It's become common for brands of all kinds to show support for the LGBT community. And while efforts from Wells Fargo, Honey Maid and others have garnered headlines—particularly during Pride Month in June—few have gone as all-in for the cause as Australia's ANZ Bank.
To celebrate 10 years of sponsoring Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, ANZ transformed its retail office in Oxford Street into a "GAYNZ branch," complete with marble floors, baroque statuary and hand-painted murals on LGBT themes.
"It's Liberace meets Louis XIV," ANZ says in promotional materials, resulting in a banking experience "fit for a queen … or king."
The metamorphosis includes GAYNZ business cards for executives, GAYNZ branding across many of the bank's media channels, and a rainbow-flag emoji developed with Twitter to accompany the #GAYNZ hashtag on social media.
Whybin\TBWA Melbourne developed the campaign, which amplifies earlier efforts to align the bank with gay pride, including an initiative with colorful GAYTMs that won the Outdoor Grand Prix at Cannes. (Those machines are back for the GAYNZ push in Oxford Street, though the winged hamster fresco and "gay Dutch penguins" sculptures are new.)
"Diversity, inclusion and respect is an important part of what we do," says Mark Hand, managing director of corporate banking at ANZ. "Over the past few years we have had an incredible response to our GAYTMs, so it was only natural to take things to a new level."
The campaign reflects gains made by both the LGBT community and corporations in the past decade. In tune with the times, marketers have become increasingly comfortable with diversity, and now pride themselves on outreach and inclusion. It seems appropriate that some should move beyond paid media, slogans and signage, remodeling physical spaces and encouraging staffers to take part in civic activities and celebrations.
Such marketers gain invaluable credibility and goodwill for literally taking their commitment to the streets. To wit, the ANZ's Oxford branch is located on the Mardi Gras parade route, and 230 bank employees, family and friends participated yesterday.
More photos below.
