ANZ ditches Barbara for a 'Mentalist'

ANZ unveiled its new brand champion to Australian TV audiences on Sunday night, and to Asian audiences last night, in a global campaign featuring Australian actor Simon Baker in character as Patrick Jane, the lead in 'The Mentalist' television series.

In addition to Australia, the prime time commercial was aired in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore yesterday, and is part of a significant pan-Asia media buy. The New Zealand campaign is set to launch next month.

Recently appointed advertising agency Whybin TBWA is responsible for the campaign and put the "Patrick Jane" character idea forward.

While the Network Nine show, from Warner Bros, rates well in Australia it doesn't have the same traction in Asia.

Louise Eyres, ANZ's group general manager of brand said, "The idea that we are putting forward doesn't rely on the consumer seeing 'The Mentalist' or knowing the character.

"His attributes reflect our brand values, which is catering to an open-minded, connected global professional."

ANZ hasn't revealed the cost of the campaign and media buy but it's significant and there will be several cross-platform, integrated executions launched over the coming year.

The bank discontinued the run of television commercials featuring a popular, rude and possibly ineffective 'Barbara' character late last year, and was using stock television commercials from several years ago until the new campaign was ready.

Westpac, meanwhile, on Sunday night also introduced a shift in its advertising, adopting the tag line "We know how" replacing "We're a bank you can bank on".