The challenge

Drive acquisition and account growth on FNB core products

Why Radio

“Much as we as marketers could see the golden ribbon and how it all worked so well together, the reality is people don’t listen to ads the way we plan them. The challenge is that banking products are often the last thing people think about. At the same time, we need to build and grow our customer base. As financial institutions, we’re often bound by terms and conditions and other industry-related compliance issues, which have to be included in our ads. Radio was identified as the key medium that could integrate together the various propositions in one sitting. It could provide the quick turnaround times required on the campaign”, says FNB.

Implementation

The campaign came about by trying to turn a slice of life insight on its head. A prime example of this is incorrigible telesales agents who just won’t take no for an answer. The ads were then written, as long as they needed to be, to get the story across. The generic spots varying in length between 45 and 90 second ads, depending on the message to be communicated were flighted.

Realising that no one sits in their cars, homes or work for hours in order to hear and ‘get’ an entire construct, messages were rotated equally across different stations, with each advert focused on benefits available to customers across products and channels.

The Results

On average there’s been an increase of over 40% in sales across key products and services. FNB also benefitted from added exposure from, amongst others, Kaya FM presenters waxing lyrical about the campaign in programming time, as well as other channels using the topical Steve campaign as editorial content. This has all contributed to making ‘Steve’ a household name.

Learnings

• An ad has to be as long as it takes to get the message across.
• Radio is something you get involved with from the onset. It’s not something you leave to an engineer to do.
• Don’t let the duration of the spot hamper the creativity.
• Media maketh the spot. There’s no such thing as too much exposure. We decided that in the first hour, listeners should at least hear 2 to 3 ads.
• Stop painting by numbers. It has to be entertaining for the listener. Be topical. If you can’t be topical, be entertaining. Everyone loves a soapie.
• Lastly, use sonic triggers if you can. We start and end the ads the same way, with the same ‘beeps’.

RAB Commentary

Impressive results from FNB. The campaign intelligently demonstrates that an ad needs to be as long as it takes to get results, proving that the quality of the message is more important than the length. The active involvement of the client from conceptualisation to flighting is a positive step indicating that when creative and professional marketers begin to approach radio campaigns with the right intent and production commitment, the results speak for themselves.

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