National Australia Bank is launching a new brand strategy after recognising consumer confidence has been down in the dumps for several years despite the low interest rate environment.
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Using the new tagline More Than Money, NAB hopes to be seen as the bank to use for achieving life's goals.
"More Give, Less Take was right for its time, particularly coming through the global financial crisis," NAB's chief marketing office Andrew Knott told BusinessDay, referring to the tagline that has been used since 2010. That line referred to NAB's willingness to lend money when the credit crunch made it difficult to get a loan.
The problem now is increasing house prices, multiple career changes in a rapidly evolving economy, and a general fear of the unknown.
"Consumer degrees of confidence is at an all-time low and has declined over the past three years. We saw that coming through loud and clear [in the research]," Mr Knott said.
The campaign would show NAB recognises money as an enabler in life, not a goal in itself, he said. NAB's campaign uses images of personal goals that are expensive but have little or no financial benefit, such as having children, caring for pets, and growing vegetables.
While NAB could not do anything to "fundamentally shift the price of the housing market", it could help young people buy a house through responsible lending, he added.
The campaign was done with Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and will be launched across television, print, out of home, digital and social.
Mr Knott's previous job was with McDonald's in Asia, overseeing media and digital strategy across the region. He said while hamburgers and home loans had very different levels of commitment from customers, there was common ground in "understanding what the customer needs and how you best meet that".
NAB has focused on improving customer service under chief executive Andrew Thorburn, who in 2014 said customer satisfaction had to be deeply embedded not "a nice little tagline or some simple, superficial things".
Asked whether the new branding was just a nice little tagline, Mr Knott said the brand update was "a reflection of what is occurring in the business".
NAB uses the net promoter score [NPS] system of measuring customer loyalty. Since 2013 it has improved its score for debt-free customers from -12 to -4, rising from third best among the big four banks to the best. And from having the worst NPS among small business customers in 2013 with a score of about -18 to the best with a score of -11, according to a spokeswoman.
The bank has removed several "customer pain points" such as a six-week waiting period and hundreds of dollars in fees for customers switching to a fixed interest rate, requiring both joint account holders to be present when opening a new account, and setting up a 24-hour service centre for overseas customers.
