NAB Social Media Review
I am absolutely fascinated by how the digital marketing world works and news spreads. I can’t believe how far the digital world has come, considering that the first email was sent in 1997, the first online purchase was a pizza from Pizza Hut in 1994 and the first social media networking site was launched in the same year. Can you believe that Facebook was launched in 2004 and Twitter in 2006?
Social Media has become part of our daily lives and it will only get more and more prominent. I remember when I was little, I had to use a rotary dial telephone to get through to an operator to connect me, I had to use MS-DOS on my computer to access a game and the internet/email wasn’t around. Times have changed for sure! It amazes me when I hear that 19% of 2-5 year olds know how to access a smart phone application, 80% use the internet and only 9% of children this age know how to tie their own shoelaces (Eric Schmidt, 2011).
With NAB’s social media campaign getting current attention in the press, I’ve reviewed the social media presence of the big 4 banks in Australia.
In 1997 only 2 banks in Australia had an online presence, now 80% of all banking transactions happen online (Eric Schmidt, 2011). Now we are starting to see banks use social media channels to get their message across to consumers and create a channel for conversation. I had a look at 4 of the top banks in Australia – CommBank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB. It was interesting to see ANZ didn’t have a social media presence and Westpac is only in its infant stages. CommBank has a Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels which seem to be getting good traction. NAB also has Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels.
NAB currently has a strong focus on social media and is the first bank to adopt a very clever approach to promoting its social media channels. It allows consumers to interact with the campaign and share the viral content such as videos.
So what has NAB done to accelerate the word-of-mouth online?
The campaign started on February 14th – Valentine’s day. It was called the ‘Break Up’ where NAB will pay the early exit fees for CommBank, ANZ and Westpac mortgage holders. It had a clear call to action which was ‘we are different, so switch and bank with us’.
It all started with what seemed to be an embarrassing mistweet ‘Sooooo stressed out. Have to make a tough decision and I know I’ll probably hurt someone’s feelings! Arrggghhh.’ In fact this was just the beginning of a very strong campaign that had great cut-through as well as humanising the bank.
Was NAB misleading its customers and peers with this tweet comment? Did people misinterpret the tweet? There have been some mixed feelings about NAB’s tweet and whether it was authentic. I believe it to be original and creative. It was authentic and true to the messages they were communicating to potential customers. It helped humanise the bank and made them to feel more approachable. People chose to interpret this comment in different ways. I don’t believe it would have had the same impact if it had started with a newspaper ad. The tweet had the impact it needed to help start the conversation.
The campaign consisted of online channels such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and a dedicated micro-site, as well as offline channels such as posters, chalk writing on sidewalks, promotional staff handing out tissues and break up CDs, billboards, radio, TV ads, media, press, printed adverts. NAB is now everywhere you look!
It’s been great to see NAB take a risk and be one of the first banks to take advantage of social media to engage with its consumers. I look forward to seeing how it continues to grow and develops its digital marketing.
