Australian Bankers Association launches advertising blitz
As political pressures mount on the industry, the Australian Bankers’ Association this weekend launched an advertising campaign portraying the sector as the friend of mum and dad investors.
The ‘Australian Banks Belong To You’ campaign, which is running across TV and full-page advertisements in today’s newspapers, features bank workers describing how over 80 percent of local banks’ profits are returned to shareholders.
The print advertisement features Westpac receptionist Gracie Vella, a 32-year veteran of the bank with the message of “nearly 80 percent of Australian bank profits go straight back to shareholders.”
“Profits don’t belong to the banks, they belong to everyday Australians like you,” says Vella in the thirty second TVC.
“Each of the four banks put out a call to their staff to ask them if they wanted to represent their bank in these advertisements,” an ABA spokesperson told Mumbrella.
“Lots of staff volunteered to take part and were then chosen to represent different areas from across the banks. All of our banks and the staff who work in them play an important role and the campaign will evolve over time to include other banks.”
“There is a lot of misinformation around Australian banks and what they do with their profits,” the spokesperson said. “On any given day you can open a paper, or hear someone talk in the media about banks and the money they make, with no mention of where profits really go.
“In fact, recent research conducted in June this year found that 72 percent of people believe that less than 25 percent of bank profits are returned to shareholders, we know that’s simply not true. The advertisements are designed to help educate people and make sure they are in possession of the facts.
“The agency we’ve been working with is Industrial and the campaign will feature across print, TV, digital and entertainment streaming services.”
A report in the Australian Financial Review on the weekend claimed political advisor Tony Mitchelmore, who worked with the mining industry on its 2010 campaign against the mining tax, was involved in developing the campaign.
The ABA’s latest effort comes as pressures mount for a Federal Royal Commission into the banking industry following a series of scandals over bank practices.
At the Mumbrella Finance Summit in August, ABA chief Anna Bligh said the Australian banking industry will need more than PR and comms to move beyond its current trust issues and flagged improving customer experience and changing corporate cultures as being essential to overcoming the sector’s current malaise.
Ummmm.
So “nearly 80 percent of Australian bank profits go straight back to shareholders.”.
But …
“Profits don’t belong to the banks, they belong to everyday Australians like you.”
So isn’t there an inherent assumption by the banks that everyday Australians (and let’s toss in their customers for good measure) are shareholders.
Sure my superannuation fund probably has some investment in the banks, but this totally invisible to every customer.
Jut man up, waive some fees (like $10 a month just to keep an account and I haven’t set foot in a branch for who knows how long) – it ain’t gonna kill you!
The Big Four made $15b profit in the first half of 2017-18. That’s around $1,300 per annum per man, woman and child in Australia. Waiving personal account fees would drop that by single digit percentages.
Remember banks – actions speak louder than words.
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Is anybody able to prove that Westpac is not at least 50% owned by foreign investment?
What about that loan during the GFC?
For crying out loud!!!???
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In any successful business the formula is:
1) Look after your customer – without them you don’t have a business.
2) Look after your staff (majority of your staff)
3) Keep an eye on expenses and profits will flow – from this you can then pay returns to your investors.
From personal experience, this is what changes with the banks when we reward senior execs purely on share performance:
1) Push the share price as high as possible by:
a)Screwing every cent you can out of your customer.
b)Cut as many staff jobs as you can – to reduce expenses.
c)Report highest possible profits by any means possible including ignoring anything illegal or unsavoury as this will impact your own bonus.
2) Reward yourself and fellow senior execs with $millions in bonuses and pay staff ~50% of their bonuses.
3) Look after the funds and fund managers by paying a handsome dividend to the investors after you and your fellow cover-uppers have had your slice.
4) Nobody cares about the frontline staff as who helped make the profits, nor the customers without whom there would be no profits and they have no serious alternatives other than the oligopoly of the Big 4.
This is why everyone in senior positions wants to avoid a Royal Commission at all costs, there has been some seriously unethical behaviour and no-one wants to answer for any of it.
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A cynical propaganda campaign on the part of the banks.
I have informed the television networks as well as the Australian Bankers Association that I will boycott watching any channel / network that broadcasts their ad.
I can’t imagine those networks other advertisers will be too happy to learn the channels/ networks they’re advertising on are being boycotted and that as a result expensive advertising they’ve paid for, will not be seen.
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