Fintech pioneer OFX moves into mainstream marketing for the first time
OFX has taken its brand above the line for the first time in its history
Financial services technology pioneer OFX is heading to the market with an advertising campaign for the first time, backing the effort with a $5m budget.
The money transfer specialist recently underwent a rebrand from its former name of OzForex and is now moving to build awareness with a new market of people looking to move money around the globe safely and cheaply.
Chief marketing officer, Maria Loyez, said the brand had reached a point in its life where it could expand from its total reliance on search marketing to embrace mainstream channels.
OFX began life on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 1998 before growing to become one of the world’s largest international payments businesses and listing on the ASX.
Loyez said the company had traded on offering a genuine alternative to the banks but it was also time to develop a personality and become “more aggressive” with its marketing.
“We really are one of Australia’s first fintech businesses, so quite a success story in Australian start-ups,” Loyez said.
“The brand was quite a loved one in Australia, with people who use its services it has a fairly decent brand awareness, but there was no real brand positioning or thought behind it; it developed quite organically.”
The rebrand in December united seven separately branded international businesses under a single name for the first time, creating the platform for the launch of the marketing drive.
“In the market there is very little differentiation currently and most of our competitors are competing against the hygiene factors if you like and so there is an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves and stand out in the market.”
The campaign is anchored in the line “when it matters, OFX it”.
“We wanted something that demonstrated that we do have smarts and we are experts,” said Loyez.
Having relied solely on SEO as its marketing platform since the company’s foundation, Loyez said the move into TV through Foxtel would allow it to approach a new audience.
The company has declined to take up Foxtel sales house MCN’s programmatic solutions, instead targeting audiences with a bespoke media plan.
Loyez said the decision not to pursue a programmatic approach was based on the feeling OFX needed to have a fully targeted approach to the media buy.
“Historically we had only used paid search, very performance-related media, and we are moving up the funnel to above the line media to create awareness,” Loyez said.
“It’s a tricky little media plan actually, because we are wanting to create awareness but with a niche group of people. I’m not interested in telling the whole of Australia about our services.
“We did look at their programmatic service and and we decided not to, actually, because the target audience or the segment we could select wasn’t close enough, we thought, to our target audience and we would be better off selecting a bespoke.
“I think if you can find the right segment with them then it can be a great opportunity.”
Shows such as Top Gear, business and property programs have been included in the bespoke mix.
“We are measuring our web traffic in the window after the programs to see what’s working the best,” Loyez said.
Simon Canning
