Strategy Case Studies for Marius Donnestad

1. Marius Donnestad
Strategy Case Studies
~
Customer Owned Banking Association
V Energy Drink
The Greater Building Society
Wagner Magnesium Forte 400
And more...wo-hoo!
~mariusforplanner.com~

2. Customer Owned Banking Association (C.O.B.A.)
From Conservative Lobbyists to Consumer Activists
C.O.B.A. is the industry organisation for mutuals, building societies and credit unions, its main activity being to lobby federal and state Governments.
While given a wide range of objectives by their members, their focus lately has been to get the Coalition to commit to conducting an independent inquiry
into the financial sector, as well as influencing its terms of reference.

3. The Background
The Challenge
C.O.B.A. NEEDED TO ENGAGE THE VOTING PUBLIC
IN THEIR CAUSE IN ORDER TO GET GRASS-ROOT
SUPPORT THAT COULD BE CONVERTED INTO
LEVERAGE ON THE POLITICAL STAGE.
HOWEVER, WHILE THE PUBLIC WOULD BE THE
ULTIMATE BENEFACTOR OF SUCCESSFUL
LOBBYING, CREATING PASSION FOR THE DRY AND
COMPLEX TECHNICAL DETAILS OF SOMETHING
LIKE A FINANCIAL INQUIRY WOULD BE HARDER
THAN SQUEEZING BLOOD FROM A STONE.
The Insights
People care about their hip pockets, but not if it requires
too much mental effort.
We had to find a way of getting people to emotionally
engage with a bunch of lobbyists and make their efforts be
perceived as important and personally relevant.
The conservative financial organisation had to step out of
their comfort zone, and show they were fighting for the
people, not just for a bunch of banks...

4. The STRATEGIC IDEA
Relaunch COBA as a
CONSUMER ACTIVIST
organisation
...redefining who COBA is and what they do...
From this:
To this:

5. The Strategy in more detail
C.O.B.A. shed its dark suit and took up the fight for fair and ethical banking for all Australians.
This overarching goal is achieved through three core streams of activities:
1. TAKING on the BIG FOUR BANKS, as well as the POLITICIANS who enable their abuse of
power, and various other unethical practices, through unfair legislation that disables free competition.
2. PROVIDE information about the ALTERNATIVE BANKING sector - where people come
before profit - and provide advice to those who wish to make the switch from traditional banking.
3. LOBBYING is now only one of three streams of core activities - this is where C.O.B.A. leverages grass-
root engagement to fight for their members’ cause. This is where they get to wear their suits.

6. ...TAKING C.O.B.A VERY FAR FROM THE COMFORT OF
THE BOARDROOM, BUT ULTIMATELY CREATING A
MORE HUMAN AND RELEVANT BRAND

7. The Creative Brief
When campaigns and tactics were driven by a purpose
above and beyond the day-to-day activities, C.O.B.A. was
allowed to free their minds and rethink every aspect of
their communication.
By taking their cues from organisations such as GetUp!,
Amnesty, Greenpeace and Anonymous, they had a clear
direction for everything from look & feel; personality and
media channels - yet they still had ample room for
innovative creative executions.
Traditional media were rejected in favour of content-based
ideas that would be shared in social media and covered in
mass-media.
This was made possible by championing a cause which
rarely fail to engage:
The abuse of power by big corporations, enabled by
politicians, the victims of which are everyday Australians

8. V Energy Drink
Fight for your right - not to party, but for a better future
This was a project that never made it to the actual client.

9. The Background
The Challenge
THE ENERGY DRINK CATEGORY HAD BECOME
INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE AND HOMOGENOUS,
WITH EVERY PLAYER PROFESSING PHYSICAL
INVIGORATION, AND COLLECTIVELY CHASING
EVERY AND ANY PROPERTY WITHIN THE FIELDS OF
MUSIC, EXTREME SPORTS AND NIGHTLIFE.
PROVIDING AMPLE OPPORTUNITY FOR AN
ENERGY DRINK BRAND TO BE BRAVE AND
CHALLENGE THE CONVENTIONS.
The Insights
Consumers of energy drinks represented a wider range of
demographics than one would think looking at the
category’s marketing output. Soon there would be an equal
male-female split, and 30+ was the fastest growing
segment.
And, importantly, a large proportion of energy drinks was
consumed with the purpose improving mental
performances at places like universities and offices.
In other words, not all of us wish to parachute out of
spacecrafts.

