One of my first posts looked at UBank and its series of “Money Box” Webisodes, a sort of “Recession 101” for younger Australians. Six months on, UBank has launched its first TV commercial, “Saving Is the New Spending,” to promote the USaver account. The spot sweeps through an upscale restaurant, noting how many of those enjoying the high life are actually living beyond their means (one diner’s maxed out his credit, another’s eaten baked beans for a week to afford a lobster dinner). The tone manages to stay more lighthearted than preachy.
It’s interesting to consider “living beyond your means” as an undesirable, and almost laughable, trait—particularly when it follows a period where credit-fueled exuberance has been the norm and one’s ability to keep up with costly trends has been a common aspiration and driver of social status.
Leveraging this shift feels like a strong strategy for a savings offering such as UBank given the current climate; however, the question is how ownable this will be for the brand ongoing—and whether this will strategy will stimulate a change consumer behavior (if that is indeed the objective for UBank!).
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