Athena and The Royals Remind Aussies That Mortgages Shouldn't Be a Life Sentence
A game-changing shake-up of the mortgage market
has arrived with the launch of Athena - a home loan company on a mission
to help Australians pay off their home loan faster.
"Life's too
short for a long home loan": that's the message from Australia's newest
home loan provider, Athena, which has kicked off a national launch
campaign via The Royals, around the rallying cry "Love us and leave us".
The campaign announces
Athena's arrival as a genuine alternative to the big banks in the $1.7
trillion mortgage market, positioning the newcomer as a home loan
wrecker. Says Natalie Dinsdale, chief marketing officer, Athena: "Our proposition
is that we will give you a great home loan, then we will help you get
rid of it. That's why we want you to love us and leave us.
"Research has told us that nearly all borrowers (93 per cent) want to pay off their home loans faster, but fewer than 1 in 5 think their lender wants them to succeed."
The campaign has been in market for one week and has already generated $345 million in application pipeline.
Says Dinsdale: "Australians are taking 10 years longer to pay off their home loans than a generation ago and collectively, they're paying an estimated $10 billion more than they need to each year. Athena's mission is to change home loan lending in every way so that Australians can achieve financial freedom faster."
In a market that is ripe for disruption following the fallout of the Royal Commission, Athena has been on a two-year journey to build a very different home lender on different foundations, focused single-mindedly on homeowners and their needs. They are proudly not a bank, and never will be. Athena's innovative digital platform creates customer efficiencies with technology - avoiding the costs of bankers, branches and overheads - so that they can pass on the savings to customers via lower interest rates.
The first phase of the campaign includes executions across digital, social, out-of-home and PR.
Says Dinsdale: "We asked for a bold and differentiated campaign to generate cut-through and also to reflect Athena's unique mission, and The Royals delivered exactly that. 'Love us and leave us' perfectly captures the Athena spirit of cutting through the banking jargon and general crap."
Says
Nick Cummins, creative partner, The Royals: "Athena has created a model
that is simple, focused on customers, and uses funding and technology
in the smartest way - our work sticks to the same principles. 'Love us
and leave us' is a no-nonsense message that demonstrates Athena's
customer-centric DNA."