10. Introducing: THE GUARANA PLANT;
containing a form of concentrated
energy, it’s an essential, active
ingredient in V.
It is a renewable and sustainable
form of energy, native to, and
found only in:
THE AMAZON:
THE LUNGS OF THE WORLD

11. The STRATEGIC IDEA
PURE ENERGY!
The brains of V drinkers are fueled by
CONCENTRATED energy from the PUREST
place on earth.
Cool, that’s a really promising start. However it’s
not quite there just yet.
V, after all, energises the girl who studies rather
than parties all night, and the guy who reads
books rather than Zoo magazine, and will
therefore need to engage their customers at an
intellectual level. Through something they care
deeply about.
So, let’s see where Pure Energy can take us...

12. If V is serious about energy, why not put into practice
some of that cheekiness for which they’re well known, and
start talking about V as
not just a DRINKS COMPANY who happen to also provide
energy
but as an ENERGY COMPANY whose mode of delivery
just so happens to be a drinks bottle
THEN WHAT....?
What if...?
OLD COMPETITORS:
NEW COMPETITORS:
Then we get some new competitors...
...and they are being very, very naughty

13. THREATENING OUR
CUSTOMERS’FUTURE
...AS WELL AS OUR OWN
SOURCE OF ENERGY

14. AND THIS REALLY
PISSES US OFF!

15. The Strategy in more detail
V now has a cause. Above and beyond itself. Something worth spending
advertising dollar on. Something their customers could relate to and care about:
V will not stand by and watch our competitors giving energy a bad name -
V will fight for the future of our planet: home to our customers as well as our own
source of renewable energy.
V will tirelessly point out our competitors’ many “mistakes”, and energise their
customers so that they can join V in creating positive and real change.

16. The Creative Brief
This positioning opens up a plethora of creative opportunities,
be it campaigning against corrupt oil companies, war
mongering politicians or the hypocrisy of other, so-called
“green’, brands.
As long as it’s done with a cheeky sense of humour, the
creative direction is guided more by a worthy cause and
current affairs than by corporate style guides, lofty one-
word “brand essences” and Roy Morgan data, making for
a richer, more unique and more authentic brand.
(And, if it’s a quiet news week, they can always create
some Gina Reinhardt memes to seed through their social
media channels.)

17. Greater Building Society (The Greater)
Don’t underestimate the power of a common enemy
Greater Building society is a regional bank with a strong presence in NSW, particularly in the Hunter and the Illawarra regions. While offering much the
same products as any traditional bank, their origin as a building society means they are essentially owned by their customers, with all profits going back to
its members and their communities. In other words a very different ethos from that of the profit driven Big Four banks.

18. The Background
The Challenge
WITH LOW AWARENESS, OLD BRANCHES, NO
UNIQUE PRODUCTS AND AN INFERIOR ONLINE
OFFER, GREATER WAS LOSING OUT TO THE BIG
FOUR BANKS. UNABLE AT THIS STAGE TO ADDRESS
ANYTHING BUT THEIR COMMUNICATION, THEY
WANTED TO CREATE A STRONGER CONNECTION
WITH PEOPLE AT A BRAND LEVEL.
AND NO CONNECTION IS STRONGER THAN THAT
BASED ON A SHARED SET OF VALUES AND A
COMMON ‘ENEMY’.
The Insights
With their regional origins and footprint, as well as their
building society credentials, The Greater shares a set of
values - a mindset - with people in the regions.
In our society, anything ‘big-city’ quickly becomes the
‘default’, with its elites and media defining and leading the
country’s discourse. The Big Four banks represent the
ultimate manifestation of this unsympathetic mindset.
Frustrated by big-city arrogance and dominance, people
in the regions - in order to construct a positive identity -
inevitably develop a world view which is in direct
opposition to that of the big cities.
These two opposing world views were defined and
referred to as the Corporate and Community mindsets...

19. PROFIT VS. PEOPLEME VS. US
SUPERFICIAL VS. AUTHENTIC
VANITY VS. DOWN TO
EARTH
IMPERSONAL VS. LOCAL PRIDE
LAZY VS. HARD
WORKING
ETC.

