CommBank campaign taps into Aussie dreams

Forget the great Australian dream of owning a home, Aussies today have very different dreams and a major new ad campaign from CommBank wants to encourage people to chase them.

CommBank has kicked off a major new brand campaign, Doubt Never Did, which aims to inspire Aussies to follow their dreams.

The great Australian dream has changed and CommBank wants to inspire Aussies to overcome their financial security concerns and pursue their dreams.

The bank has launched a major integrated campaign, Doubt Never Did, which it hopes will be a rallying cry to consumers who feel stuck due to the climate of uncertainty and their doubts about their financial future.

The integrated campaign, which was created by M+C Saatchi, is grounded in extensive customer research, which revealed a desire for more support and reassurance from the bank, according to CommBank chief marketing officer Jo Boundy.

“Financial security is the biggest concern for Australians,” she told The Australian. “Over a third of Aussies feel that financial security is their biggest concern. It’s something Australians are struggling with more in the current climate, than they have for quite some time.

“Many Australians feel their dreams are on hold because of that financial uncertainty and there is real desire for their own personal progression. They want to get ahead, they want to live their best life, but they’ve got this financial uncertainty and they’re looking for both reassurance and support.”

Ms Boundy said the research revealed a clear role for the bank, “to lean in more and play a bigger role” in customers’ lives.

In a bid to bring to life how the bank helps customers to unlock their ambitions and dreams, CommBank launched a major TV takeover on Sunday night with roadblocks running across free-to-air and BVOD in addition to YouTube, TikTok and Meta.

Roadblocks are where an advertiser monopolises space for a specific period, effectively blocking other advertisers.

The cross platform roadblock, which was an Australian media first, aimed to ensure the brand’s “epic” new ad was unmissable by a huge audience.

The “comedic and uplifting” ad tells the story of many Australians, all of whom are chasing quite different Aussie dreams and how they are empowered by CommBank to follow them. The ad features Aussie band Wolfmother’s cover of Bon Jovi’s iconic hit It’s My Life.

The TV campaign is running alongside cinema, digital, social and out-of-home advertising and will continue to roll out new iterations over the coming months.

The campaign also includes a series of audio interviews hosted by podcaster Matty J with guests including Matilda star Mary Fowler, motivational speaker Adele Auva’a and dancer Zoe Karatzovalis.

CommBank has launched a major new brand campaign, Doubt Never Did, which aims to serve as a rallying cry for uncertain and stuck Australians

The campaign leveraged the brand’s longstanding Can brand platform to showcase CommBank’s role in enabling customers’ dreams, said M+C Saatchi executive creative director Emma Robbins.

“What sits at the heart of Can, is that whatever you want is possible, so let’s create a campaign that is about the millions of different dreams that Australians have and all of it is based around this idea of your own potential,” she said. “Stop comparing yourself to other people and just think about what you want, however big, however small that is. That’s what comes to life in this ad.

“It really sums up how we feel that Australia can feel a bit more free at the moment and look forward to potential rather than continuing to look back at the things that we think we should have at this point.

“Doubt Never Did also becomes this great wrapper around everything that CommBank does differently to their competitors – like their lifestyle program, magazine and a financial fitness program for Australians that no other bank has; Next Chapter, which supports victims of financial abuse no matter which bank they’re with; (and) Yellow, the first rewards program for a bank.

“All of this is like the bank never doubting that it could do something differently for Australians.”

The campaign, which will feature real-life customers and their stories, will continue to roll out over the next few months.

“We want everyone to see it, we want everyone to feel that optimism,” said Ms Boundy. “We’re hoping Doubt Never Did becomes part of the lexicon and we are already seeing it catch on and that’s why we want everyone to see it and feel inspired by it.”

While the brand has embraced the new line, it has no plans to abandon its Can platform, which ranks among the top brand platforms for recall in the country.

“Essentially it is a contemporary reimagination of Can,” Ms Boundy said.

“We have incredible equity in Can so we’re certainly not walking away from that. But the new expression, Doubt Never Did, are carefully chosen words, which are deeply anchored in research and this campaign is very much about encouraging Aussies to trust their resilience and take action and overcome their doubt. From a campaign point of view, we really want it to do that job of inspiring the nation and helping the nation move forward.”