Banks don´t understand our relationship with money - why we choose shoes instead of super

Australia is the "no worries" nation, constantly smiling, unconcerned about those things that we in Europe find hugely Important. When I´m back in Sweden I am stunned by how people care about things - world politics, relationships or the weather. They frown, are serious and want to deep talk through everything.

I used to be the same... Debating politics, being angry and focused on the Problems. Now - living in the sunny country - I´ve realised that I don´t have to care so much; the culture rubs off on me, making me "irresponsible" in European eyes, but "happy" in mine...

It is great that Aussies are light hearted. But the Problem (see... I´m concerned again!! Lol) is that when it comes to things like saving and retirement planning, Australians are in trouble.

A fresh Roy Morgan report shows that over 7.5 mllion Australians with superannuation have not started planning for retirement - including 1 million in the 50-64 age group. The survey showed that around 40% of those with superannuation had used a financial planner, with this rising to 59% in the pre-retirement age group (aged 50-64).

I have in my research I found tons of similar statistics, and here are some:

- Australia is the 4th most optimistic country in the world.

- 89% of Australians say they are not likely to have an accident in the next 20 years.

- 80% say they were not likely to suffer a serious illness in the next 20 years.

- Working Australians are least able in the world to estimate their retirement incomes.

- Only 33 % of 31-36 year olds have started to prepare for retirement, compared with 68% in the US. 

- Almost one third of Australians admit to never reviewing their retirement plans and only 25 % said they annually review their retirement plans.

- Throughout the 1980s, the average Australian household owed less than $50 in debt for every $100 in income. Since 1995, that figure has more than tripled to almost $160 in debt for every $100 of income.

So... Aussies living day by day... 

The problem is that those who could help us get on track refuse to understand us. When I worked with strategy for a bank I was met with the attitude: "people don´t know enough about money, so all we need to do is teach them". Uuuuh... It´s not exactly that easy. You can hardly say it´s a lack of Information that leads people to waste their income on shoes instead of super.

When viewing the issue closer - by talking to people in an honest way - you find complex feelings, steering them to poverty. For example, most people carry guilt when it comes to money. We are all tempted by the sales, and we know we are not supposed to, so when shopping another bag of goodies we do our best to suppress the grown up voice inside, telling us we should save, not spend.

This is why so many avoid financial planners and Information who will increase the feeling of guilt, telling us we have been BAD. This is why so many go to mum for advice instead. This is why so many shun the banks.

Banks can be intimidating, just like the besser-wisser personal trainers or nutritionists. Aaah, don´t we all know that we should eat well, train heaps and put cash aside? We know. But we still carry those extra kilos.

The challenge for banks, governments and financial institutions is to respect people´s fears and imperfections, and be gentle. Understand that what we lack is not about the practical, but about the mysterious sensations in our hearts.

Human power warms up offices in Sweden

If I wasn´t in love with Bondi Beach and Australia I would definitely live in Stockholm. Sweden is trendy, creative and I´d be happy working with the amazing agencies here! Great thinkers, nice people, good values and an open, flat and unpretentious culture.

One cool Swedish project:

"Wouldn't it be cool if simply by walking around, you could generate enough heat to warm an office tower. Turns out thats exactly what the people at Jernhusen thought when they started to design their green building certification for the remodelling of Stockholm's Central Station. Jernhusen is going to use the body heat of the commuters moving around the Stockholm Central Station to heat the office tower above. Apparently the stations ventilations system include heat exchanges that will convert all the excess warmth from the commuter area into hot water. The hot water is then pumped to a nearby building where supposedly it reduces energy costs by as much as 25%."

Another cool project:

Garbergs - one of the very top agencies here in Sweden - was set out to sell electricity, perhaps not the most exciting product, but to create a brand, as in getting a personality, stand for something and connect with people, they decided to run an art competition based on the electricity boxes that are spread around Stockholm. People got to send in their suggestions, and encourage their friends to vote for them to be the winners - the ones who got chosen to see their art work in this unusual exhibition. The contest engaged artists and supporters, creating interest for the brand in a new way. Brilliant!

Oh, how I I love quirky ideas, interesting ways to reach people and kick-ass ideas. Respect... Any more projects you wish to share?

Below the Line Above the Line - Time to turn it upside down

I love ads, but I also have this secret crush on below-the-line marketing. It´s the not as fancy part of the marketing puzzle, but a part that will soon get more shine. The above-the-line snobbism is as far from today´s reality as Man Men. We move from monologue to dialogue, from hierarchies to flat structures, from arrogance to respect - we´ve heard about this for years now... Traditional advertising has experienced competition from social media, but what is social media if not below the line? It´s down there, with the people, not observing from above - instead interacting and hanging out.

When reading BandT, Mumbrella and Campaign Brief I´m met by the same news in all of their daily newsletters. Reading the same stories on people, and TVC`s I sometimes yawn; it is such an ancient - and anxious - way to look at marketing. It´s reporting from the little bubble - far from the world marketing managers and CEO´s operate in. They wish to sell, not shine.

And when it comes to selling, below the line is the future. That´s where the creativity grows, where people are approached as people, and not "target audiences", as humans, not "market".

When stepping away from the 30 seconds thinking, you can use direct mail, sales promotions, flyers, samples, social media, competitions, seminars, in store promotion, events, web TV, PR... There is no end, just beginnings of relationships with people.

What do you think? Is it time for BTL to step out in the spotlight? :)

This is how the lovely crowd at

  describes it:

 

"The different disciplines that fall ‘below the line’ continue to evolve. However, they all involve one common element: getting people to act. To change their behaviour, engage with a brand, sample a product, to subscribe, interact, reappraise, be educated, incentivised, rewarded – and ultimately, to buy.
Every brief is unique, and we constantly find ourselves in the position of forging unique combinations of services to answer them. Never the same day twice, a big part of why we love what we do."

