TBWA New Zealand

Client: ANZ BANK
Product: Healthy Homes
Title: Mr Humfreez
Media: Direct / Integrated
Country: New Zealand
Date Of Campaign: August 2019

Background: 50% of homes in New Zealand are too cold and damp, falling below World Health Organisation standards for a healthy home. As a result, 1 in 6 Kiwis suffer from respiratory diseases, especially children. New Zealand’s largest home lender, ANZ bank made a commitment to help Kiwis live in warmer, drier homes. Our brief was to educate Kiwis about the issue get them to enquire about ANZ Bank’s Healthy Homes Initiative - which offered interest-free loans for home insulation and heating. Faced with a culture of Kiwis used to ‘toughing it out’ over winter, our solution needed to captivate and educate Kiwis. So that households would care about the problem, and do something about it with help from ANZ and their interest free loans.

Idea: To make Kiwis households care about this issue, we invented Mr Humfreez by ANZ - a world-first innovation that detects home health- designed to be read and understood by the children most affected by this crisis. The healthy homes device was made in way that is healthy for people and the planet. Instead of using plastics and rare earth metals, the technology was created by programming one of earth’s most abundant materials - wood. Calibrated to World Health Organisation standards for healthy home, the device that shows you when your home is too damp, or too cold. His hygroscopic horns uncurl when humidity is over 65%, and thermochromic ink on his face turns blue below 18ºC. A smart, sustainable and unmistakably Kiwi icon of home health, Mr Humfreez forms the centrepiece of ANZ’s Healthy Homes initiative.

Results: Mr Humfreez helped turn long-term decline into market share growth for ANZ in Home Loans.The campaign led to a revenue return of $30.80 for every dollar spent on media – a 24.5% increase on all previous home loan advertising.It has also helped reverse declines in corporate reputation and brand consideration.3X more New Zealanders now link ANZ with ‘warmer, more efficient homes’.Mr Humfreez drove 5X more search volume than any other ANZ campaign. Government agencies and NGOs have reached out to seek potential partnership opportunities - including Housing NZ, EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority), The Asthma & Respiratory Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.Mass production is underway in phase 2 due to global demand.Mr Humfreez is being trialled as a teaching tool to become part of the NZ school curriculum, helping future generations learn about the importance of a warm, dry home.