Alec Baldwin urges Aussies to do better in GE Money rebrand to Latitude Financial
Newly launched financial services brand Latitude Financial Services has recruited Hollywood star Alec Baldwin to headline its campaign offering to give Australians more choice.
The campaign by CHE Proximity features the star, who is currently making headlines in the US with his withering impersonations of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, challenging why Australians have so few choices in areas such as TV, phone companies and banks.
In the campaign Baldwin appears with a team from Latitude using examples such as “betterers”, cars and even schnitzels to get the brand’s new message across.
Running under the line “the Betterers”, Baldwin tells consumers “You can do better” for the business that formerly operated under the GE Money brand before it was bought by a consortium of KKR, Varde and Deutsche Bank last year.
The campaign is the culmination of 13 month’s work defining the new brand.
“Latitude chief marketing officer Donna Pidduck said that the campaign was an opportunity to introduce the new brand.
“Alec Baldwin has such a unique tone and style, we thought he was the perfect fit for Latitude,” Pidduck said.
“We’re proud to be launching a brand with such a point of difference in the marketplace,” she said.
“CHE Proximity’s approach and solution for this campaign was fresh and new. They saw media as an integral part of the whole customer experience and that approach perfectly aligned with ours.”
Andrew Drougas, CHE Proximity chief operating officer, said the agency had been able to work creating the brand from scratch.
“It’s very rare that an agency gets to create a brand from scratch, but to be able to do this from a creative and media perspective, is indeed special for us,” Drougas said.
“Connecting Latitude’s message with the right customer moment allows us to create more powerful and relevant communications.”
Credits:
- Latitude Chief Marketing Officer: Donna Pidduck
- Agency: CHE Proximity Melbourne
- Chief Operating Officer: Andrew Drougas
- Executive Creative Director: Ant White
- Creative Directors: Anthony Moss & Tommy McCubbin
- Creative team: Deb Frenkel & Andy Roberts
- Planning Director: James Needham
- Director of Experience (Media): Liz Geor
- Media Strategy: Olivia Scott, Hannah Garcia, George Groves
- Media Investment: Daniel Bradley, Christina Webb, Tom Bergin, Elliot Tindale, Steven Birch
- Head of Broadcast Production: Di Nash
- Group Account Director: Jessica Hughes
- Account Director: Christine Minnella, Sarah Newell & Jo Craven
- Account Manager: David Collins
- Production Company: Finch
- Director: Benji Weinstein
- EP/MD: Corey Esse
- Producer: Emma Lawrence
- VFX: ALT FX – Colin Renshaw
- DOP: Andy Commis/Bryan Newman
- Post Production: The Editors – Dave Whittaker
- Sound: Matt Thompson Studio 8
- Stills photographer: Larnce Gold
13 months to come up with the worst pun ever? Nuff said.
Simply paying Baldwin doesn’t make a brand. If anything, it damages his brand.
It simply demonstrates a mindblowing lack of self awareness.
Just another day in Oz adland then.
You can always spot the commenter who lost the pitch ^
So you take one of the key figures from 30 Rock, a series that satired their parent company in General Electric and use him to sell a company that GE sold off…
I must be missing something.
Interesting that all Alec Baldwin ads are quite similar in execution…with Alex front and centre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEfRqYG0Dq4
Yes, Australians need an American to tell us what to do.
Because we’re idiots.
Right? Am I interpreting this correctly?
Pizza and Schnitzel.. Ha!
I may be having a slow day, but ummm i don’t see a point of difference for this ‘new brand’? What is it?
Who is the ninny that thinks Australia needs an aging US star to tell us where we are going wrong, and how we can be betterer?
This series of ads could have been betterer, they could have been betterer thought out, betterer produced, in fact, they could have been betterer represented by a presenter who could have done much betterer.
The only thing this presenter does that no other could do, is to be a betterer Alec Baldwin.
Damn the begrudgers. Something different, beautifully made, good gags + local knowledge. Thumbs up from me.
Same old CHE, no idea when it comes to ideas
Any agency in Australia could have done ‘betterer’ than this drivel. It’s expensive drivel no doubt too.
Love this vitriol. Good to see all the twisted folk who can no longer comment on CB because no-one releases their work on it have found a new home.
