Westpac Bank made a $583 million profit in six months between 2020 & 2021.

Just like all banks, Westpac isn’t there to make friends – they’re in the business of making money.

Banks are a grudge purchase. Banks all offer 99% identical services, interest rates, account structures, and so forth. What they don’t offer is the same people. As I’ve said lots of times before, “people do business with people”. If the bank is the cold, cement heart of the organisation, then their people present the fluffy outer-shell disguise. And it’s this polarisation that makes everything quite uneasy, which is why banks spend a fortune on advertising designed to increase likeability.

When it comes to advertising, banks only have three approaches:

1. glorify the bank

2. glorify their people

3. glorify their customers

ASB is doing a great job with their current advertising campaign involving the Big Guy and his Mrs and their ducks, so Westpac couldn’t go that route or they’d be seen as copycats. Or so I thought. What they did was glorify the bank and glorify their customers. Why do one when two is better?

Westpac’s latest advertising campaign, entitled “Together Greater”, is a prime example of “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” advertising that the banking industry is notorious for. It’s beautifully shot, well-produced, and the story’s easy enough to understand – the girl gets bullied until the helpful monster sorts everything out. Cut to the logo. Upload to YouTube and get a million-plus views. Job done.

But it’s not that simple. When you analyse the ad, you can see a lot of weird stuff floating just below the surface. There is deep meaning at play here.