Latest CommBank ad focuses on promises kept
Commonwealth Bank has released the next in its new series of stylised black and white ads.
The new campaign marks a change of direction from agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners after the previous work involving a comically inept American ad agency.
CommBank has also uploaded a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the ads:
(Hat-tip: @karalee_)
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large. He returned to Mumbrella as Publisher in January 2025
Linkedin
Why why WHY do commonwealth bank creatives continue to weave in as much self-referential crap as possible into their TVCs? first we had the appauling “Crazy US Ad Agency” creative, and now we need to sit through an ego-stroking voice over talking us through the bloody run sheet for the ad!!! “Now the Themline, Now the logo”…biring, self centric and irrelevant.
Comm Bank Creatives: get your hand off it. Stop with the self-congratulatory crud and start making ads that aren’t about you.
User ID not verified.
It’s these damn Americans and their damn kids promoting the wrong kind of advertising. We were once a good breed in Australia, bur obviously Australian agencies aren’t good enough!
Needs more cowbell.
User ID not verified.
Yeah… we’re in a drought Commonwealth dudes.
User ID not verified.
The voiceover is almost sinister. Which is probably about right for a bank.
User ID not verified.
Let’s not underestimate their determination to be different: they got Jean-Pierre Jeunet to film the ad for an Australian bank in a location that looks like a gated community outside LA. That’s pretty determined to be different.
Pick a famous film director, an abstract theme that excudes the coolness of the famous film director, a VO to shoe-horn in the core messages and call it a bank ad.
Can I have a go? Can I?
George Miller directs; happy housewife wants to buy expensive fish food for little Simone, but there are too few coins in her purse, talking animals save the day. The cool cats and wise owls represent bank staff, saying other banks charge too much for too many electronic transactions, but CBA helps you look after the dollars and cents…
Your turn!
User ID not verified.
Enough with the meta-advertising references in your ads. Please.
It’s condescending of GS&P, and kind of like giving trinkets and baubles to the indians.
User ID not verified.
it’s a welcome move away from those “Crazy US Ad Agency” ads
User ID not verified.
Oh please! You seriously have to be kidding me with this ad. For a long time now I’ve heard how bank ads (for example our good friend bank manager for ANZ) are so off the mark because they are completely unrealistic and paint no picture of what the service is really like, let alone the overall experience with banks and their employees and offerings.
This is by far the worst. There is absolutely nothing sincere about this campaign, and the way they have tried to highlight how they will always be there for their customers, is bottom-line pathetic. At least those American agency ad’s very cringe-like funny (even though it reminded me of The Office). This fails to emotionally appeal and engage completely! Epic Fail in the words of my generation!
User ID not verified.
I don’t hate this.
User ID not verified.
I can hardly bring myself to write anything about this expensive waste of money, they should have just given the whole budget away in community grants! The Comm bank continues to have absolutely nothing in common with the average Australian, maybe something to do with the American brains (term used loosely) that have no idea about Australia or Australians. Only one person should go down for this, that Marketing Director at Commbank who jerked himself into appointing a US ad agency. One man, one massive misguided trip! And it continues!
User ID not verified.
Is the voice-over Tiriel Mora – Dennis Denuto from The Castle?
If so, I can’t wait for Series 3 from GS&P in which they employ Working Dog for the “F***ing Photocopier” TVC. Suffer in your jocks all you other banks!
User ID not verified.
agree about the watering the garden, but atleast their ads are diffferint and we are talking about them – isn’t that what advertising is about?
User ID not verified.
I’ll probably get shot to shit for this, but I quite like these. There’s nothing crazy about them, there’s no ‘wham bam give me your business man!!’ kind of punch in the face and they’re, well…. cute.
Sure I could knock them, and say ‘oh I would have done X’ or ‘Why can’t they do Y’ but forget that, I like them for what they are.
A refreshing little break from the everyday banking ad, that focuses on a few key things – great service, work in the community etc.
And for everyone worrying about an it being an American agency: really, that’s your biggest gripe? That means no one here has any desire to work with American brands, because they’d have to stay with American agencies right?
User ID not verified.
no
User ID not verified.
this is just such junk…even worse than those annoying american ad wankers.////…and what’s with this obsession to drop in references to ‘insert logo’ here..it’s just pathetic…im a CBA customer and they certainly aren’t different and these ads just annoy the hell out of me…Goodby FAIL
User ID not verified.
The voiceover is creepy.
I see the pitch that Goodby made with the concept would have went something like their old “ad agency” ads – “how about this? We read everything on the script except the dialogue?”….. really?
User ID not verified.
This is a piece of self-indulgent work. Only ad people would get all the references and cues in the ad – they obviously had their most important ‘target audience’ in mind.
