Breaking THE ICE

New Zealanders’ reluctance to talk about their finances is a challenge for banks looking to have meaningful conversations with would- be new customers, so Kiwibank decided to push the boundaries of marketing to get Kiwis to speak up.

The challenge

Opening up about money is not something that comes comfortably to New Zealanders. In fact, according to Kiwibank, many would rather talk about their sex-lives than their finances, which could explain why the bank’s research found that 85 percent of Kiwis didn’t have enough financial education.

Furthermore, 48 percent were worried about their debt levels, 54 percent were struggling to get on the property ladder and 56 percent were worried about the size of their mortgage.

It sounds like a problem that could be attributed to a lack of financial tools or advice, but Kiwibank believes it truly comes down to procrastination and a lack of confidence. And with a purpose to make all Kiwis better off, it wanted to improve both that confidence and those statistics.

But how could it approach a topic that’s commonly avoided and considered dry and technical? A traditional TVC campaign wasn’t going to cut it, so it decided to go one step further and create its own TV show with TVNZ and Ruckus to break the ice and spark a nationwide conversation about money.

The response

Called Mind Over Money, the six-part TV series found a home in a primetime spot on TVNZ 1 to ensure it had maximum reach.

It delved into personal finances using behavioural economics to show Kiwis why nature leads them to act the way they do. And not wanting to nag or lecture the audience, host Nigel Latta

kept things entertaining with social experiments and clever analogies.

Off-air and online, the information was supported by a dedicated content hub, mindovermoney.kiwi, that housed all the episodes and delved deeper into the topics discussed. Innovative interactive tools and games drove further engagement and allowed visitors to immediately ask a Kiwibank expert questions.

At the same time, weekly episodespecific videos were distributed around Kiwibank internally to give staff further insight into the show’s topic and how they could help customers.

The results

Breaking not only the ice, but also the mould of traditional advertising, paid off for the bank as it inspired and empowered viewers. The National

Business Review called it “the gold standard for how ethical companies can make a mainstream TV series that has real public good” and it’s a sentiment that’s reflected in the numbers.

The series won its peak on-air time slot among Kiwi adults and 68 percent of those surveyed by the bank said they enjoyed watching it.

That finding was supported by 67 percent of people who considered the information relevant to their situation and 60 percent who said the series provided them with new information.

More importantly, 44 percent of surveyed viewers who watched one or more episodes claimed the show changed how they managed their money.

But it wasn’t just the audience who saw a benefit from Mind Over Money as Kiwibank enjoyed a rise in cust omer satisfaction to reach a three year high. Its Net Promoter Score from those who watched the series sits at 69 percent compared to 32 percent for those who didn’t watch it.

Reflecting on the series soon after it went to air, Kiwibank’s general manager of marcomms Regan Savage told Stoppress the sentiment around the series shows Kiwibank’s customers saw Mind Over Money as Kiwibank delivering on its brand promise to make Kiwis better off.

“They really drew the connection between what we stand for and why we were investing in a primetime TV show like this... it just felt incredibly obvious to consumers that Kiwibank would be the kind of brand to create a show like this and take it to market.”