Cake

Background

To get a higher interest rate on their funds, many Commonwealth Bank business customers were parking their company’s cash reserves in high-interest accounts with other financial institutions. Commonwealth Bank wanted to convince these businesses that they could keep their money with CBA and still achieve a high interest rate.

Idea

The target market is notoriously dismissive of marketing communications. To counter this, the agency worked in conjunction with local bakers throughout the entire country to send the Financial Controllers something that would get their attention and help celebrate the great interest rate on offer – a cake!

Results

The mailing achieved a 15.62% conversion rate (more than three times the target), which saw the bank’s online saver accounts swell with huge deposits. This was an amazing return on investment of 472%! (The agency was also able to brag it had avoided all clichés, like ‘getting a bigger slice of the pie’, ‘proof is in the pudding’, and ‘a piece of cake’. Is that what’s called having your cake and eating it too?)

Target audience

Financial Directors and owners of medium-sized businesses who already have a Premium Business Cheque Account with Commonwealth Bank.

Volume

70 cakes

Our Thoughts

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. Spending decent money on production will always pay you back in the end. In this instance, it didn’t just force re-evaluation of the product, it encouraged a reassessment of the brand. This piece will still be working in two or three years time. ‘Commonwealth. Oh yeah, you were the guys who sent the cake…’ Nine out of 10 clients would have said, ‘A real cake? With icing? No way. Take a photograph and bung it on the leaflet.’ Proof you get what you pay for is 472% ROI.