NAB promises it's about 'More than money' in new brand campaign

Client: NAB

Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Markets: Australia

Name of campaign: 'More than money'

Campaign scope: Television, online, out-of-home, digital, social media and in-branch

Details: NAB's new campaign, which started with the TV commercial above, is based on recent research pointing to financial issues as a significant cause of anxiety.

The commercial follows an Australian girl’s life from birth to adulthood. Using real-life footage, which the agency claims is a first, the video shows precious moments in the girl’s life that are “more than money”, in an attempt to articulate the campaign's theme: that NAB is committed to understanding and supporting its customers as much as helping them with their money and business.

Michael Nearhos, general manager of brand and products marketing for NAB, described the campaign as “deeply embedded in the bank’s focus on making the complicated simple for our customers, being a bank that customers can count on and having a positive impact on people".

Campaign Asia-Pacific's comments: More and better are certainly expected of NAB and Clemenger BBDO. Their previous collaboration, NAB’s “Break up” campaign was creative and successful both in winning awards and in setting the bank apart from other banks that the Australian public perceived negatively.

This commercial underwhelms, as it seems detached from the aim of the campaign. While it has shown that life is much more than money, the TVC fails to show the role of the bank in supporting its customers or in “helping them by making banking easy and more personal,” as Andrew Knott, the CMO of NAB described. The commercial fails to convince that the bank can contribute to customers’ lives beyond providing banking services. Wwhile life is “more than money”, the bank does not seem to be a part of what is, indeed, beyond money.

That said, we may take comfort in the fact that this commercial is just the start of the campaign. A series of other content will be run, with another commercial following an NAB Business customer from its startup days through to international launch, and online video content featuring "inspiring" people whom NAB has supported along the way, amongst other material. Such material may hopefully touch customers more deeply.

CREDITS

Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Production company: Revolver
Director: Steve Rogers
Executive Producer: Pip Smart
Post production Offline: Arc
Editor: Simon Price
Producer: Joseph Perkins
Post Production online: ALTVFX