Storyboard: Forging a link between banking and business

THE CHALLENGE

Competition in the lucrative business banking industry has intensified and ANZ wanted a campaign that would connect with small business when it started a new campaign in March.

Excluding the newly acquired National Bank operation, business and rural lending accounts for 12 per cent of the ANZ's business. Business banking revenue increased 7 per cent last year.

The bank's business banking re-launch was part of a larger brand campaign begun in November last year and covering all the bank's market segments.

THE CAMPAIGN

The business banking campaign profiled real ANZ customers in advertising and associated material, which included direct mail, branch literature and an issue of 5c stamps minted with the co-operation of New Zealand Post and coinciding with the increase in the letter post rate from 40c to 45c.

Television commercials and print advertising began in March, featuring United Fisheries of Christchurch, the Haddad Brothers tailors of Otorohanga and Passage Rock Vineyard of Waiheke.

ANZ Business marketing manager Ginnie Marris said a key element of the brand campaign was to gain profile for the bank's business managers in the centres where they were located.

"We wanted to get over the message that our business managers are empowered to work with customers to help them succeed," she said.

"Our business customers have told us they want to deal only with people who have the flexibility to tailor-make decisions to fit their circumstances."

The bank also stepped up its commitment to business banking by increasing regional coverage and staff.

THE RESULTS

The brand campaign began as rival Westpac launched an advertising assault to try to increase its share of the business market.

"So far we have seen no evidence that our customer base has been eroded by the competitive activity," Ginnie Marris said. "To the contrary, the message 'The better we know you the more we can do' is resonating with small business and bringing more business to ANZ Bank."

Initial survey results following the brand campaign suggested that it had improved the bank's position among potential business customers.

A survey of 314 businesses indicated 21 per cent indicated that they would consider putting their business banking with ANZ, compared with 16 per cent in last year's Small Business Banking Monitor survey.

She said good results were also achieved in the advertising diagnostics, which looked at the way the campaign was seen and the impressions it created about ANZ's business banking.

Against a media buy that provided 76 per cent of the target market with the opportunity to see the ads, 58 per cent recalled them and a "relatively high" 22 per cent correctly ascribed them to ANZ.

The campaign achieved better ratings than the concurrent Westpac campaign on likeability, believability, relevance and "more likely to use".

But the Westpac campaign achieved a higher rating on whether the ads were seen as different from other bank advertising.