In 2014 and 2015, ANZ Bank set the bar high with the now world famous GAYTMs.

In 2016 however, the landscape had changed. Brands had jumped on the bandwagon creating accusations of chasing the ‘pink dollar’ with commercial opportunism at the core. ANZ’s support ran deeper and they needed to show this in a fun way that the LGBTI community and general public would embrace. ANZ had to dispel myths of token marketing, by totally committing to the celebration and activating, (as they had done in previous years), with absolute conviction.

ANZ had been celebrating ‘Diversity, Inclusion and Respect’ for more than a decade. 2016 marked ANZ’s tenth year of Mardi Gras sponsorship, and this called for one almighty celebration of pride. ANZ showed that their commitment to diversity, inclusion and respect ran deeper than just a name association by changing theirs altogether, turning a point of sale channel into a canvas for inclusion and respect.

ANZ bank came out loud and proud as ‘GAYNZ.’ This term of endearment had long been bestowed to ANZ by some of the LGBTI community, and perfectly expressed ANZ’s passion for diversity, so it only felt right to more fully adopt it. They transformed an inherently conservative organisation across their owned media channels and changed their outfit, completely rebranding an entire bank branch into a baroque-inspired homage to LGBTI iconography – earning the moniker of ‘a bank fit for a queen’ at the heart of the Mardi Gras parade route.

The campaign proved purpose led marketing could drive positive brand opinion, strengthen a workforce and even deliver incremental business results which was a welcome outcome but not initially high on anyone’s list of objectives. It turned out that whilst the GAYNZ branch installation saw more foot-traffic than ever before, the visitors weren’t simply there to view the beautiful branch, they were there to bank with GAYNZ, and as a result ANZ saw new account openings more than double. Fabulous darling!