After the banking sector posted a quarterly profit of $1.74billion, they were charged to act with Social Licence by Prime-Minister Jacinda Ardern - acting above regulation and into public approval. ASB's marketing efforts were centred around sports sponsorships and stadiums, and made a bold step towards more pressing matters. After discovering psychological distress soared to 24% for youth, and the teen suicide rate 2nd highest in the OECD, ASB partnered with a "for youth, with youth" organisation: Youthline.

Once the partnership was announced, Youthline became overrun with calls and messages, highlighting the severity of the issue in NZ. ASB wanted to reduce the number of youths that needed to call Youthline.

We had three key objectives:

- Lift ASB's Corporate Reputation Score +5

- Create a digital tool to help struggling youth

- Tell New Zealand about this digital tool

'Bagels' was an unprecedented collaboration between the worlds of pop music and neuroscience, to create a song that reduces anxiety.

Created by New Zealand's biggest music star, backed by ground-breaking science, it brought the anxiety-relieving benefits of music out the mindfulness apps and playlists, and turned it into a pop song that could live in the headphones and screens of the younger generation.

There are 641,000 New Zealanders aged 15-24, with 24% reporting psychological distress. Anxiety is the top issue they seek support for (40%). Sadly, even after seeking support, 23% say they weren’t supported the way they needed.

Over half of 15-24-year-olds were on TikTok daily, and social media was driving anxiety - the channels our youths used everyday was contributing.

The rise of anxiety has led to a rise in ‘digital psychiatry’ solutions providing guided meditations and customised wellness plans. These services weren’t designed to replace therapeutic treatment, but experts agreed they could help the overall health system as they’re efficient and easily scaled to help millions.

Listening to music is how many young people find space, and research has shown music can impact anxiety, our emotions, and mood. Young people stream music for over 2 hours per day, so we needed to be on their turf.

Injecting this song into the media landscape, and into a culture of disengaged youth, was going to depend entirely on how well we utilised the creative.

Launch: 23-May - 3-June

Goal: Exclusive media interviews in broadcast media with Benee, Producer Josh Fountain, and Youthline to seed into the media landscape.

Channels: Radio, Social, TV, Street Posters, PR, Influencers, ASB owned channels.

Amplify: 4-June - 30-June

Goal: Cement the 'why' and legitimacy behind the creative idea and get youths engaging with the song and content.

Channels: Radio, Social, PR/Earned PR, Influencers, ASB owned channels.

10million+ streams

Corporate Reputation Score +9.9 and contributed one of the greatest positive impacts to ASB's reputation - higher than even sponsoring the All Blacks!

Brand love on average went from 113 to 122.

23 million impressions on ASB owned social media channels

725,000 reach through earned PR

210,021 reach through influencers

Average engagement rate of 10.1% (industry standard is 5%)

Bagels has been added to 80 'chill' playlists worldwide

Hit international headlines through the Rolling Stone, Sydney Morning Herald, and NBC – an American news outlet.

The more people that knew about this tool, the more effective it could be at alleviating symptoms of anxiety. Plus, according to PR-based measurements, there was 100% positivity across all stories mentioning Bagels as a new resource to support youth mental health.

Each person listening to the song represented more than a fan or consumer. They were someone needing help.