Commonwealth Bank set to launch ‘One Hundred Years Together’ campaign via Goodby Silverstein
Commonwealth Bank today announced details of its campaign to celebrate its Centenary year and highlight its integral role in the history and progress of Australia over the last century.
The extensive integrated campaign, entitled ‘One Hundred Years Together’, created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners San Francisco, will highlight what Commonwealth Bank, together with the people of Australia, have achieved in the past 100 years. Combining television, print and socialmedia, the campaign will look to engage existing and prospective Commonwealth Bank customers in a conversation about the future of banking over the next 100 years.
The creative will run across print, television and digital media starting on October 2. The television ads will air in 60 and 45 second slots from this date. Social channels will also complement the traditional media with a Facebook tab and Twitter launching soon after.
The dedicated Centenary website, developed by The White Agency, will also launch on October 2. Dedicated to the people, places and events that have formed the last one hundred years of Commonwealth Bank, the site will incorporate a combination of newly filmed content mixed with never before seen footage and stills from the extensive Bank archives.
Print ads supporting the TV campaign will launch across a range of titles nationally on October 23.
The TVC, which will be available on Commonwealth Bank You Tube channel at 10:00am Friday 30 September, follows the journey of a young woman (representing the Bank), played by Australian actress Clare Van der Boom, as she makes her way through various eras of the last century, pausing on significant moments in Australia’s history. Scenes depict the might of the Commonwealth Shipping Line, the harsh conditions of the Broken Hill mines, the scars left by the 1939 Victorian Bushfires, the tragedy of fallen Anzac troops on the battlefields of Gallipoli, and the national triumphs of sporting icons, Donald Bradman, the Australian team at America’s Cup and Cathy Freeman.
These grand and incredibly stirring scenes are interspersed with highlights of what the Bank has directly contributed in the past century. We see the women move into the classroom, where she teaches students in the 1950’s about the importance of saving, she drives through the quiet streets of the 1970’s waving at families in their newly settled homes, she watches a child swing from a Hills Hoist, she retrieves a ball during a backyard cricket game. The fluid style and clevernarrative allows the woman to swiftly and believably move through the chronicles of Australia’s past in a remarkable feat of advertising filmmaking.
Says Commonwealth Bank Chief Marketing & Online Officer, Andy Lark: “As Australia’s favourite bank we’ve played an integral role in the evolution of commerce and communities. Today we are celebrating thatcontribution and saying thanks to the millions of customers and thousands of employees – past and present – that have made this possible. What you see today is the huge sense of pride we have in being invited into our customers’ lives and in making a difference in their communities. And we are inviting them to join us on Facebook, Twitter and at www.100yearstogether.com.au to share their experiences and aspirations for the next 100 years.”
Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Director: Michael Spiccia
Executive Producer (TV): Chris Moore
Production (TV): Goodoil Films
Music/Audio: Song Zu (Sydney) and Beacon Street (LA)
Post Production: Fin Design (Australia)
Director of Photography: Russel Boyd
Digital: The White Agency
Media: Ikon

12 Comments
Is it just me, or does the concept of Americans letting us know about the future of banking seem a little unsettling?
Y’know. Since they started the whole sodding GFC ‘n that.
Americans started the GFC?
Pretty sure we all did, mate.
No. I’m pretty sure it started with the Americans.
They gave people too much money when they couldn’t afford to pay it back and then sold the debt to idiot banks all over the world.
Why not reduce your fees and gauging by 100 million over the next 10 years?
Oh good, a phoney war between Westpac and the CBA over who owns history. Message to the banking industry: we don’t care. Work on your offerings in the here and now.
Wonder what the Americans would say if an Australian agency celebrated 100years of one of their iconic brands?
If that concierge at my local Commonwealth Bank walks up to me one more time only to gesture me to visit the teller (where I was heading in the first place!!) I will ask him to step behind with the tellers and actually offer some bloody service.
Forget the history. What are you going to offer beyond useless a useless concierge and increasing fees!
Who came up with the line? “Westpac. Australia’s 1st bank” I think thats their current strap anyways. Bit self defeating if you can’t own history. As all Westpac needs to do is make something more of that line.
well the batting order is a little off, Gallipoli was during the first world war 1914 – 1918. Any agency that puts all its advertising budget with an American agency is disloyal. There’s your ad. It’s also a great case against using multinational agencies, period. C’mon Aussie. If you’re that flamin’ good, prove it. Oh yes, Droga5 is doing just that.
ho hum are you being sarcastic Droga5 only churn out very poor beer and gambling ads these days!
I think they should have focused not on the last one hundred years but the next 100 years and how they’re going to help dig the world out of this huge pile of shit we’re in.
Besides to imply banks are the reason the nation has triumphed over the last 100 years is just them smoking there own poles!
They do as good a job as any Aussie agency. Okay, better.
Remember the ground-breaking work the Aussies did for them in the past? I don’t.
I”m an Aussie too, and if I ran a bank I’d go to the guys who want to do it most. No matter where they are in the world.
Even if they are W + K, or GSP or even Leo Chicago.
Maybe not Droga5.
Sorry David.
I am disgusted with the Commonwealth Bank using the original tin money box of it’s head office in their campaign…the bank screwed every child in recent years with account keeping fees that had a saving account which was saved up in these money boxes, before pass books were discontinued. And when pass books were in use with money saved in these money boxes the account keeping fees depleted the bank accounts of the kids with the bank charges.
Another example of the Commonwealth Bank’s lack of sincerity and inability to see how it has screwed thee public…or maybe it knows that and see the public as suckers!