I’ve been taking my time on this one while Barbara (as in the ANZ ads) has been creeping up on me. In fact, I might say that she’s been creeping me out.
Outside the tram stop on Bourke Street in Melbourne her eyes follow me, as they do from tram and bus shelters.
It’s scary, in that Carol Beer from Little Britain “computer says no” way, and is perhaps one of the best current examples of the honest brilliance in current advertising, especially for a bank. In selling its strong customer service the campaign touches a raw nerve for all of us, thanks to the work of M&C Saatchi.
I wonder how many of us have had a Carol Beer experience with any large company on the phone. The endless trail through the telephone menu, only to be led to a dead end. Nobody says it in this case, but it really means “computer says no”.
It’s daring and I’d imagine it is gaining for ANZ almost as much traction as the brilliant Yellow Pages “Not happy Jan” campaign, created by Clemenger BBDO.
Then we come to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s work for the controversial marketing of the Commonwealth Bank from Goodby Silverstein & Partners. It has the whimsical vibe of the film Amelie but what does it really say? Ostensibly it says that it does great work for a children’s charity. And lately that it offers amazing customer service. Or at least calls you back.
It looks very nice. It’s easy on the ear and the eye.
But in this congested world of advertising doers it really stand out and do what’s required.
Probably, we shall never know, as it is probably difficult to remove the sheer mortgage competitiveness and momentum of simply being a huge bank from the customer acquisition equation.
But just as with Jan and Carol, I pity anybody called Barbara.
And now it’s time for me to bow out from this blog to focus on a couple of social media projects, which demand more time of me.
I’ve been taking my time on this one while Barbara (as in the ANZ ads) has been creeping up on me. In fact, I might say that she’s been creeping me out.
Outside the tram stop on Bourke Street in Melbourne her eyes follow me, as they do from tram and bus shelters.
It’s scary, in that Carol Beer from Little Britain “computer says no” way, and is perhaps one of the best current examples of the honest brilliance in current advertising, especially for a bank. In selling its strong customer service the campaign touches a raw nerve for all of us, thanks to the work of M&C Saatchi.
I wonder how many of us have had a Carol Beer experience with any large company on the phone. The endless trail through the telephone menu, only to be led to a dead end. Nobody says it in this case, but it really means “computer says no”.
It’s daring and I’d imagine it is gaining for ANZ almost as much traction as the brilliant Yellow Pages “Not happy Jan” campaign, created by Clemenger BBDO.
Then we come to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s work for the controversial marketing of the Commonwealth Bank from Goodby Silverstein & Partners. It has the whimsical vibe of the film Amelie but what does it really say? Ostensibly it says that it does great work for a children’s charity. And lately that it offers amazing customer service. Or at least calls you back.
It looks very nice. It’s easy on the ear and the eye.
But in this congested world of advertising does it really stand out and do what’s required.
Probably, we shall never know, as it is probably difficult to remove the sheer mortgage competitiveness and momentum of simply being a huge bank from the customer acquisition equation.
But just as with Jan and Carol, I pity anybody called Barbara.
And now it’s time for me to bow out from this blog to focus on a couple of social media projects, which demand more time of me.
