The Bank That Doesn’t Like to Say NatYes

You may have picked up some of the online chatter around the new NatWest advert. If you’ve not seen it then it’s quite a nice ad, you can watch it here…and it ends with the call to action

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main message is that they say yes to 9 out of 10 mortgage applications (based on applications submitted over the last 15 months and excluding buy to let). And if you want to find out more you just ‘Search NatYes’

Clever, huh! Simple and punchy.

Except in 2013 if you tell people to search NatYes that’s exactly what they’ll do. On Google, Bing or whatever their search engine of choice is. And when you do you get…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s right, one paid adwords ad. Try the domain names natyes.com and natyes.co.uk – and they’re available! D’oh! So no real further information. Nothing in the general listings.

At this stage I refer you to Gary Robinson’s excellent blog NatYes or NatLess: NatWest Campaign Lacking TV & Digital Integration – a great analysis from an experienced digital marketer on the missed opportunities.

I noticed something else about it too. The print ads show a graphic of a mouse with NatYes next to it….so they are telling you to search it from a computer as a way of connecting with the campaign. Except that all you’ll get is a Google ad, which I suspect is quite expensive. No other form of digital or social engagement to back up the campaign.

When I blogged about HMV earlier this year it was to highlight their failure to grasp the evolving digital and social landscape, and tellingly the failure to understand changes in consumer behaviours, and with NatWest here’s another case of a large brand failing to do the same. Or maybe it’s their advisers who are being remiss. I’m sure NatWest have a digital marketing team…were they consulted?

You see, the image of the mouse gave the game away for me…they are thinking of office desktop computers. How many people will ‘search NatYes’ using a mouse? Very few I would think.

If the call to action is at the end of a TV ad, and on newspaper ads, then the device for doing the searching is likely to be a smartphone, tablet or laptop. In fact they didn’t need a symbol at all! Merely the word ‘Search’ tells people what they want to know. The ad is aimed at a demographic that don’t need to be told to search.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So is the mouse a giveaway? Millions spent on a campaign, but a telling failure to understand consumer behaviour in the most important call to action.

The message is you’ve got a 90% chance of getting your mortgage approved…the call to action of ‘Search NatYes’ appears a gratuitous, or ill thought out and planned, one.

In the way that ‘Go to work on an egg’ was probably pitched with the sentiment ‘Look, no-one is literally going to believe you can travel to work on an egg’ maybe ‘Search NatYes’ was pitched with ‘Look, very few are literally going to do a search for it’