ASB

Challenging Kiwi investors to think globally, act locally

The Brief

ASB was to be the first bank to offer KiwiSaver investors the option of putting their savings into an international sustainable investment fund – nicknamed the ‘Gore Fund’ because Al Gore is the fund’s global chairman.  ASB wanted to launch the fund and cement its ‘first to market’ positioning.  At the same time it needed to convey the important fact that because this was an ‘active’ fund it was only accessible through brokers ASB Group Investments’ 0800 number, rather than regular branches.  Interest in KiwiSaver was high, but so was the overall level of confusion.  The challenge was to launch a new – more technical – product without adding to that confusion.

Our Solution

While ASB gave the fund a New Zealand name - the Global Sustainability Fund - we played up the association with Al Gore, to heighten its newsworthiness and communicate the sustainability theme.  A targeted communications programme leveraged off the Gore link to attract interest in the new fund and then used the opportunity to explain to KiwiSaver investors the differences between active and passive investment funds.  
Key influencers, including KiwiSaver commentators, were full briefed by ASB just prior to the launch; this was followed by one to one media briefings between ASB and key business and mainstream media.  A dedicated online resource was also created for the ASB website. ASB also took our advice to appoint a dedicated in- expert to help direct potential investors to either a broker or the ASB Group Investments’ 0800 number for more information. 

Results

The media and influencer interest in this story was significant with attention from the NZ Herald, Fairfax’s syndicated BusinessDay pages, radio and a TV business programme.  ASB received so many public enquiries it is now looking at developing a sustainable fund outside the KiwiSaver portfolio to appeal to more committed investors.