Bankwest’s ‘Just Enough Bank’: What a year of restraint taught the brand

Nearly a year after Bankwest repositioned around its Just Enough Bank platform, the digital challenger says the strategy is proving that understatement - not escalation - can cut through in banking.

The platform, launched last year with Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, marked a deliberate break from category norms. Instead of promising transformation, Bankwest leaned into a simpler proposition: banking that takes up less time, less attention and less mental space.

Twelve months on, Bankwest general manager customer marketing and communications Rachel Aikin says building a distinctive long-term brand idea required patience and resilience.

“We set out to create something bold, and we’ve learned that it takes time and a bit of grit to truly build something distinctive,” Aikin said.

“Launching ‘Just Enough Bank’ created a whole new look and feel for Bankwest - and was a new way to talk to Australians. Change on this scale is difficult, so ensuring we did everything possible to bring customers and colleagues on the journey has been a really big focus.”

Rather than chasing short-term spikes, Aikin says the brand committed to consistency.

“We’ve learnt to listen and embrace the journey, with confidence that a creative campaign that speaks to what our customers care about most - their own time - was worth the leap.”

Relief, not noise

While Bankwest is not disclosing detailed metrics, Aikin points to brand tracking signals suggesting the platform is resonating with time-poor consumers.

“Our brand tracking is showing us that more busy Australians are noticing and recognising us and, probably feeling a bit of relief that someone else has realised that banking doesn’t need to be unnecessarily complex,” she said.

“We think people appreciate how refreshing it is for a bank to recognise just how little they actually want to think about banking.”

That positioning stands in contrast to a category historically dominated by high-production, emotionally loaded campaigns. “Maybe!” Aikin said when asked whether banking advertising is entering a phase defined more by clarity than reinvention.

“For us, it’s less about competing and being louder than the pack. It’s about recognising the relatively small amount of time people actually think about us because they want to get back to living their lives.”

From campaign to company behaviour

Beyond communications impact, Aikin says the platform has begun influencing internal decision-making.

“The true test of a brand idea is about how it becomes part of the DNA of your business, from the inside out,” she said.

“It’s been wonderful to see the way it has been embraced across the business and how striving to be the ‘right amount of bank’ has become part of the ethos for how we make decisions about our work.”

“I love hearing it used as a creative challenge in our delivery teams.”

This “inside-out” adoption is often cited as the difference between campaign assets and enduring brand platforms.

Selling restraint in a loud category

For Bear Meets Eagle On Fire founder and chief creative officer Micah Walker, the challenge was never about convincing Bankwest to dial down the drama.

“It’s been a partnership from the start, so our discussions around the work have never felt contentious,” Walker said.

“Banks, and banking advertising, traditionally dial up a similar playbook — it’s slick, corporate-y and often self important. Both of us shared that belief, which makes things easier.”

Walker says the creative tone followed directly from audience insight. “The audience we identified really just wants their banking to fit into their busy lives, so they can spend more time on everything else.”

That thinking shaped the deliberately observational humour seen across the campaign.

“Well, slick, asset driven and self serious were all taken,” Walker said. “A bank being self aware and confident enough to realise people don’t really love banking requires real confidence and a willingness to be different.”

“We believed the audience Bankwest had identified would respond well to feeling seen. Really seen.”

“I don’t mean holding up a mirror and showing the school runs or laundry pile ups… I mean relating to them in a more human and funny way.”

The latest campaign iteration continues Bankwest’s focus on removing “everyday banking worries,” reinforcing the idea that banking should fade into the background of customers’ lives.

For Walker, that consistency is the point.

“When you think about the underlying strategy, it’s pretty logical — you have to feel different to the category to be successful.”