M&C Saatchi to launch first campaign for eftpos
![EFT 0006-1 374x260 Busker SH PR LR[1].jpg](http://campaignbrief.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/EFT200006120374x26020Busker20SH20PR20LR5B15D.jpg)
Marketing history will be made this Sunday (17 April) as eftpos goes to air with its first ever consumer communication in a campaign created by M&C Saatchi.
Taglined: “eftpos. The way Australia pays”, the campaign will launch with a 60 second and three 30 second TVCs that demonstrate Australians’ reliance on eftpos in their everyday lives and how they are ‘better off with eftpos’.
The ads, which also feature the unveiling of the new eftpos logo,depict four scenarios where a consumer turns to eftpos to ‘save them’.In one, a man checks his pockets for money to pay for his cab ride asthe driver looks at him menacingly as he locks the doors anticipatingwhat’s about to happen. A voiceover cuts in: “Dan bought one too manyrounds at the pub and is out of cash. How is that going to go down withTony?”
In another a woman queues in a pharmacy behind a large man who sneezeson a $20 note before using it to pay for his purchase. The woman,having just witnessed what happened, is not surprisingly reluctant toreceive the same $20 note back as change. A voice over says: “Paulaprefers not to handle money. Who knows who’s touched it before her.”
Each ad includes the line: “There are 5 million reasons people useeftpos every single day” to reference the number of transactionsAustralians make daily using the nation’s favourite debit card.
The TVCs will run across national and regional free-to-air TV as wellas selected pay TV channels and will be followed by print executions inSunday metropolitan newspapers and weekend magazines and an outdoorroll out across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
M&C Saatchi executive creative director Ben Welsh said: “Bringingthe eftpos brand to life after 23 years is an exciting challenge.”
“Australians rely on eftpos every day and we wanted to remind people ofthis fact by painting a picture of what life would be like withouteftpos. Through the campaign, we aim to reach every Australian and letthem know why we are better off with eftpos.”
M&C Saatchi Managing Director David Whittle said it has been a remarkably quick turnaround to get the campaign live. “We were appointed by eftpos in March, briefed in March and are goinglive with their first ever campaign midway through April,” Whittle said. “It is amazing what can be achieved when you have a client and an agency so in tune.”
eftpos Payments Australia Limited Managing Director Bruce Mansfieldsaid although eftpos has long been the way Australians pay, “now is thetime to start a conversation with Australian consumers and merchants”.
“We need to know that we are better off with eftpos because it ischeaper than Visa or Mastercard for retailers and small businessesmeaning costs are kept down at the check-out; it is the only way forAustralians to withdraw cash from their cheque or savings account atthe time of purchase; and eftpos is always real time meaning peace ofmind and better financial choices for Australians,” Mansfield said.
Campaign Credits:
Executive Creative Director: Ben Welsh
Creative Director (Copy): Oliver Devaris
Creative Director (Art): Graham Johnson
Group Head: Jeanan Yasseen
Senior Account Director: Yash Gandhi
Head of TV: Rod James
Production Company: The Feds
Director: Ben Lawrence
Photography: Chris Searle
Client: eftpos Payments Australia Limited
Head of Marketing: Neera Manawakul
Senior Marketing Manager: Sue Wilson
27 Comments
It makes marketing history because it’s the first time it’s been advertised…
So let me get this straight, if I advertise a garage sale at my house does that mean I make marketing history too?
Marketing history ????
Marketing f’n HISTORY??
An outdated strategy from the 1980s – selling the generic benefits of Eftpos and ATMs, the whole ‘caught without cash’ thing.
If the objective was to directly compete with credit cards there are less generic stories – like fees and delays before the final transaction is really made – that could have been far more compelling.
That’s it. I quit.
Wow, let’s see if I’ve got this right: if I’ve run out of cash, I can pay with a credit card. Brilliant, new and revolutionary! Should be the top story on the 6 o’ clock news.
Wow, I wonder if I can get a signed copy of this piece of marketing history. Will I be able to touch it or will it be behind glass?? *gasp*
No wonder they haven’t bothered to advertise for 23 years if this is what they come up with when they do. Or maybe they’ve been working on this for 23 years….strategy would’ve been about right when they started
Historically dull.
Oh dear!
I’m bored just by reading the PR blurb
Marketing history was made this Friday (15 April) as Janelle Simkins, Account Executive at DMCB&Q Advertising, enjoyed her first ever black sambucca in a drinking session called by the creative director.
Crying: “Um. I don’t really drink that often”, the executive launched with a tactical vomit and three subsequent vomits that demonstrated suits’ reliance on style over substance in their everyday lives and how they are better off with water.
What a horrible tagline.
Asbestos.
The way Australia pays.
Maybe they should have gone with the other agency.
So if the client wants to say Eftpos is better for all of us why don’t the ads tell me that it’s a better way to pay?
load of rubbish…feels like something from the 70’s. h
This is so embarrassing. Why would any agency want to put this rubbish up for slaughter? Of all the people mentioned in the credits, wasn’t there at least one competent professional who questioned the ‘marketing history’ blunder? To let it go to print is just asking for ridicule. What’s happened to M&C’s previous brilliance? This is sad.
the work is awful – wasted opportunity
…….Meanwhile Back in 1991in a boardroom in Sydney…
– …”Eftpos, The way Australia Pays!’
– So what do you guys think?
(crickets) (crickets) (crickets)
– *clears throat*
– …Should we just….?
– I think we better Go…. yeah?..
– Can we have our boards back?…..No, ok that’s fine you keep them for research
– You want to what?…burn them?…and pee on them? …You want to burn and pee on these ideas? What do you mean ‘you hate them so much you swear you’ll never advertise for 23 years! – That’s impossible! (slam!) Well that went well
I saw the 60″ TVC in air last night and loved it. But why can’t I find it online?
it is terrible work – art direct is shite and the idea is old – clearly a pitch winner
This is marketing history! Possibly the worst campaign of 2011, maybe even the decade.
EFTPOS is a brand…who woulda known! Seeing it pushed like Paypal, Visa credit/debit, Touch n’ go, it all seems too little to late.
This is just a campaign against cash not alternatives like visa…
seriously lame and, I think, actually offensive… the cab driver is going to bash you because you can’t pay… people with boils are contagious
god help us if this is their argument for how we are ‘better off with eftpos’
what about being tortured for your pin number?? identity theft from ATMs and eftpos machines?? electronic trails mapping out everything you’ve done and bought??
I think sometimes we’re better off with cash
I’m surprised nobody is bothered by the kinder teacher that will scare her students if she doesn’t wear makeup! Nice message. These ads are pathetic beyond words.
I agree with the comment above – these ads are pathetic and spreading outdated stigma/stereotypes….
The shopping queue ad ‘jokes’ “at least your not hearing voices”…go on add some more stigma in the media about mental illness for a cheap and predictable laugh.
The irony is that these offensive ads will make me AVOID using Eftpos!
“His wife asked for a new. Frying own bit if he goes over on his credit card limit she,will find a new way to use it”
How did something so offensive make it past the censors