Daring to be different
1990 was a tumultuous time in the finance industry. The Geelong-based Pyramid Building Society collapsed and
huge pressure was placed on the building society and non-bank financial institutions, writes former Marketing
Manager Chris DeAraugo.
Bendigo Building Society,
however, remained strong and
set out to build on its strength.
Mergers with the Capital and
Compass building societies had
increased its market share and
branch network. The challenge
and opportunity was to present
this strong and customerfocussed financial institution
to people looking for an
alternative to the bigger banks.
The Bendigo engaged local
advertising firm Cook, Green
& Moore to work with them on
a major advertising campaign
that would carry their message
across the state and into the
competitive Melbourne market.
The resulting campaign
was very different from the
traditional “banking” ads of the
time. It used subtle humour
and larger than life characters
to help raise awareness of
the Bendigo Building Society
and present its products in a
simple and friendly manner.
The first challenge was to
create a slogan or thematic
statement that would help
position the Bendigo. Cook,
Green & Moore struck gold
when they produced a simple
but confident line that summed
up what this regionally-based
building society was all about!
“Better than a Bank, for sure”
it said, and this line was to
underpin the advertising for the
next five years.
profile of the building society
to unprecedented levels and
presented the Bendigo as
a genuine alternative to the
larger banks.
The next step was to build a
creative approach to deliver
this line and cut through the
bigger budgets and “serious”
banking messages of the
competition.
Introducing “Danny and Edo”
– two unlikely friends who
would regularly meet at their
local Bendigo branch and
discuss life and of course their
banking needs. The hidden
‘secret’ of the campaign was
that the more business-like
character Edo actually worked
at a big bank yet conducted
his personal banking at this
regionally-based building
society.
Danny and Edo ushered in a
period of product innovation
that saw them launch Bendigo
Blue, the first debit card in
Australia; Bendigo Gold, the
first Passbook Term Deposit
of its time; new lending
products; and Bendigo Red,
the building society’s first
credit card. Not only did
the campaign help launch
these products, it raised the
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For the next five years Danny
and Edo appeared on TV
screens across Victoria
carrying the Bendigo Building
Society proposition of being
“Better than a Bank, for sure”.
Then in 1995, Danny and Edo
faced their biggest challenge
as the building society geared
to become Australia’s newest
bank.
And true to form Danny and
Edo delivered their message
about Australia’s latest bank
with, of course, a subtle
change to their tag line.
It became “A Better Bank, for
Sure!”
Danny and Edo’s time as
the slightly irreverent and
humorous spokesmen for the
Bendigo ended in 1997 yet left
behind good memories and
a very successful period of
expansion, product innovation
and growth for the organisation.
1997 saw the release of
the “Every Step you Take”
campaign that featured the
well known Police song, Every
Breath You Take and followed
a young couple starting out on
life’s journey with the help of
course, of Bendigo Bank!
Let us entertain you
Bendigo Bank is about to launch a series of television commercials coinciding with the Beijing Olympic Games in
August.
The campaign will be an
opportunity to remind people
Australia-wide of our business.
It is the first time the bank has
undertaken such a large-scale
advertising campaign but we
decided that to be associated
with the Olympic Games was
an opportunity too good to
miss.
Bendigo Bank is a broadcast
sponsor of Channel 7’s free-toair telecast.
We won’t tell you more about
the commercials until August.
We can say the campaign
ties in the role customers
play in enabling the bank to
produce good outcomes for the
communities we service.
A lot of the bank’s marketing
is, in fact, conducted by wordof-mouth through the fastgrowing Community Bank®
network.
It helps that the Bendigo Bank
brand is so well regarded, and
as a result of our growth in the
past decade, so well known.
People will provide support as
long as they see we are looking
to add value for them and their
community.
The commercials begin airing
on 8 August which is the date
of the Olympic Games opening
ceremony.
The filming of our new television commercial.
We hope you like them.
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