’ and earning the trust of customers and clients, has helped a challenger brand like MyState Bank to stand out and leap ahead in a competitive banking category. This is no longer a pitch against the ‘Big 4’, with neobanks and fintechs all looking to muscle in to the territory.

MyState Bank’s new campaign ‘Numbers & Feelings’ has launched in Melbourne on primetime free-to-air, shouting that great outcomes are possible when our head and heart work together.

The campaign also reinforces MyState Bank’s brand positioning, ‘the human way to bank’, and explores balancing the emotional and rational aspects of decision making – which is what life is all about.

The campaign tackles the unnecessarily complicated nature of banking in Australia, and wants you to feel human and in control of your finances – at MyState Bank you are not just a number run by an algorithm. They understand that truly human-friendly banking cuts out the unnecessarily complicated processes, helping people balance their heads (the numbers) with their hearts (their feelings) – and providing a banking experience which satisfies both.

The campaign also highlights MyState Bank’s award-winning ‘Insights’ function available on its app and online, giving customers a sense of relief that there are simple products to help you stay on top of your money and make smarter decisions.

Says Heather McGovern, GM digital and marketing, MyState Bank: “We believe we’re better at being real and human than others banks. It’s in MyState’s DNA, it’s not something we are trying to create or retrofit, it’s been who we are for 62 years. That comes from the friendly and helpful voice in our call centre through to the way we tackle building out our app, and taking a customer first approach. As a challenger brand, the job for MyState is to cut through and connect with people. The Royals have delivered a distinctive and relatable campaign that brings to life what makes us different from other banks, all while bringing a smile of recognition to people’s faces.”

Says Andrew Branwhite, head of brand and advertising at MyState Bank: “MyState Bank prides itself on having a human touch when dealing with our customers in person or across digital platforms. It’s important to show this rather than tell you we have a call centre, and it’s also important to tell a story that’s not too banky. With our two heroines Numbers and Feelings and the bright and bold imagery, we’re reminding Australians that we can enable them to do what they want with the human touch, which makes all the difference. We believe this new campaign has achieved that.”

Sayss Sebastian Vizor, executive creative director, The Royals: “To stand out in a sea of same-same bank advertising, we knew we had to deliver something that would truly connect. The sitcom-style execution draws in our audience and strips away complexity and jargon, making it a lot easier to empathise with the juggle of getting the balance right between Numbers and Feelings. This was a true team effort, with everyone involved bringing their own unique perspective and expertise with a wrapping of craft, and we couldn’t be happier.”

Client: MyState Bank
GM Digital & Marketing: Heather McGovern
Head of Brand & Advertising: Andrew Branwhite
Advertising & Media Manager: Theresa Lord
Campaign: Numbers and Feeling

Agency: The Royals

Production Company: Sweetshop
Director: Kate Halpin
Managing Director: Edward Pontifex
Producer: Allison Lockwood
DOP: Max Walter
Casting Director: Sarah Alekna
Offline: Arc Edit
Editor: James Ashbolt
Grade: Matt Fezz
Online: Chris Betteridge
Original music and sound: Sonar Music
Stills Production
Production Company: Majella Productions
Still photographer: Phebe Schmidt
Producer: Gabrielle Pearson
Media Agency: Che Proximity