Westpac realised the financial services industry was faced with the challenges created by a new generation, who have a new way of seeing the world. Millennial customers don’t believe that banks offer them relevant everyday value. And millennials didn’t feel they were valued customers of Westpac.

To deliver the value millennials sought, Westpac launched a partnership with Uber. Called, “Uber rides, on us”, it offered customers every third ride free. The goal was to grow connection to the Westpac brand by delivering value to customers beyond day-to-day transactions.

Uber sits in the sweet spot of millennial appeal: not only is it a service that many of these customers use every day, but it is also viewed as an enabler for the new experiences they seek.

The campaign delivered a seamless customer experience and offered the over-and-above value sought by this audience: new experiences over stuff.

“Uber rides, on us” was a step change from traditional campaign strategies delivered by banks, it sought to drive retention and engagement of these customers who are more likely to switch providers. It took a new approach, launching to customers first and providing a tangible reason to believe they were valued by the bank.

With the retention launch to existing customers delivering great results, the campaign was then extended to mass media channels as a secondary strategy of acquisition by envy. This delivered to Westpac’s core strategy – showing customers, and New Zealand, why they are part of something better.

In a noisy and cluttered marketplace, Westpac got through to an audience that is notoriously hard to reach. Overall, the campaign smashed the bank’s churn reduction objectives and delivered a great ROI.