2005 RETAIL WINNER

CAMPAIGN - The Unlikeliest Of Retail Vehicles

AGENCY - OMD

CLIENT - St George

SPONSORED BY
News Limited

OBJECTIVE

An interesting challenge was presented - sell loads more home loans in a rapidly contracting market. The task was to make St George heard in a market where all the big players had fallen back on the security of retail offers in trying to keep their home loan books ticking over.

CAMPAIGN

Spanning young couples to retiring sea-changers, four very different media profiles threatened to spread the media dollars too thin.

OMD found one media property that united them, though - community press, the key home search bible. It indulged a little dreaming with reality in the search, gave a feel for the community's soul and identity, and allowed for more depth of information.

With reliance on TV the norm, this represented a white-knuckle ride for St George to commit the entire budget to community press. Titles were selected in core areas where St George had a branch, they were mostly paid-for titles with a good quality property section, and ones which were cost-efficient.

OMD pitched it that the community press needed to convince St George to commit a TV-sized budget - and they responded with extremely attractive rates and offers of added value. The concessions accounted for a 25% budget stretch. Equally important was the teams' relentless focus on accountability. Weekly response numbers were used to cull any underperforming titles as the campaign progressed, with the number of titles narrowed from 111 to 80.

RESULTS

St George's home loan market share grew from lagging 27.1% behind the competition to leading by 7.1% - a 34.2% movement. The campaign delivered a market leading sales growth of 14.6%. Local branches have been keen on the use of local papers and report a positive impression in their local communities.

JUDGE'S COMMENTS

"A brave move in a category that thrives on the tried and tested."