RaboPlus launches new brand campaign
Sydney: March 17, 2009
RaboPlus, the online banking division of Rabobank Australia Limited, is repositioning its brand with a new brand advertising campaign from today, featuring television, radio, print and online, to target customers.
The campaign concept - "Join the people In The Know" - was created by US agency - part of the Sydney based Razor Group.
RaboPlus is inviting people to be part of a community of people inspired and empowered by innovative products and the knowledge of a smarter and more positive way to wealth to 'join us' in The Know. Being in The Know is a familiar concept which describes someone whose finger is always on the pulse, who is moving in the right circles and gets the best information and as a result makes informed and smart decisions.
The concept is brought to life with a brand mnemonic which acts as a visual aid to reinforce the invitation to join the people in The Know.
According to Greg McAweeney, RaboPlus General Manager, the values of a good co-operative bank - transparency, honesty and openness with customers - underpin this campaign.
He criticised the advertising of honeymoon savings rates by other banks that fail to reveal all the conditions.
Recently commissioned research by RaboPlus found that nearly 40 per cent of respondents had opened a savings account, purely because of the honeymoon promotional rate.
And one in five (22 per cent) think that promotional rates should be banned.
Mr McAweeney said that RaboPlus will take a leading role in arguing for transparency in the advertising of online savings deposit products.
"Consumers are being tempted to open accounts by promotional offers that don't deliver the headline interest rates over a longer period," he said.
"The banking industry needs clear standards for advertising online rates which give consumers the real of rate of return over time; hidden conditions brought upfront; and a completely transparent offer in bold type."
"Deposit customers are opening accounts with some banks thinking that they will be earning high interest when in fact the benefits are more often than not illusory," he added.
Mr McAweeney said some possible improvements to advertising standards could include:
The removal of the condition that customers must buy separate accounts, such as a fee-paying transaction account linked to the savings account;
The ongoing rate being displayed in a prominent position in the advertisement with a large, readable font size - not buried in the fine print;
Requiring any interest calculations to be based on a 12-month period;
Requiring a minimum period for bonus rates, such as six months.
The survey, conducted by Real Research, also found that:
