Westpac, a major banking organisation in Australia, is running an advertising campaign focused on support provided for Australians going through separation and divorce. Continuing the bank’s theme of help in in pivotal life moments, the campaign centres on a young boy, his mum and his dad, as they adjust to life living in two places. Ari does what he can to bring hope to his mum, finding fairy lights under the house, sorting out the Huntsman spider on the wall, encouraging a swim in the ocean, eyeballing the tradesman and just being there. And then it’s Dad’s turn. The commercial is filmed around Kiama and Sydney, NSW, and set to the 1977 Fleetwood Mac track, “Landslide”, performed by Australian singer/songwriter Conrad Sewell.
Behind the Separation Divorce campaign
As part of Westpac’s Life Moments resource site, a Separation-Divorce online hub houses a range of checklists and resources, developed with divorce experts, to help couples navigate a separation. There is also information about how Westpac can help by giving its customers breathing space through payment relief and access to low interest funds to help them get back up on their feet.
Jenny Melhuish, Westpac Group Head of Brand, Advertising & Media, explains the thinking behind the bank’s approach to separation and divorce.
“Separating from a partner can be really hard, both emotionally and financially. 49 per cent of people put off looking into financial matters when they were separating, no doubt because it can feel incredibly overwhelming. We’ve been developing tangible help for our customers, and our campaign aims to highlight what we can do to relieve financial uncertainty.”
Noah Regan, creative partner at DDB, talks about the commercial at the heart of the campaign.
“Separation was the most difficult life moment to tackle so far. Like so many Australian families, most of the team had experienced the deep emotional pain and financial strain of divorce. We put a lot of heart into it and I feel we’ve told the story with the sensitivity and heart it deserves. We’re blessed to have such a brave and visionary client to push us to create this sort of work.”
Westpac Help Credits
The Westpac Help in Separation and Divorce campaign was developed at DDB Sydney by chief creative officer Ben Welsh, executive creative director Tara Ford, head of art Noah Regan, creative partner Matt Chandler, senior art director Richard Apps, senior copywriter Jeff Galbraith, head of integrated production Sevda Cemo, managing partner Chiquita King, group account director Topher Jones, senior business director Sarah Gardan, business manager Bianca Cohn, head of planning Dom Hickey, senior planner James Davis, working with Westpac marketing team Jenny Melhuish, Melanie Portelli, Shannon Jenkin, Toby Dewar, and Carly Boyle.
Filming was shot by director Garth Davis via Exit Films with executive producer Leah Churchill, producer Karen Sproull. Editor was Jack Hutchings at The Butchery.
Sound was produced at Song Zu by sound engineer Abigail Sie.
Post production was Alt VFX by post supervisor Dave Edwards and post producer Adrianna Spanos.
Music, “Landslide”, was written by Stevie Nicks, sung by Conrad Sewell, supervised at Level Two Music by Karl Richter.
Casting was by Kirsty McGregor and Gemma Brown.
Media was handled at Media Lab. Public Relations were by Map and Page.
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