@BigMal – if people are saying the ad is ‘different’ – i don’t think that’s what advertising is about. Advertising is a lot more that the given ‘build awareness/recall’ objective….
User ID not verified.
Big Mal. If you honestly believe that advertising is all about getting noticed then you are an idiot. More often than not, a simple truth told well and relevantly, like Bunnings does every day for one, is all that’s needed to make great advertising. No doubt in your world Bunnings ads are just crap. So, for all those people wondering why clients are finding agencies less and less relevant, look no further than Big Mal.
User ID not verified.
I thought the first ones were mildly funny but these are funnier.
User ID not verified.
I love the behind the scenes – all that equipment and crew for a TVC? I would agree that the money could be better used to sponsor the children’s charity and EMPLOY more staff so they actually deliver on their service promises.
Then let the customers do the work and use social media to describe their good experiences. Nothing puts me off more than standing in a queue in the bank whilst being bombarded with their commercials telling me how good their service is.
Get real guys – TVCs are dying – social media is where it’s at
User ID not verified.
… and in the shadows of the winning post, David makes a lunge at the line to overtake Big Mal for the most inane comment. It’s too close too call … the stewards are going for the photo … it’s a dead heat!
Talkability about an ad is one mere component, as is social media for an advertising campaign. Lift your eyes lads and try to see the whole picture!
User ID not verified.
I’m intrigued by the consumer insight that led to this execution.
Do people want to talk to their bank? Or would they rather avoid it like the plague? Why are they waiting for the bank to call back in the first place? Most often, to complain about something or get a loan approved? And why can’t the bank take the customer call when THEY call at a time convenient to them? Should I, as a bank customer, feel special because they took the time to call me back? Or does this reinforce to me that the banks are somehow ‘above’ truly competing for my business or offering me genuine service?
I’m just sayin…..
User ID not verified.
@John Grono…
Pretty sure that despite the fact people are watching more TV for longer it is actually already a dead medium… Listen to David, I’m pretty sure he is a genius.
User ID not verified.
Good point Joel. Increased usage = death throes that lead to having the shroud completely pulled up over the rotting corpse.
Re your second point, David is probably pretty sure of that as well.
User ID not verified.
Commbank are having a laugh aren’t they?!
There is a drought in Melbourne, however Commbank dont care about that.
The talk of logo’s? Is this an ad for the bank or the agency?
I am totally confused and from my experience with Commbank it doesnt matter how good your ad’s are my experience and service is what is important, or and what rate you can offer me and for that I have taken my business elsewhere.
H’mmm what will make me want to bank my funds elsewhere? A lady in a garden with a hosepipe?
User ID not verified.
Hey Dave that’s why Nike and the worlds biggest brands plonk all their money into tv, cause it’s dying. The most watched event in the world is on tv but I rekon next year they’ll be showing the world cup just on facebook and Twitter as updates. Because tv is dying.
User ID not verified.
Sorry that should be next time, not next year. But same goes with every sporting event on the globe which is televised.
User ID not verified.
I thought it was cute and adorable. A little exaggerated but that’s part of its charm.
But I agree that TV is definitely dying. I find it more convenient to watch online because there are no ads interfering with the program. The bad part of it is I see less and less advertising 🙁 Don’t get me wrong. I love ads, I just don’t like them interfering with my shows.
User ID not verified.
I preer these to those supposed ‘comical’ american ad, at least they’re pretty but not sure like the ANZ they do actually deliver….
But they do use facts in the ads to back up claims but like @Planner-er would love to know where the customer insight came for these ads.
User ID not verified.
idiots. they should have done a social media campaign that democratised the idea of using ATMs and allowed users to share images of themselves in branches and gave the bank managers twitter accounts and then spent all the ATL budget on like button ads on facebook. and crowdsourcing, can’t forget the crowdsourcing.
would have sold way more homeloans and credit cards. feel the synergies.
tv isn’t dying it’s dead. that’s why people spend 4 hours a night watching it, because they like to celebrate the fact it’s dead and invest time around mocking its irrelevance whilst watching it but at the same time using social media to truly engage in dialogue and conversations with their favourite surface cleaning brands and toilet paper. and crowdsourcing.
User ID not verified.
*** applause *** well said value guy
User ID not verified.
Please shut this blog down now. People start talking crap! It was about the bloody ads after all!
User ID not verified.
Classic post Value guy
User ID not verified.
I Heart Value Guy.
If i hear “crate engaging content and deliver social media virility” for a bloody dull-as-dishwater FMCG brand one more time i’ll throw myself off the Harbour bridge.
User ID not verified.
I needed a dishwasher appliance for my kitchen. I Googled “Dishwashers” and I visited some product comparison sites.
I scanned and noted any trends where various sites rated a certaibn machine as the best and narrowed it down to 1 distinct winner.
