Rabodirect.ie

The Context

Rabobank arrived in Ireland in 2005 and no-one had heard of them. So, to set up an internet only bank with no branches was a bold move. Getting their advertising right was crucial to their success. It needed to be unlike anything that had ever been seen in Irish financial services communication.

The Work

The idea was ‘Life’s More Interesting When You’re Direct’. After two years of ‘Straight-talking’ advertising we were asked to move the brand on from the early adopter to a wider audience. What we needed was a great-big, easy-to-understand analogy. Enter ‘RaboDirect Money Camp’; a place where you send your lazy money to get it working harder. This ran on TV and carried through to the website, radio, press and outdoor. Unhelpfully, the budget was a fraction of what the ‘big four’ banks spend annually, so we had to punch above our weight.

The Results

Has it worked? Certainly. RaboDirect have changed the rules on how banks advertise in Ireland. It is now the number two in the category in pure advertising awareness terms, from a budget that is a fraction of its competitors. It has 23% of the category’s effective cut through from just 6% of the category’s spend. Not to mention €1.5 billion on deposit and 40,000 customers. If you have a smaller budget than your competitors, don’t worry. Bravery more than makes up for shallow pockets.