Westpac bank is claiming to have become the first Australian company
outside the energy sector to use its community and environmental
programmes in its mass marketing. The company believes its new approach
will help expand its business and carry a message that is different
from those of its banking rivals.
Mike Pratt, the bank’s group consumer financial services executive,
said the sustainability policies in Westpac’s Every Generation campaign
are aimed at attracting new customers and creating loyalty among
existing clients.
Pratt said: ‘The question is whether sustainability really generates
business at the customer level. We believe it does. This is not
something we saw as being opportunist. We’ve been involved with our
sustainability programme well before it was a popular issue.’
Paul Gilding, chief executive of the Ecos Corporation business
consultancy, said: ‘I’m increasingly impressed by Westpac. They don’t
have to do it. If you are selling coal, gas, oil or dirty electricity,
you need to be addressing these issues. But Westpac is a bank. For them
to see it as an opportunity to connect with the market is very
interesting. It’s about time companies recognized there is a huge brand
positioning opportunity in getting this stuff right.’
He congratulated Westpac, BP and the insurance group IAG for being
among the few companies to challenge the Australian government on
climate change when it was unfashionable.
Gilding said: ‘When the rest of the business community was running
scared of offending the Howard government on climate change, they were
very strong advocates. Everyone’s doing it now.’
However, Westpac was warned that accusations of greenwash could
accompany its new campaign. Nigel Marsh, creator of the Earth Hour
project, the WWF campaign, and chairman of the
advertizing agency Leo Burnett, said: ‘We’re in for a tidal wave of
inauthenticity. There will be people who do it genuinely and, like any
fad, there will be a whole bunch of pretenders. If Westpac is actually
doing it and not just saying it, the company should be applauded.’