I then went out to a few retainlers to see what their best price was and also explored online.
I took a similar approach when I was looking for a savings account and a my homeloan…
A marketing mix is important and if people are watching TV and you can afford to, get in fornt of them 🙂
Online / digital is certainly a place where you MUST be and other mediums are beggining to bolt on to this hub and not the other way around…
Again I do not think TV is dead. It is certainly being tested though because it is so expensive to create the advert, let alone buy the space(.)
User ID not verified.
B*gger
‘certain’ and ‘retailers’…
User ID not verified.
Good one value guy.
User ID not verified.
Nice one value guy, if you’re going to be mocking/critical, at least it should be funny
User ID not verified.
… more and more likely, you’ll be watching the next World cup on your TV via the internet with live feeds, your personal control of camera angles, live interaction with friends and sports betting on the fly all at the same time.
The first to the space will win, Bigpond, Virgin in the UK ar already on the way there now.
That is the sound of inevitability.
User ID not verified.
I received a call once from the Commonwealth Bank… It was the teller, asking me how my experience was, and if I got the information on the other accounts I was after… all the while she was removing $750 from my account… Aaaah CBA… you little scamps.
User ID not verified.
Ironic isn’t it. FIFA can’t even get a video replay to see whether the ball has crossed the line, but by the next World Cup there will be some interactivty for some (but certainly not all) TV broadcasts.
And bugger me dead if the Commbank didn’t contact my wife and say we can offer you an extra 1.5% interest on your online saver account until the end of July. First reaction was … what’s the catch? The PDS shows there isn’t a catch … as far as we can see. It’s a nice unexpected loyalty bonus … but like all banks there is still the lingering doubt that same way or other that additional income will be clawed back by some fee somehow. So – they jury is out.
User ID not verified.
I love the “making of …” clip – it has great production values, tight editing, intriguing cut-aways. I wonder if there will be a “making of the making of …”?
User ID not verified.
@ @Herald Sun Reader
yeah, that was my point I was being sarcastic.
As long as there is sport, TV will win and I don’t reckon sport is going away anytime soon.
We’ll always need TV ads.
User ID not verified.
Oh and besides, there won’t be coverage if brands can’t buy a spot. So unless Channel 7 get to host every sporting event on earth and litter every second with shameless product placements then we’ll most likely have to cut to a 30 sec spot.
User ID not verified.
Insert “FAIL” here…..
User ID not verified.
This is quite possibly the worst ad I’ve seen in 10 years. Pathetic creative idea with a proposition which isn’t beleivable to anybody who actually ‘lives’ in Australia. Well done Goodby Silverstein & Partners another piece of badvertising.
Steve.
User ID not verified.
Is the voiceover the same guy who did the AIDS ads in the 1980s?
Sounds like him. Scary.
“Always use a condom”
User ID not verified.
Nice ad for the agency. For the bank though, not at all credible and not at all believable. Good to see CBA investing their money wisely!
User ID not verified.
this will not translate into any form of customer acquisition or market share penetration for this bank
User ID not verified.
My 7 year old daughter had this to say.. “Daddy why is this ad black and white and why is it stupid?” Laughed so hard I had to sit down..
User ID not verified.
on the cost of an advert…. what ever the ad agency quotes the actual crew costs are probably no more than $100-150k a day. by that we are talking a film crew, grips, gaffers etc. There are so many variables you can never really give a set price although you could just buy a copy of the production book and get quotes from crew directly to keep an eye on your agency and it’s fees.
Although who is the chick in the torn jeans with a radio more importantly what does she do?
The days of the agency gouging the client should be dead and buried by now and the next producer who thinks he can skim another 5% off my rate by telling me he will pay me in 5 days or less will be leaving in an ambulance.
As for the advert? Arty, over the top and totally missing the point, Barabara is more of the real bank attitude we deal with should anything go wrong.
I bank with another bank they are doing ok. Commonwealth… I cut loose from them years ago like Telstra.
I want real customer service. Real people answering the telephone not a computerised phone system but a real human who speaks English as their native language not a learned language. Bit like AAMI.
User ID not verified.
Your daughter nailed it Ron.
User ID not verified.
These ads remind me of the trailers for a horror movie. Some weird Japanese horror movie.
I’ve seen this movie. I think there is a girl, she’s dead and trapped down a well.
People that watch these ads will receive a telephone call late at night and strange voice over artist will say ‘you will die in seven days’.
The only way not do die is to get someone else to watch them.
It’s what they call ‘viral marketing’.
And it’s the only thing that’s going to get people to watch these things.
If you have watched these ads and if you want to live, send the link to someone you hate. Maybe someone in advertising.
X
Lavinia.
User ID not verified.