Seinfeld returns for Greater

Could Seinfeld still be pulling in the big ratings on east coast regional networks?  Or will he soon be appearing as the surprise guest judge on Australia's Got Talent?  

Not much else can explain why Australia's fourth largest building society is persisting with using 1990's comedy supremo Jerry Seinfeld as the face of their bank.

The Greater Building Society announced this week that not only is it investing in another round of ads starring Seinfeld but it has also launched a competition for customers to get a shot at appearing alongside him on the next "Ask  a Greater Customer" campaign.

The Seinfeld campaign was originally launched last July, with a  progressive roll out to  regional NSW and South East Queensland, where Greater's core customer base resides.

Yet not much about this branding strategy makes great sense.

A year ago Greater CEO Don Magin believed that Jerry Seinfeld would lend significant exposure to the Greater brand and "reach a much broader audience."

"A person with the profile of Jerry Seinfeld will help us to promote, in a fun and engaging way, the fact that the Greater is a significant player in the financial services sector and a viable alternative to the banks."

The problem, though, is that the first round of ads were (a) not fun, nor engaging; (b) only reached a closed regional audience; and (c) star an overseas celebrity who has little relevance to an Australian audience in 2010 and can do little as a brand ambassador in the United States.

For a bank that prides itself on its regional roots, it also flaunted the fact that the first set of commercials was shot in Long Island, New York, which was  made to look like… Newcastle.

Greater head of marketing John Dwyer said at the time: "Jerry is a big enough star to do the commercial where he wants and for this commercial he wanted to do it in New York." But is Greater a big enough bank to cope with the Seinfeld legacy?

The next round of ads, unsurprisingly, will also be shot in the US, although "real" Greater customers will be used in the campaign this time.

Those wishing to be in the ad have been asked to submit a two-minute video extolling the greatness of being a Greater customer.

Dwyer described the initiative as "a once in a lifetime opportunity" to star in a TV commercial with a global superstar. Plus "it will be an easier way to get on TV than shows like MasterChef or Australia's Got Talent," he said.

The Greater strategy is that it flies in the face of the current vogue of "Australianising" banking campaigns. Citibank's 'My World' is Aussie multi-cultural patriotism writ large; Westpac has invested  in an evocative  campaign around its sponsorship of the Westpac lifesaving chopper; while the ANZ's resident bank world dominatrix Barbara could only be forged in the pits of Australian suburbia.

The Seinfeld name has endured a pretty rotten pedigree for brand endorsements to date, earning the honour of being in one of the worst Microsoft campaigns ever crafted in 2008 by Crispin Porter + Bogusky.  Jerry was paid US$10 million for his part - three commercials - in the $300 million branding revamp which also starred Bill Gates. Recently Microsoft's chief marketing strategist David Webster attempted to explain the thinking behind the disastrous campaign.

"We figured that that sort of obscure nature of the communications would make people lean in a little more closely to see what we were going to do next," he said. In that case it was the "I'm a PC" campaign.

It is unclear how Greater will explain the obscure nature of this round of communications.