20. The STRATEGIC IDEA
Demonstrate a shared COMMUNITY
mindset with their regional customers
A connection between The Greater and their
customer would be forged - their underdog
status bringing them together in the never-
ending battle for pride and superiority against
the powerful, but morally corrupt, big city
people and their big banks.
This would position The Greater as the natural
choice for people in the regions.
Crucially, it would also reposition the Big Four
Banks as catering only to their opposites: the
superficial and arrogant city-lickers.

21. The Creative Brief
It’s easy for a brand to say ‘we’re just like you’. So The
Greater couldn’t simply talk about a shared mindset, they
also had to demonstrate exactly how they offer value to
their customers.
The creative brief therefore focused on how the two
mindsets differed in the context of the local economy.
The Corporate Mindset - characterised by short-term profit,
competition, individualism and survival of the fittest - leads
to cold, impersonal and dysfunctional communities.
A bank that adheres to the Community Mindset, on the other
hand, is a natural fit with economies where every
participant works together for the common good of the
entire community.

22. Wagner - Magnesium Forte 400
From pharmacies to petrol stations
Wagner is an Australian producer of minerals and supplements. You haven’t heard of them you say? I’m not surprised...

23. The Background
The Challenge
DRIVEN BY A FASCINATION FOR ANYTHING
ALTERNATIVE, MINERALS & SUPPLEMENTS
HAVE BEEN THE NEW BLACK FOR THE LAST
FEW YEARS, MAKING IT A COMPETITIVE CATEGORY.
THERE ARE MORE THAN 25 BRANDS FIGHTING FOR
WHATEVER SHELF SPACE IS LEFT OVER FROM
THE THREE BRAND LEADERS.
WAGNER IS ONE OF THEM, AND THEY WERE JUST
ABOUT TO INTRODUCE YET ANOTHER
MAGNESIUM TABLET TO THE MARKET.
The Insights
The vitamins and minerals market is confusing, with all
sorts of dubious claims of efficiency, with limited to no
possibility for the average consumer to know what works
and what doesn’t.
The category is extremely homogenous, with brands
claiming the same benefits for the same people,
distributed through the same channels, their packaging
looking virtually identical.
Giving Wagner many rules to break...

24. Faced with this, why on earth would
anyone choose a brand like...
...when they can go with one of the safe choices...Wagner?...

25. BUT, WHAT DOES MAGNESIUM REALLY DO?
It relaxes you
It lowers your heart rate
It calms nerves
But who, apart from the traditional Blackmores
and Swisse customers would be into something
like that...?
HOW ABOUT
THESE GUYS?

26. The STRATEGIC IDEA
RETHINK the entire VMS category,
from PRODUCT and CUSTOMERS,
to DISTRIBUTION and ADVERTISING
BASED on the effects of magnesium, Magnesium
Forte 400 would be pitched at a young males
(and females) in general, and consumers of
energy drinks in particular.
THING WAS, these guys don’t really hang out at
pharmacies...
...which was great because that meant it could be
sold at petrol stations instead...
NEITHER do they respond well to the type of
communication favoured by the VMS category...
...which was great, because that meant they had
an excuse to get creative

27. The Strategy in more detail
Introducing Mg - Australia’s first*
ANTI-ENERGY DRINK
(**Ok, it would probably look a bit cooler)
**
(*Apparently, a significant market for anti-energy
drinks has emerged after I had this idea. Damn it!)
JUST SO THAT YOU CAN, YOU KNOW:
Calm down before those stupid exams
Chill out before that big date
Come down after a day of jumping out of
spacecrafts and other extreme sports
Take the edge off that epic hangover
Lower your heart rate after having had too
many RedBulls

28. But, wait, there’s more..!
(Don’t worry, these are short)

29. BUPA HEALTH INSURANCE
The Background
BUPA WANTED TO DEVELOP A
PRODUCT AND SERVICES
OFFERING FOR THEIR MANY
RETAIL OUTLETS, WHICH WERE
ONLY UTILISED FOR CLAIMS
PROCESSING.
THIS OFFER WAS TO
DEMONSTRATE THEIR
PROPOSITION: “HELPING YOU
LEAD HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER
LIVES”.
The Insights
Australians were becoming
increasingly health-conscious as was
particularly evident in fitness and diet
trends.
We found that the most valuable
customer to target a retail offer at
would be women with young kids
(most health-conscious, high level of
claims, family has long potential
future with BUPA).
The Strategy
We developed a brand new service
which we called
THE HEALTH PLANNER.
Taking place in-store with a
registered nurse, this is a low-barrier
service consisting of physical tests,
online questionnaire and private
consultation, which leads to a
personal health plan that deals with
all aspects of the person’s life - e.g.
nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress
management.

