Westpac Bank “Local Banker” campaign

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It’s not often that you come across an impressive marketing campaign, but the Westpac “Local Banker” campaign one from Westpac certainly deserved a write up.

Firstly, what is this Westpac campaign about?

Westpac’s campaign around the fact that are bringing back over 600 bank managers – in an effort to communicate the fact that they’re focused on customer service. I mean, the essence of this campaign isn’t anything entirely new when it comes to bank marketing – St. George and the other majors constantly focus on their “customer service”, but this time Westpac used some clever execution.

How was the campaign executed?

So far, I have personally been exposed to three mediums:

• TV: A TV Campaign, featuring actual Westpac bank managers
• Print: a printed brochure with details on the local bank managers (in my case, for the local Sydney CBD branches)
• Web: A dedicated website for the campaign – www.westpac.com.au/localbanker
• Street Staff: The actual local business mangers took to the streets, personally handing out the print brochures and greeting Sydney-siders.

So, why do I think this is a stand-out campaign?

This morning – doing my usual walk from the train station to my office on York St, I saw a couple of people handing out brochures. I instantly thought it was another charity or fitness centre, doing standard advertising, but this time it was actually quite different – the bank managers from the local Westpac CBD branches were personally handing out print brochures (oh, and lollipops! haha).

I think this campaign was primarily successful for the following reasons:

1. The campaign used multiple mediums.
   The use of Web, Print and TV deliving a high message frequency and reach. I’ve seen many a time where TV ads don’t include a web address or even a phone number – Westpac were guilty of this with their TV commercial.
2. The campaign focused on real people.
   If you watch the TV commercials you can tell it’s real staff, not a bunch of actors. They’re awkward when they speak, and this actually communicates the fact that they’re real people, just like the potential customers/customers that they’re targetting with the commercial.
3. Westpac put a face and a person to the campaign.
   Having the brochure personally handed to me by the local Westpac CBD branch business manager was the perfect finishing touch for me for this campaign. It really made me relate the TVC with the real life experience. This worked well because the TVC communicates a “real person” to the Westpac brand, and I was actually able to meet the local bank manager.

Check it out:

Westpac “Local Banker” TV Campaign

Here’s an example advertisement – there were several different versions of the TV ad.

Westpac Brochure “We’re bringing back over 600 bank managers”

The brochure featured all the staff members for the local CBD branches, their full namesalong with their qualifications, interests, and a bit about their peresonality, the brand they’re a manager of – and even their mobile number!

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