Episode 1: How ANZ achieves brand and performance marketing goals with YouTube

Mark Ritson: Marketing is increasingly a duel challenge. There's the long of it, the top of the funnel, the brand piece. And then there's the short of it, the bottom of the funnel, the product piece, and the two together present brands, I think with one of the most significant challenges in business.

Welcome to YouTube Works: The Long and the Short of It with me, Mark Ritson. And I'm delighted to be joined by Astrud Burgess, the CMO of ANZ, which in New Zealand, is the biggest bank in the country.

Astrud, great to have you.

Astrud Burgess: Thank you for having me.

Ritson: So take us back about three years. It's always been a very strong bank and a really good brand but it's certainly fair to say you had some challenges. What were the challenges?

Burgess: Sure, well we were still trying to win the hearts and minds of National Bank customers. ANZ had acquired National Bank and we needed them to really want to bank with ANZ. So that was challenge number one.

Challenge number two, was we were really watching falling audiences on TV. So we knew we needed to do something else, kind of reinvent ourselves in the eyes of New Zealanders. So we needed to go where our audience was going.

Ritson: Makes sense. So let's talk about what objectives you set yourself and the brand. What were they? How did you approach the challenge

Burgess: So we were looking for brand growth. I mean that's the number one thing that we were aiming for. We were also looking for every brand ad to hit its mark in terms of the metrics.

And look, we knew there was a need for some more emotional storytelling, something that would really connect with New Zealanders.

So that's how we came up with the idea of “We Do How” and so we launched a creative platform to talk to that. It's scoring in the top quartile for every ad consistently on branding, recognition, enjoyment. So all the key indicators and it's our most successful campaign.

Ritson: And you've got a reputation, I think, as having one of the better media mix modelling systems, Triple M systems around. Tell me a little bit about that and how you approached it and how it's working for ANZ.

Burgess: So our mixed media modelling has been our friend for some time. We invested in it about ten years ago, and we've stuck with it ever since. And the business has become conversant with that language from the CFO down. And so you can now stack up a really strong argument that what you're doing is working.

The advantage of the investment we've made in Triple M is that it allows us to make decisions not just on what products, but also channel, and the duration of the creative that we put out there.

Ritson: Very interesting. Let's look at what you did do then. You see a real challenge, build the brand, strengthen the brand. How did you approach it and what objectives did you set?

Burgess: Well, like a good marketer ,we did some research. We did some really strong strategy with TBWA. And then we came to the conclusion that we needed to start telling stories, beautiful stories that would touch people's hearts.

I'm a direct marketer by training, so I like a product shot and an offer. But I was convinced that we needed to do storytelling, and so TBWA did an amazing job of building off our heritage. So that was the creative component, if you like.

We then thought about the media and our younger audience in particular was moving off to different channels, YouTube in particular. So we needed a different media strategy that would allow us to go there as well.

Ritson: And that's a big change. You're talking both creative and media. YouTube plays a strong role. How did you use the medium?

Burgess: So we use it in a couple of ways. Obviously we used it as a media buy, and so it gave us that, gave us reach and that was super important.

But even more importantly, people will watch long-form content. And in fact, sometimes with YouTube, what you get is people are prepared to watch longer ads than what they are on TV. We needed to recognise that, and for YouTube to play a part in our long-form storytelling.

And then the third thing, which is critical, is you get a read early. So you've made this expensive brand ad, you've convinced the organisation, you've put the media weight, and then you're just sitting there waiting for your Triple M modelling to come through, and it's really nerve wracking.

With YouTube, you get those quick brand studies, makes a big difference to the team's confidence and helps you to hold your nerve during the quiet time.

Ritson: Interesting. I mean, you're on a journey, you've got a clear plan, you're a lover of consistency, but there will be a few new things coming along. What do you see is down the track and what are you going to be doing?

Burgess: I think we're... What are we going to be doing? I wish I could see the future and know how it worked out. So our brand campaign is the best performing brand campaign we've ever made. I think we'll keep the family for a while longer. They're working so well. You know, we've got 94% branding effect on our sponsorship ad. So you know that's phenomenal. Nobody gets that.

Ritson: And if we talk about ROI, you're confident that you're getting your money's worth out of the campaign.

Burgess: We know that we're getting our money's worth out of the campaign. The mixed media modelling is showing us that YouTube is up 52% in terms of return on investment in '23, compared to '22. Not only that, it's performing for all products and it continues to grow. (Source: Analytic Partners, ANZ Econometrics Model, July 2023.)

Ritson: And you're a believer in this longer wear in for ads. We both believe ads can last a lot longer than most people think, so you would be betting on it for a lot longer, I think.

Burgess: Yeah and I always speak to the business about sweating the assets, which is something banks understand, right? You spend a lot of money you need to get the payback. And that's been really good language around our business as well as for the team.

Ritson: So that's effectively by sweating that advertising asset, you’re taking creative money and putting more of it into media effectively.

Burgess: That's right. And you’re making the expensive ad work for longer, right. So then you can afford to put more into it. Whereas we used to be in a six week cycle of making campaigns, and you can’t afford to do that and make quality.

Ritson: And so what's next? What do you see coming down the pipe now, Astrud?

Burgess: It's going to be a process of continuing to test, AI is going to disrupt the media landscape. And we've been talking a bit about what that means. So, we'll be continuing to test, to learn and to challenge our existing strategies. So we continue to get better.

We will be thinking a lot more about targeting, right. So 30% of the country banks with us. That’s an excellent targeting base. So, I'm super curious to understand what we can do in that area. We’ve done a lot with email, sms and in-app but I really think that video is where it’s at. Targeted video.

Ritson: And so does that lead us to a place where you see YouTube playing a bigger role for the bank in the future?

Burgess: Absolutely. Because we will use it not only in a brand sense, but also in a direct marketing sense.

Ritson: And I think, you know, I've known you for a while. You're a hard woman to please. And if you're not happy with YouTube, it's a fine ringing endorsement for the medium.

Burgess: It is indeed. I think that's one of the fun things about having a successful strategy is you need to learn how to innovate enough so that it keeps fresh, but you also have to be really careful not just to chase the next shiny thing.

Ritson: And before we finish, you know, you're one of our most famous, I could even say “admired” CMOs. One tip about all of this? What are you going to pass on to our future CMO audience? Something that's been essential for your success? What would it be?

Burgess: For me, it would be measurement. If you don't know what results you're driving, then the business will lose faith in you very quickly.

Ritson: I think you've mastered it brilliantly. So congratulations. Great stuff, Astrud. Good to see you again.

Burgess: Thank you.

Analytic Partners, ANZ Econometrics Model, July 2023.