30. PIG’S EAR - CRAFT-BEER
The Background
THIS CRAFT-BEER IS THE
RESULT OF ONE MAN’S
PASSION FOR HOME-BREWING.
STARTING OUT IN A GARAGE IN
REDFERN IT IS IN THE PROCESS
OF BEING COMMERCIALISED.
IT IS HOWEVER BUT ONE OF
MANY, MANY CRAFT-BEERS
AND MICRO-BREWS AVAILABLE
IN ADDITION TO THE GREAT
QUALITY, A DISTINCT BRAND
WAS REQUIRED.
The Insights
Beer is potent cultural currency -
one’s choice of which says a lot
about who you are (or would like to
be perceived as)
You’re either a down-to-earth Aussie
bloke swearing to VB, Toohey’s or
Carlton Draught - or a pretentious
hipster drinking craft-beer
The result is that great quality beer is
essentially unavailable to the majority
of Australians.
There was a gap in the market, and
Pig’s Ear was well placed to fill it...
The Strategy
Pig’s Ear thinks everyone should be
allowed to enjoy a craft-beer without
worrying about what anyone says.
Their mission:
DEMOCRATISING CRAFT-BEER
Pig’s Ear will be a cheeky and
opposing voice to the pretentiousness
of the foodie and winey cultures.
The flagship brew became Garage
Ale and the tagline Straight Out’ta
Redfern - hinting at a no-nonsense
attitude. They would be open about
supermarket ingredients and share,
rather than mystify, their brewing
process.

31. DYMOCKS BOOKS
The Background
STRUGGLING AGAINST THE
ONLINE GIANTS AND WITH NO
TIME AND MONEY TO ADDRESS
THEIR ONLINE OFFERING, A
CAMPAIGN WAS NEEDED THAT
ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO BUY
BOOKS THE OLD-FASHIONED
WAY.
The Insights
60% of books sold at Dymocks were
purchased as gifts.
And while Amazon can recommend
books for you, it comes to short when
you need help selecting a book for
your aspiring artist of a nephew or
sewing enthusiast of a grandmother.
The Strategy
Supported by their great range of
books and knowledgeable and
passionate staff, the proposition
became:
DYMOCKS MATCHMAKER - There’s
a book for everyone, and we help you
find it.
This tapped into the almost romantic
experience of getting lost in a book
as well as giving people a good
reason for shopping at Dymocks.

32. IN ORDER FOR BRANDS TO TRULY BECOME PART OF CULTURE AND
BECOME RELEVANT TO PEOPLE, I BELIEVE WE MUST:
CHALLENGE CONVENTIONS. QUESTION EVERYTHING. ESPECIALLY ROY
MORGAN DATA. DARE TO BE DIFFERENT. DARE TO FAIL. LOOK OUTSIDE
PRODUCT CATEGORIES FOR INSPIRATION. REALISE BRANDS ARE NOT AT
THE CENTRE OF PEOPLE’S LIVES. DEVELOP BRANDS WITH A PURPOSE
ABOVE AND BEYOND SELLING STUFF. STOP BRIBING PEOPLE TO
‘PARTICIPATE’. SURF. REFRAME WHAT YOU DO. MAKE BRANDS FAMOUS
BEFORE STARTING A DIALOGUE WITH EVERY SINGLE CUSTOMER. STOP
TRYING TO BE LOVED. LIKED IS GREAT. ONLY FACEBOOK LIKES DON’T
CUT IT. DEVELOP BRANDS WITH COMPLEX PERSONALITIES, NOT
MISGUIDED SIMPLICITY. WATCH TARANTINO MOVIES. DEAL WITH THE
FACT THAT NOT ALL BRANDS CAN TALK AND ACT LIKE A HIPSTER. DRINK
WINE. ASK, ‘HOW EXACTLY WILL THIS PIECE OF COMMUNICATION
CREATE CHANGE?’. PROMOTE VALUES, NOT PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL
‘BENEFITS’. CONDUCT CULTURAL AND ACADEMIC RESEARCH. DON’T TRY
TO BE APPLE. ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE AN FMCG BRAND. CHEERS! MARIUS
That’s it!