How Avantcard Successfully Launched a New Product with RTÉ
Client: Avantcard
Agency: Vizeum
Project: FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Sponsorship
What was the main aim of this campaign?
Consumer finance company Avantcard can be seen as a challenger brand to the more established Irish banks such as AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank. The Carrick-on-Shannon based company has been very active in the market since it rebranded from MBNA in 2013.
In 2018, Avantcard launched the ‘Made for You’ campaign to coincide with the launch of personalised pricing, a unique product in the Irish market. This campaign had two main KPIs:
- To grow the business through sales.
- To raise the brand profile.
What was the chosen solution and why?
As Avantcard were launching a new a new product they wanted to reach as many people as quickly as possible. Sponsorship of a major sporting event allows brands to do this in a very effective way. In 2018 one of the biggest global sporting events came to RTÉ, the FIFA World Cup. Taking place in Russia across June and July, RTÉ showed 56 live matches as well as pre-match build-up, post-match analysis and highlights programmes.
This campaign would allow Avantcard to reach a wide audience across radio, digital and (for the first time ever in the brand’s history) to TV. The ability to reach audiences across a number of platforms appealed to Avantcard as it fed into the ‘Made for You’ message.
Why did you choose to work with RTÉ?
Consumer trust is a very important consideration for money and finance brands. Building on that trust Avantcard needed a media partner that shared the same values. As the national media organisation RTÉ is a trusted source of news, current affairs, entertainment, drama and sport to Irish people across the country.
RTÉ’s coverage of sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup has been unparalleled in recent years and with the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers, the Rugby World Cup and the GAA Championships coming in 2019 this will continue. Brands partner with RTÉ because they know that, given the option, Irish people will watch the biggest sporting moments on RTÉ.
"Partnering with RTÉ brought our Made For You campaign to a wide audience across Radio, Online and, for the first time ever in our brands history, to TV. Off the back of our TV debut we saw a 26% increase in brand awareness.”
What was the result?
On the back of their TV debut, Avantcard saw a 26% increase in brand awareness and over 2000% increase in online searches. Credit cards were the most successful product following this campaign with a 500% increase in sales.
Avantcard were nominated for the best marketing campaign of the year in the UK and Ireland Card and Payments Awards.
In terms of reaching a large number of people as quickly as possible the campaign certainly succeeded in that. The FIFA World Cup 2018 reached over 3.2 million people over the course of a few weeks. An average of 317,000 viewers tuned in to the 56 live matches. The England v Croatia Semi-Final was the most watched match and the fourth most watched programme of the year with 924,000 viewers. It was the best ever World Cup of the RTÉ Player with 5.8 million streams.
