Australia’s #2 Bank:
Getting your groove back

What happens when reputational damage, a very public enforceable undertaking and hefty fines from a recent past hits Australia’s first company and #2 bank? Widespread inertia, risk aversion, cultural atrophy and a brand ranked last in preference among its peers. For nearly 14m Australians this storied bank had failed to stand for anything meaningful in over 15 years. But with new leadership and growing momentum, there was at least a catalyst to shake off the recent past and drive performance beyond survival. What helped was a clear ambition to be its customer’s #1 bank and partner for life, but just what could align, inspire and create change amongst 35,000 people? The answer was a deep dive into What We Stand For.

But this was no traditional brand project, it needed to be a deep exploration into what the people in this organisation really yearned for. A sense of direction, a bias to action and a strong desire to move past the past and envision a different future for themselves. More empowered, more customer-centric, more nimble. A new brand strategy might be part of the answer but it wouldn’t be enough.

So we crafted a bigger solution - a new and more inspiring purpose unearthed through working with the frontline, not just the executive team; a new and simplified group strategy; new values and behaviors that gave people the power to act. We built a new set of customer value propositions for each division with a vision for what winning looks like now and in 5 years. A new and compelling mutual employer value proposition with world class benefits. A set of company-wide signature moves that would show the new strategy in action. And yes, a new brand strategy. 

Of course it all sounds good on paper, but strategy is nothing if we couldn’t make it stick, so we designed an adoption program that every person in the company could engage with the change, learn and practice it for themselves, then take control of what it meant for their roles and their part of the company. End-to-end stickiness.

Aligning and engaging 35,000 people is no mean feat. To have achieved what was thought impossible meant overcoming the sceptics, simplifying the business and engaging everyone as an owner. To get it done inside 14 weeks was remarkable. But it created the momentum needed for the business to get its groove back! And, for the first time in years, the organization is starting to believe that it can retake leadership of its category.