Following ING Direct Australia's rebrand spearheaded by the adoption of Charles the Orangutan as brand ambassador digital engagement agency The Dubs has moved the bank into its next phase with social media.

The Dubs has launched a conversation campaign under the moniker of “Charles Writes” in Facebook to create an emotive connection with people in social media uncluttered by standard industry bank product messaging.

“While Charles is a fictional character and obviously an Orangutan he gives us an opportunity to build his persona and explore human emotional aspects common to all of us. We couldn’t do that while Billy Connolly was the face of ING Direct – there’s a bit of an irony to that,” said the managing director of The Dubs, Josh Frith.

“Charles Writes is not a standard marketing approach of direct bank messaging. We have crafted a back story to Charles and an ongoing story arc that will be exposed over time,” he said.

“It’s about creating a suspension of disbelief, when we watch a movie or read a book we all know the characters aren’t real but good story telling still allows us to relate on a personal level with these characters.”

“We wanted to test if this approach could be applied to Charles Writes and whether through Facebook we could generate a two-way dialogue we our audience.”

“We’re pleased with the response so far given the campaign premise was to test the validity of storytelling associated with the brand. It’s all been organic growth as we have not started any content seeding strategy at this point to really drive activity,” Josh Frith said.

“And we’re seeing people are overwhelmingly sticking with us as this story unfolds. We can count the people who have unliked Charles Writes on one hand – it’s four.” He said. 

To create the character of Charles Writes The Dubs has employed the talents of a contemporary social commentator from mainstream media.

The Dubs worked with their commentator and ING Direct’s marketing team to create the ongoing story arc that is progressing through themes such as food, given food festivals are rolling out, travel as peoples’ attention is turning to holidays in the lead up to summer and gadgets with Christmas present giving in mind.

However, there is an underlying theme that all people can relate to – love.

“During this conversation campaign, Charles is going to meet a girl and talk with the Facebook audience about things like tips for first dates or what to do when you meet the family. These are experiences about developing relationships common to us all.” Josh Frith said.

Outside of the Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/charleswrites The Dubs created a microsite to introduce Charles as ING Direct’s new brand ambassador and the rebrand launch online advertising campaign.

Charles also has a voice on Twitter with his Facebook comments being rebroadcast as tweets while associated videos are played out through Facebook and YouTube.

For more information on ING Direct, www.ingdirect.com.au

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