I love this little cool example: "To celebrate Sony’s commitment to offsetting carbon emissions caused by their corporate travel, they created a living breathing grass car and parked it around various public locations in Sydney, Australia."

From Wikipedia about ATL and BTL:


"The term (BTL) comes from top business managers and involves the way in which Procter & Gamble, one of the world’s biggest advertising clients, was charged for its media in the 1950s and 1960s. Advertising agencies made commission from booking media (Television, cinema, radio, press, out-of-home and magazines). As below the line had no media involvement there was no commission to be made for the advertising agencies. The accountants thus labeled the different mediums ATL and BTL depending on where it would sit in the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts (ATL where they made a profit and BTL where they did not) Since then, models have changed and clients are no longer charged for their media in that way.

Marketing trend: Brands presented as people

Tracy Harber from Google recently wrote an excellent piece on Adnews´ NGen blog about how brands are turning their brands into humans in order to connect with... humans :) I think it´s an interesting concept; brands are becoming like family members (read the blog post on how our brain actually believes brands are like family) and we interact with them, identify ourselves through them and live with them as if they were best friends. A part of our life. A part of us. 
This branding trend is moving the marketing world away from logos to the people behind it, from surface to content, from looks to personality. I bet it will change the way a brand finds its way into a person´s heart. We all know what happens when we drop the obsession with a hot body and start searching for the one with the good sense of humour - when we stop searching flings and start looking for LOVE...

Some examples from Tracy´s blog post:

- Expedia is launching a new global brand campaign with the tagline ‘People Shaped Travel’. According to tnooz, the idea behind the campaign is to show potential and existing customers the human side of the company. Whilst its competitors use the age-old imagery such as beaches and palm trees, this campaign uses members of staff that work for Expedia to highlight the unique benefits of booking through the online travel agent. This could be the edge that Expedia requires to take the lead from booking.com, a strong force in the Online Travel Aggregator domain.

- The recent logo change of ANZ bank was said to ‘humanise’ the brand by giving the design properties that made it look more like a human character with its arms outstretched. This ‘humanisation’ cost ANZ an initial $15 million, and coincided with the trend of banks repositioning themselves in order to ward off negative public sentiment during the global financial crisis. Their new tagline ‘We live in your world’, served to reinforce the human side of the bank. Despite criticism of the new brand, six months later, ANZ posted a 36 per cent rise in first half profit and most recently revealed a 23% increase in underlying profit for the six months leading up to March 2011 compared with the previous corresponding period.

- Apple personified their product in human form as a younger, trendier and laid-back guy, with direct comparison to the PC who was personified as old, out-of-date, and out-of-touch.

- AAMI, an insurance company that has featured a young girl in its logo and all its branding since 1976, has become a highly respected Australian firm. They updated the face of their logo five years ago to find someone fresh who ‘conveyed a friendly, approachable and credible presence – the same attributes we want customers to associate with the AAMI brand’.

- BankWest launched a campaign two years ago which saw animated characters with real voices talking about what makes them happy, which effectively positioned the bank as empathetic to the human needs.

Leo Burnett presented similar thoughts at the Cannes Lion festival (unfortunately the book was tooooo heavy to fit in my bag) Their theory was that we need to go from "speaking consumer" to "speaking human"; marketers have to start talking to people as people, and not some mysterious "market". True! http://www.humankind.leoburnett.com/

I think it´s fabulous that focus shifts from the product to the user, from the brand to the people, from what you wish to say to what they will listen to. It means the marketing and advertising community is starting to truly respect people, and by doing so they can build long term relationships.

What do you think?

The mini man purse huge trend for men in Stockholm Summer 2011

This is the man purse  (some call it murse) - the very latest trend for men in Sweden. It´s around every cool guy´s neck, carried at the hottest bars. Sure, it looks like the kind of bag anxious German tourists carry under their shirt, but it is now a statement for the male Swedish Fashionistin Summer 2011. It´s an iphone bag that has been turned into a holder of money, phone, subway card, keys... One place to get them: http://www.sandqvist.net/sv/  And talking about iphone "bags", check this out (see further down). Really weird way to use your smart phone handsfree! http://www.yankodesign.com/2011/01/06/iphone-serpent-round-my-neck/

Trendcentral: Africa in Style

This is one of the latest newsletters from Trendcentral.com. It´s all about Africa now...

 

Authentic tribal design is being exported to a global audience

It’s no secret that Morocco has become the vacation destination of 2011, yet global interest in Africa extends well beyond its northernmost country. On the heels of the African music trend is a design movement that’s sourcing style from across the world’s second largest continent.

Afia: On a trip to Ghana, designer Meghan Sebold became so enraptured with the handmade textiles of West Africa that she decided to start a sustainable fashion label using them. The result is Afia, an “urban indigenous” women’s apparel line that pairs the aforementioned fabrics with modern, trend-forward silhouettes (high-waisted shorts, rompers, fanny packs). The patterns are made in Chicago, New York and West Africa, and the textiles are sourced and hand sewn by the Dzidefo Women’s Co-op in Ghana. The company is a proud proponent of fair wage labor, handcrafted goods and international collaboration, giving shoppers incentive to opt for authenticity over inferior imitations.

An emotional sofa - IKEA is a winner

This ad recently won an award in Australia. Since it´s Swedish I need to post a note about it... But I also like that the copy is about the emotional value of a couch rather than simply about the product.

Agency: Three Drunk Monkeys
Client: Ikea
Creative Director: Jay Gelardi
Art Director: Becky Alperstein          
Copywriter: Henry Kember