NAB out of control! Break ups on Valentine’s…

NAB has recently launched a campaign across all media (online, television and billboards) on the theme of ‘breaking up’ with the other big three banks. The campaign has generated buzz not just for NAB’s aggressive price cuts and customer poaching from Commonwealth Bank, but also for its marketing efforts, which have been unlike anything seen before or expected from a Big Bank.

At the moment the NAB has the lowest interest rate, further to that it is aggressively poaching Commonwealth and ANZ mortgage customers by offering to cover the $700 penalty exit fees to switch their home loans to NAB. Further to that the NAB has launched a massive marketing blitz through television, social media and billboards. The message is clear: ‘NAB will no longer play monopoly, status quo games with the other big banks.’ As many other business commentators have suggested, let the banking wars begin!

The Break Up Letter

One of NAB’s approaches has been the break up letter, a simple video written from the perspective of NAB to the other big banks. Not only is there a video of the letter being written but NAB has also put the letter up in their headquarters. The content of the letter is basically NAB stating that they no longer want to be associated with the big banks and their lack of customer service focus and over priced fees.

Check out the video below as well as a photo of the letter that was put up at NAB headquarters:

The letter which has been enlarged out and placed on NAB headquarters.

NAB’s social media strategy has been just as radical. Their YouTube page has various videos of actors breaking up in public, with one acting out NAB and the other acting out the other 3 banks (presumably). You can see these and other various videos on NAB’s YouTube page which you can get to by clicking this link.

However, probably the most extreme case of viral marketing is the video below. Not only is this particular video so brazen, it’s all the more so considering it’s created for a major bank, which are known in Australia at least, to have quite tame and uncontroversial advertisements. I won’t wreck the video for you, instead I encourage you to watch it below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BZl21_2tuo&feature=player_embedded

There were also the tissue boxes handed out by NAB outside its competitor’s branches and the banner flown over the city:

NAB has definately taken a big risk on their marketing, not to mention their business decisions. These moves have all ready attracted responses from other major banks. Of course the major question as with any other marketing campaign are whether NAB will see results from their efforts.

One part I will fault with the campaign though is the break ups carried out by actors for NAB. A clip can be seen below this paragraph. While the hidden camera footage is a good idea, the problem is that the camera is just too close to capture anyone’s reactions. Head Studios would have taken a shot from a distance and used wireless microphones like The Chaser’s used to do (notice the far camera at 1:20).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBgg1XmcCJ4&feature=player_embedded

I would like to congratulate NAB at the very least, for taking a creative risk and we’ll have to wait and see how this unfolds for their bottom line.

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