The New Zealander of the Year Awards sponsorship is an important proof point for Kiwibank. But for 2019, they felt it needed to more actively live up to their purpose of Kiwis making Kiwis better off.

When Mike King won the award for his work around suicide prevention, Kiwibank worked quickly to get him on-board with a creative idea that put the focus onto his work, not him as an individual.

Kiwibank’s strategy was to live in social. The New Zealander of the Year Award was given back for Kiwis to embrace, by placing the affirmation I AM HOPE across their Facebook profiles. Kiwibank supported each upload with a $1 donation to the Gumboot Friday charity fundraiser.

The campaign saw a huge number of Kiwi adults putting the bank’s logo on their Facebook profile photo, sharing messages of hope and goodwill. I AM HOPE brought communities together, facilitated a much-needed open conversation on a serious social issue.

The Kiwibank I AM HOPE Facebook profile frame used Kiwis as both the message and the medium, moving Kiwibank from a badge sponsor to a bank enabling a meaningful conversation, and rallying the country to raise in excess of $1.2 million in donations to charity Gumboot Friday. The campaign delivered over $1 million in earned media value, and an incredible 34,000% ROI on paid media.

The campaign also gained high awareness for Kiwibank’s role as a sponsor for the New Zealander of the Year Awards, and improved positive social sentiment towards Kiwibank by 74%.

The I AM HOPE campaign demonstrated how the right insights, paired with robust strategy and compelling creative, has the potential to mobilise a country – fuelling a national discussion on an important social issue, with far-reaching impacts beyond the social platform and touching every media channel.