After months of anticipation Commonwealth Bank has launched its first major campaign produced by San Francisco advertising powerhouse Goodby Silverstein & Partners.
The 60-second TVC which will roll out tomorrow on free-to-air channels will run in isolation for one week, introducing the mocumentary style TVC series including its characters and the bank’s new tagline ‘Determined to be different’.
Called “Anthem” the first ad plays on the irony of an American agency taking over the advertising reigns of an iconic Australian brand – Commonwealth Bank.
The bank caused controversy within the local advertising industry when it sacked STW Communications and handed the $60 million advertising account to the US agency.
The commercial features Hollywood film director Michael Bay who presents a Mad Max themed commercial with giant koalas and a Crocodile Dundee inspired character as representation of “the ignorant” American’s take on stereotypical Australia.
Speaking at the launch in Sydney today, Goodby Silverstein & Partners creative director and partner, Steve Simpson said: “I have to be very clear that the characters are not Goodby Silverstein & Partners employees. It is true that Americans are a convenient foil for all the excesses of modern marketing. But it is really an advertising campaign about the artifices of advertising.
“We live in an incredibly media savvy time, you know everyone is now a film maker – as we see on YouTube. User generated content is all the rage, because everyone has had an ad idea. So, there is this interest about what goes on behind the scenes. So, the kind of making of this stuff becomes the subject of the advertising itself. I think there are clear stylistic nods to The Office – the way that the silence is played and the awkwardness of the clients’ reactions. What you see are bumbling culturally clueless Americans, and invariably polite patient Aussie clients.”
Following the initial launch this weekend, a series of different 30-second slots will be aired.
The advertising campaign will also encompass, print, outdoor, web and in-branch advertising. Goodby Silverstein has built an international reputation for developing campaigns with strong viral elements, which will also feature in this campaign. Simpson told B&T: “The web component will build over time. It will have a number of elements to it. It will probably link to social networking sites such as MySpace, with the character’s bios.”
As well as the brand campaign, the agency is also working on projects for Comm bank’s products including Netsaver.
At the time of switching the business to the US, Comm Bank’s chief marketing officer Mark Buckman said he wanted a “world class” campaign that would change consumer perception of the bank.
The decision to adopt the ‘Determined to be different’ tagline replaces the ‘Which bank?’ slogan that helped make the bank a household name.
