Roland's got a gift for TV

By IRENE CHAPPLE

New Zealand and London-based Fine Young Cannibals singer Roland Gift have always got on well.

Gift's mum rather loved it when she visited here, and told her son. He came and bought a property in Coromandel.

Then he met a New Zealand woman, Louise, and now they have two boys, aged nine and 12.

When Gift fronted Bank Direct advertisements between 1997 and 2001, cut through - the industry's jargon for how many people remember the brand - was between 20 and 30 per cent. New Zealanders warmed to the man whose quietly humorous expression floated on their television screens.

His mouth was the only thing that moved in a campaign that reminded consumers that Bank Direct was a bank with no branches. Access was through the internet and the phone.

It was all very futuristic. The shaven head of Gift, a honey-coloured Brit with arched eyebrows, high cheekbones and full lips, created a somewhat other-worldly frontman.

New Zealanders didn't forget and even after four years Gift endured as the consumer's visual imprint of Bank Direct.

In August the campaign was shortlisted as one of industry magazine Admedia's best from the last 20 years. The list was collated by communications company Strategic Insight.

And then last month Bank Direct's good thing returned.

The first advertisement was a brief reintroduction to the man once voted by People magazine as one of the sexiest in the world.

"Boo," said Gift, then the ad was over. Now the campaign is gathering speed, recalling the simplicity that marked its original outing but dumping the futuristic feel for a more personable touch. The bank is pushing its text capabilities and wanted to return to television after years of print-focused campaigns.

"Bringing back Roland," said Ant Salmon, managing director of advertising agency Big Communications, "was the logical step."

His no-nonsense delivery of messages, with a sly touch of humour, "is the perfect fit".

Gift is considering a year-long stay in the Coromandel, where he likes to take long walks and swim.

He said he felt "very comfortable" in New Zealand and pondered why we, in return, quite like him: "It may well be that I had a big record [The Raw and the Cooked of 1989]. And I've been to New Zealand and I have a New Zealand partner. So it might well be that I've got a connection there."

The 41-year-old's big record is well in the past now.

Then Gift was the face of the Fine Young Cannibals' pop-soul hits.

His distinctive voice set the band apart from the crowd of British soulsters clammering for attention in the post punk-rock era.

The band conquered America but then collapsed. Gift and the former Cannibals, in his words, "ran out of things to say" and now two of them don't say anything to the other.

He sank from public view to raise his children and reappeared two years ago with a self-titled solo effort which bombed.

Gift and his record company split and since then he has been writing scripts and songs. A single, which Gift will release independently, is pending.

Gift, whose campaign for Bank Direct is his first advertising role, was surprised to be asked again. But he's happy to keep doing it. "I don't see why not. But I have to be able to enjoy it. If it stopped being fun I think it would show."