St George launches kid-fronted ‘Start something’ positioning from Saatchi & Saatchi

Then first work by Saatchi & Saatchi on behalf of St George Bank has been unveiled, along with a new “Start something” positioning.
The ad features young children dressed as dragons – in a nod to the legend of St George and the dragon – talking to the camera.
The bank is owned by Westpac.
George Frazis, CEO of St.George Banking Group said in the relaunch announcement: “St.George was built on a foundation of helping people ‘start something’ – helping people to start saving for their first home or helping them start a business. This is the underlying concept of our brand refresh – we want to challenge and inspire people to get out there and start whatever it is they really want to do.”
Martine Jager, GM of strategy, marketing and customer experience, said: “St.George is passionate about helping customers and our local communities. We’re here to help people stop renting and start buying – if that’s what they want.”
The campaign will run in NSW, ACT, Queensland and Western Australia. The campaign includes TV, print, out of home and digital.
Credits:
- Client: St.George
- Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney
- Business Director: Josie Dadd
- ECD: Damon Stapleton
- Creatives: Dan O’Connell & Sam Chappel
- Agency Producer: Kate Gooden
- Production Company: The Feds
- Director: Matt Palmer
- Producer: Karen Watson/Lizzy Nash
- Post Production: Fanatic Films
- Music: Dead Mono
- Sound Design: Saatchi & Saatchi
- Editor: Dave Anlezark/Saatchi & Saatchi
- Media: Mediacom
St George advertising is best known for Ogilvy’s long-running TVC featuring a banker at a barbie.
I LOVE BANKS!!!! I LOVE THE FINANCE INDUSTRY!!!!! (Hang on a minute….)
Strong message. Lovely idea. Arresting copy and execution. Well cast, too.
Nice work S&S. Welcome back. And thank you St George for helping them to make a great ad with you.
Nice work boys.
I can’t believe you ripped me off so blatantly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o
If you’re going to take the path already travelled, at least acknowledge it.
Uncool.
A bank that enables, hardly ground breaking.
Still, well cast and shot.
Yep, they nailed that. Awesome talent.
Just a minor detail, the banker at the BBQ wasn’t Ogilvy’s ad… that was Whybin’s many moons ago. Ogilvy just had the fun of rehashing it for the second time around.
How bad has my Australian agency got that one of our esteemed clients was running ads from their previous shop? By jove!
Nice work guys! cute ad
Kid President – cute kids saying cute things?! How did you *ever* think of something so unbelievably fresh and new and different?
This is the best Aussie bank ad I’ve seen in years.
LOVE the powerpoint end-frame. A couple more logos and it would be 10/10
Forget Ogilvy, Shamless lift of CommBank’s Can strategy, only with a really annoying little kid
You’ve just had an hour long tussle to get your 8 year old off to bed, while trying to resettle your 6 year old, you finally sit down to your hot chocolate, then this ad comes on….
Note to Saatchi’s, M&C did the whole bank enabling thing last year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BL7CJsrXY4 and with watchable talent.
Reminds me a hell of a lot of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIqCCS4KeEw
Sorry, banks are for grown ups, no matter how many overacting kids in dress up you throw at me.
I think this style has become a genre rather than a rip off, but I think a director with some empathy with kids might have helped. This one always worked for me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiFzrQw_weM
M&C can’t own the notion of financial services enabling people to do things. Besides, “CAN” was so boring. I like this a lot more.
@ So 2012
Banks have been doing ‘enabling’ ads forever. If you think Commbank’s ‘Can’ campaign was the first of its kind you need to do some research.
Nice one Kid President.
Hmm… I think this one goes beyond just “enabling” (ie Can) and is more about encouragement (ie Do)
Gold star to pedantic planner.
Oh, and a chocolate starfish to How Can you.
Such a rip off of Kid President.
I like the idea but hate being lectured by a kid.
This looks like the young girl from the Greater Building Society’s latest adverts and cashback campaign. http://www.greater.com.au/Campaign/Home-Loans.aspx
Is the kid a boy or a girl
Wrong on how many levels? Let me count the ways. One: Convenient skipover of ethics in giving a child seriously adult concepts to sell. Two:twisting and mashing up adult needs and desires into a fake child landscape. Three: Exploiting a child with a script hat has nothing to do with that child’s inner self but designed to look like it. Four: using the ‘whatever it takes to get the client’s message through’ method through the ‘turning a blind eye’ method.