Westpac S-PAC

Client: Westpac

Agency: StarCom

Project: S-Pac

Solution: RedDirect

Launched: December 2005

Campaign length: 66 days

Background:

Westpac has been operating in New Zealand since 1861 and is one of New Zealand's largest full service banks. With over 1.3 million customers, more than one in three New Zealanders has a banking relationship with Westpac.  In particular, one part of the market which is a focus for Westpac is the student segment.

Following from the success of the Student Pac (S-PAC) project at the end of 2004, Run The Red was again engaged by Westpac to provide a easy way in which  students could sign up to their tertiary package.

The Objectives:

• Create an easy and affordable channel for tertiary students to request information on Westpac’s Student Pac, an exclusive account for tertiary students.

• To deliver the maximum number of 2005 Westpac Student Pac brochures and application forms, into the hands of first year students. 

• To use txt as a way to reach students both on and away from campus.

Promotion of Campaign :

• Television

• Print

The Strategy:

Run The Red worked closely with both Westpac and StarCom to create the S-PAC campaign. The main aim for this campaign was for students to have an easy and cheap way of obtaining information packs for their tertiary account package.

To create a compelling campaign, students were also offered prizes if they txted through a money saving “tip”, along with their name and address, to the short code provided.

Westpac also wanted to test which media channels were the most effective, therefore there were different keywords used for each medium. For example:

• TV -  STUDENT

• Radio - STUDY

• Outdoor print -  4STUDY

How it worked:

• Students could register for the free Student Pac (S-PAC) by txting the associated keyword to the short-code. Within the next txt, students were asked to txt their full name, street address, suburb, town or city back to the short-code, as well as a txt on how to save money, to go into the draw to win prizes.

The Results:

• Results of the campaign exceeded the expectations of Westpac.  

• Westpac successfully developed an avenue of communication that provided a link between the students, the bank and the branch.

• SMS was proven as an innovative and effective medium to reach this market segment, with over 5,000 text messages received.