Time has been a fairly popular theme for Kiwi brands in recent months, with Hyundai running its Family Time Project and ANZ just releasing a couple of ads detailing how time really is money. TSB has also joined that club, with a new campaign via Special Group that aims to turn potential customers on to its business by promoting its ‘putting customers first’ philosophy.
TSB switched from its old alien mascot and the tagline of ‘New Zealand’s most recommended bank‘ to a smooth talking, latte sipping mascot and the tagline of ‘Bank Better’ last year, taking viewers on a trip through the bank’s indie history. It has been beating the customer service drum for a while now, and it’s continued it’s good form in that regard after being recognised by Canstar in April last year for having more satisfied customers than any other New Zealand bank, retaining its number one position in the 2013 Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction ‘Financial Institution of the Year’ and again being named Sunday Star Times ‘People’s Choice’.
As it says on the website: “We’re different to other banks. We’ve been independent and New Zealand owned ever since we started in 1850 and not having overseas owners means we can make decisions based on what’s best for our customers. We think putting you first is just a better way to bank.”
So, in an effort to encourage switching, it’s released an ad showing Michael Marshall getting a very special fishing trip to the Coromandel to make up for his “current big bank” giving him the run around.
“Because his bank wasn’t putting him first, we thought we would. So we gave Michael his time back to do something he really wanted. We picked him up in his favourite Holden Commodore SV6, let him drive it to the local heliport, and then put Michael aboard a chopper to go helifishing for the day. Even better, Michael caught his snapper.”
As part of the campaign it’s also asking Kiwis to tell the bank about their perfect day (and how much it would cost) on Facebook and then making a few dreams come true by giving them the cash (if they have an active TSB account, of course).
It’s also offering another switching incentive, with all new personal customers who arrange for their income to be direct credited before the end of July going in to the draw for a dining experience with past MasterChef winner Chelsea Winter.
Back in May, TSB Bank’s annual report showed a pre-tax profit for the 12 months to 31 March 2014 of $67.8 million, down $5.7 million on last year’s result “due to an impairment provision for redeemable preference shares held in the state owned enterprise, Solid Energy NZ”. Chief executive Kevin Murphy said its market share growth and prominence over the last 12 months resulted from “increasing resonance of the bank’s unique ‘100 percent New Zealand owned and independent’ status and ‘putting customers first’ positioning”.
“Over the past 12 months we have experienced continued funding growth from customers all over New Zealand, which has seen depositor’s funds surpass the $5 billion mark. With a wide range of accounts on offer, customers are increasingly making use of the bank’s newer online product suite. We have a strong desire and determination to grow market share without affecting our high customer satisfaction scores, and will continue to invest in technology and people to ensure the customer experience across the bank’s various touch-points remains positive.”
Its app [My]Bank, which let customers personalise their mobile banking experience, was launched in 2012.