Clear message. Good gags. This work will do the job it’s intended to do.
I assume CHE chose not to release it on Campaign Brief because they knew what reception it would get.
I’m pleased to see that the Mumbrella audience is equally as discerning when it comes to creative standards and get that flinging money at a celebrity to act out a poor script and a generic idea doesn’t cut it.
This campaign deserves all the mud slinging it gets.
I love these ads.
Is it always so bitchy between agencies? By the churn it seems in this industry, one day you might be working there! Same as it is in tech.
Relax people, it’s an ad… Go back to your boring life’s and let me enjoy a gag or two. Love Alec
Hilarous, @New home. I think the fact that you’re so proud of anonymous and gutless but discerning, mud slinging creative standards says everything…
BETTERER? How? Just ‘cus it’s not a Personal Loan from one of the Big 4? What is the differentiator here to be called as BETTER? Better Proposition? Better/Lower interest rate? Better Customer Experience (which I doubt)? What is better? Am I missing something OR everyone else wondering the same?
I quite like the ads. Latitude has got heaps of work to do on their brand, but it’s not a bad start. Hope the ad spend is maintained.
Totes agree, S. It seems more like a product ad, but what’s the proposition? Me thinks that a Betterer Team, with Betterer capabilities could have done something that actually MADE sense!
Really? You like the ads? He speaks so fast, I can’t even understand what he’s saying!
How can a 30+% personal loan be betterer? I’d prefer the incumbents at half the price.
Lipstick on a pig.
Look at CHE desperately astroturfing to try and convince themselves (if nobody else) that their proudest moment in recent memory isn’t a turd.
‘Hope the ad spend is maintained” ha ha ha
Why dosnt Alex comment on all the people that lost their jobs with GE .loyal employees that worked there for years .i can tell you now they are not betterer off now .
This is a great advert, Latitude is really going places with their new CIO in charge.
Didn’t Sportsbet use ‘betterer’ first? And betterer.
Disagree. Those ‘loyal employees’ are actually betterer now that they have LEFT Latitude!
Did they rename themselves because of their terrible reputation?
Yeah of course they are they have all the betterer call centre people now that can try and sell personal loans at 34.95 percent ….
Yeah betterer with the interest rates they offer the battlers that really need a good deal.Does Alex Baldwin even know of any???
Do better? All I heard was ‘Australia not good enough’ ‘USA is better’. I know that wasn’t their intention, but…
Well when you close 50 Ge branches of course your going to have money to pay Alex Balwin .
Yes appreciate the irony of “Jack Donaghy” flogging a company that GE sold off!
How much would Alec Baldwin get paid for this endorsement, anyone?
Am I missing something here ??Alex Baldwin is telling Australia move away from the big 4 banks do something bettered and go with lattitude . Yep ok I’ll go and get a loan with Latitude for 34.95 per cent im really going to make my life betterer now.
I still DON’T understand why they’re ‘betterer’ – and it’s taken them 13 months to come up with this…!
Feels like an idea I’ve seen before…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSyWynmCG8E&feature=youtu.be&list=PL4390A803A1B083AA
Don’t worry, nobody will ever find out.
Why would we heed advice from America – are they doing that well they can advise Australia how to reach their level of financial security?
People, people……………….does everything have to be super serious all the time? The ads are fun. That’s it – it doesn’t have to be about Americans telling Australians about money, or that they are better etc etc……….lighten up it’s just a bit of fun. So much negativity cannot be good for you!
Advertising with a group of smiling Australian Latitude staff in a pub…….call the number as Alex says …. and u get an overseas call centre …very misleading
Latitude don’t want to help if you are over 65 which is weird because Alec Baldwin is older than that
“Julie B”,
You are clearly a mouthpiece for the corporate raider that raided GE. “Latitude is really going places with their new CIO in charge”??? What an awful, leechy comment masquerading as merely utterly ignorant. Defending pawn-manipulation by sociopaths in business.
Plus as Aussies, we hate American accents being brought in just to sell us sh!t we don’t need; now these ads have shown up in radio!! No thanks. And no thanks to you, “Julie-Z”… that’s “zed”, not “zee”!
I like it…you can do better then do betterer!