Nedbank is a South African bank that offers three “Affinity Accounts”. By opening a Nedbank Sport, Green or Arts account, clients can be certain that Nedbank is making a contribution to the relevant Trust on their behalf. That Nedbank offer these accounts is well known but client felt that they needed a “relaunch”. Coinciding with the redesign of all debit / credit cards available to account holders, a new campaign was briefed into the agency. The objectives were as follows: Get existing Nedbank clients to open a Nedbank Affinities Account.Win clients from other banks who identify with these issues.Cement Nedbank’s role as custodians of sport, environmental and arts related issues by leveraging the Affinities Accounts.Strengthen belief in the Nedbank Brand and its social consciousness.Foster awareness of a “Nedbank community” of like-minded individuals that subscribe to similar ideals. This campaign comprises two key media ideas. The first was to buy a “dummy front cover” on three popular magazine titles. Using the magazines’ art direction style, each front covers’ visual and headline content were manipulated to provide profoundly disturbing insights about the future. On the inside page is the message “If you could change the future, where would you start? Start here. Nedbank.” Inside the magazines were DPS ads that supported one of the headlines on each front cover. The second key media idea involved acetate pages in the same magazines. The first of two consecutive pages was printed on acetate and portrays a negative scenario relating to sport, arts and culture or the environment (eg a polluted beach) and the message, “If you could change the future, where would you start?” Turning the acetate page, the reader peels away the negative background revealing a positive scenario (eg the pollution is lifted off the beach) and the message “Start here. Nedbank.” On the back of this page is copy revealing how opening a Nedbank Sport, Green or Arts account can change the future. “Hijacking” the front covers of three magazine titles all in the same month is an enormous undertaking. Supporting DPS ads ran in the same issue of all three titles, and three months later a follow-up “acetate campaign” broke, also in the same magazines. This required the separate stitching and insertion of acetates into magazines with very high circulation. In terms of timing and planning a lot of planets had to be aligned for this innovative and extensive use of magazine to come together. If you could change the future, where would you start? Start by convincing the people who buy “Sports Illustrated”, “Getaway” and “Wine” magazines of the bleak future awaiting sport, the environment, and arts and culture in South Africa should they not receive adequate support. Through a two-pronged approach of mock front covers and an “acetate campaign”, Nedbank were able to communicate their ideals in a very relevant and hard-hitting way and reach a sympathetic target market. By seeing their worst fears made real in a way that rings surprisingly true, we catch people off guard, forcing them think about these issues.

“Hijacking” the front covers of three magazine titles all in the same month is an enormous undertaking. Supporting DPS ads ran in the same issue of all three titles, and three months later a follow-up “acetate campaign” broke, also in the same magazines. This required the separate stitching and insertion of acetates into magazines with very high circulation. In terms of timing and planning a lot of planets had to be aligned for this innovative and extensive use of magazine to come together.