Brand Position

One thing our industry (marketing and communications) is often guilty of is being too close to our own work. We sometimes find it hard to have an objective view of how deeply a campaign has resonated with customers (which is all that matters in the end).  I can’t help but think this is the case with NAB and their recent rate move.

The ‘more give, less take’ promise by NAB to its customers was a bold move, but one that seemed to pay great dividends. It won a heap of awards, got people talking, and won NAB market share. You can imagine those in the NAB marketing department being pretty satisfied for having developed and executed a differentiated  strategy in a market where it is particularly difficult to do so, and characterised by ‘short-term’ shifts in strategic focus.  The campaign would have been 6-12 months in development, and has now been in the marketplace for a similar time.

I am sure customer research results were also very positive.

But what is difficult to measure is how ‘deeply’ a campaign has resonated with customers. It’s hard for people to tell you that, research can only uncover so much. Customers have been cynical of banks since day one.  There is a deep-seated view by most customers that banks are all the same.