Big Dreams Become World Class Success in Kiwibank's Brand Campaign

Kiwibank has unveiled a new brand campaign - ‘This is Kiwi’ - as part of its overall brand revitalisation. From a determined start-up in 2002, to one of New Zealand’s leading banks with over one million customers and 2,400 staff – Kiwibank has come a long way in twenty years. 

As part of a multi-year transformation the B Corp certified-bank is undertaking, it is launching a total brand refresh including an integrated campaign that reflects the bank it is in 2022. The campaign has been produced by New Zealand independent agency Special, and will be distributed across television, online/digital, out-of-home, and social, with the support of media agency OMD. 

Simon Hofmann, GM, brand and marketing says: “Kiwibank has ambitious plans for the future and is investing substantially to become the bank of choice for even more Kiwi. We are two years into a five-year transformation which delivers on a strategy that balances purpose and performance to achieve greater growth while helping make Kiwi and Aotearoa better off. The brand revitalisation is a critical part of this change and is a strong reflection of who we are as a bank today and the intent we have for the future.”

Vesna Nixon, head of marketing campaigns at Kiwibank says: “As part of the overall brand repositioning, the new campaign will help deliver a strategic shift from the old school Kiwiana connotations of gumboots and jandals, to being seen as part of a modern and progressive New Zealand. The campaign from Special reflects this, featuring Kiwi brands that are diverse, game-changing, and passionate – demonstrating what it means to be Kiwi today. Kiwibank is proud to be the bank that is helping Kiwi thrive and ‘This is Kiwi’ captures our commitment to making Kiwi better off.” 

Tony Bradbourne, founder and CEO/CCO of Special says: “Kiwibank is an incredible organisation with an inspiring vision to help Kiwi thrive. Our challenge was to make sure the modern and progressive Kiwibank brand was accurately reflected in the campaign.

“Our approach started with a total relook at all aspects of the brand including the comms, identity and consumer touchpoints. And then even to how people perceived the name itself - Kiwibank. It has Kiwi at the heart of it, but that means different things to every single New Zealander, some patriotic, some nostalgic, some casual. In this we saw an opportunity to set out what Kiwi means in 2022, a fresh vision of Kiwi thriving domestically and internationally, to reflect the Kiwibank of today.”

The new campaign platform will launch on 15th May 2022, featuring a line up of some of the most inspiring and innovative Kiwi, including Allbirds, Dawn Aerospace, UBCO, Emirates Team New Zealand, Banqer, and pop duo Broods – all leaders in their respective fields and all making a positive impact on Aotearoa and on the world stage. 

All of the featured brands have personally banked with Kiwibank for years, use Kiwibank as their business bank, or are a partner of the bank. All are examples of Kiwi pushing us forward globally.

As part of the refresh, Kiwibank is rolling out its revamped visual identity. The identity is inspired by the concept of a thriving Aotearoa and was designed around the te ao Māori metaphor for a thriving whānau and community which is symbolised in pā harakeke. The design work was led by New Zealand agency ThoughtFull and a cohort of partners including Special.

The transformation is a significant one. Kiwibank is the process of changing thousands of customer touch-points from website and digital tools, customer communication and social channels, to the app and ATM’s. Furthermore, all its physical stores are being reimagined and it is launching a new brand, “Local for Kiwibank”, across its network of 100 partner businesses which offer express banking services in communities.

But it’s not just all about Kiwi success on the world stage, to demonstrate its commitment to helping Kiwi thrive, Kiwibank has launched ‘Co-own’ to enable Kiwi with homeownership goals which are getting increasingly harder - especially for First Home Buyers.  ‘Co-own’ is an alternative option to traditional home ownership, where friends and family can team up to get on the property ladder together.

Priyanka Patel, group business director at Special says: “This is Kiwi’ is all about highlighting innovation that is helping Kiwi thrive. It’s going further than just talking about financial well-being, it’s also about creating products that can really help Kiwi achieve their goals. It’s been an incredible experience working so closely with Kiwibank to help bring their vision to life and deliver a brand campaign that demonstrates Kiwibank’s commitment to Kiwi and the future of Aotearoa.”