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It was during his first public speech as the newly appointed chief executive of National Australia Bank (NAB) that the straight-talking Cameron Clyne revealed he planned to do things differently. 'There are issues where many people think the banks can be bastards. And the challenge I am setting for the NAB is to lift our game,' he said. 'What we want to eliminate is that niggling doubt too many people have that their banks are trying to outsmart them with fees and whacking them hard for small oversights.'

Cynical observers may have doubted Clyne's ability to change public perceptions. But it seems his bank's customers are finally convinced. In three months since Valentine's Day, when National Australia Bank staged an audacious one-day campaign to distance itself from its competitors, it has gained 225,000 new customers, against just 90,000 during the same period last year.

Credit card applications rose 50 per cent, mortgage applications rose 20 per cent while customers looking to switch from its three main competitors increased by 35 per cent. Indeed, the bank grew its mortgage book by one per cent in February alone, which was more than four times the growth rate recorded by two of its three main competitors.

More give, less take

The first step in National Australia Bank's battle to win customers' hearts (and wallets) began on 1 September 2009 when it abolished the A$30 fee on unauthorised overdrafts. The levy was responsible for around half of all customer complaints, according to chief marketing officer Sandra de Castro. 'These charges were really not part of our future.'

A raft of other charges, deemed unfair by customers, were scrapped in the following months, such as monthly account service fees, while credit card late payment fees were slashed from A$30 to $5. The move cost National Australia Bank annual revenues worth an estimated A$110 million (£70 million), and it adopted the tagline More give, less take. 'It was increasingly clear that if banks did not take this proactive stance that regulations would be put in place,' says de Castro. 'This made good business sense but was also common sense.'

In a recent speech to a Melbourne business forum, Clyne said: For most of the last two years we were roundly attacked and accused of destroying industry profitability. I had two problems with that: firstly my job is NAB profitability, not the industry's. Secondly, I reject the argument completely. We were preserving industry profitability.

'Had the banks just soldiered on, deaf to these concerns of consumers, not facing up to these concerns that generated 50 to 60 per cent of the complaints to the bank, all you were doing was inviting government intervention, as we have seen in other markets. What we have done is to say the industry needs to face up to competition, show consumers a better deal.'

Customer scepticism

Each cut and slash was advertised to customers. 'We did all the marketing things you might expect us to do,' concedes de Castro. Australia's other major banks were caught on the hop and forced to react, cutting some fees and charges (albeit to a lesser extent) in response to NAB's move. But while customers responded positively to the changes, the general public perception of National Australia Bank did not shift. 'It was not such a surprise,' says de Castro. 'Customer perception had been built up over many years, it was not going to change in one foul swoop. We recognised that consumers had to understand that ours was a credible position. But we absolutely felt that we had the potential to change customers' mind sets.'

But, perhaps more worryingly, even though National Australia Bank's actions had prompted a price war among the major banks in Australia, customer perception was that it was no different than any of its competitors. Surveyed on which bank stood for fair banking, NAB fared no better than Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank), ANZ or Westpac. In fact, the public believed that the banks pretended to be competitive but simply colluded on pricing to make even greater profits. de Castro adds: 'We realised that the public at large wasn't getting the message. We needed to do something to grab their attention.'

Breaking up is hard to do

And so, on Valentine's Day, National Australia Bank, working with Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, 'broke up' with the other Australian banks. The first hint that anything was awry appeared in a tweet from the bank's official account, which then had less than 3,000 followers. (It currently has more than 5,300.)

'The campaign effectively lasted one day [Monday 14 February],' says de Castro. But on the previous Friday, National Australia Bank sowed the first seeds of intent (or, perhaps, discontent). It sent a tweet that appeared to be a mis-tweet. 'We deliberately staged it to make it look like an employee had sent a personal tweet from our account,' she explains. 'We knew that Twitter was going to be important to the success of our campaign.'

The tweet, from @nab, said: 'Sooooo stressd out. Have to make a tough decision and I know I'll probably hurt someone's feelings! Arrggghhh.' The supposedly errant tweet was retweeted more than 100 times, and generated debate in the Twitterverse, which National Australia Bank had anticipated (and hoped for). Indeed, there were more than 1,700 NAB related tweets in the first 24 hours after the mis-tweet, 189 blog mentions and 330 comments in other online forums.

Even competitor Westpac, then blissfully unaware of what was to come, responded: 'Hey @nab know the feeling.' (Its sympathetic response was retweeted 68 times.) 'Punking Westpac into promoting the offer - sheer brilliance,' commented influential online magazine mUmBRELLA.

On 12 February, National Australia Bank announced it would help CommBank and Westpac customers switch their mortgages to its lower standard variable rate by paying the A$700 exit fee demanded by its competitors. The announcement splashed Australia's Daily Telegraph under the headline The loan ranger. 'It generated interest and was viewed as a bold stance,' says de Costa. But it was only the opening salvo in National Australia Bank's battle. 'Our strategy was very grounded. From the moment it launched, we knew we had one day to shine a light on what we wanted to say.'

On Valentine's Day, the bank tweeted a link to a video blog featuring relationship commentator Zoe Foster, discussing the findings of its survey that claimed 47 per cent of young people had chosen to end their relationship on or around Valentine's Day. The survey achieved some media coverage, but the two minute video ended with Foster saying: 'And 59 per cent believe they have stayed in a relationship too long, kind of like your relationship with your bank. As many as 51 per cent of young people have continued to be a customer with a bank despite being unhappy.'

At 7pm, 60 actors simultaneously loudly staged break up scenes at well-known landmarks, in restaurants and on trains around Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. The scenes, which appeared genuine to passers by, all followed the same script, with phrases such as 'I cannot believe I thought this was going to work out', 'You never listen,' 'It's everything, it's all your conditions'. They were seeded, unbranded, on YouTube.

The bank's home page started to carry the message 'sorry CommBank, ANZ, Westpac, but it's over between us', which linked to a dedicated microsite, called 'the break up'. This contained a YouTube video showing the bank writing a letter dumping its rivals and explaining why. Dear CommBank, ANZ and Westpac...This is a really difficult letter to write...Deep down though I really feel that we've just grown apart. I've decided I need to break up with you, it started. Honestly, it isn't you...it's me. I've changed. I've moved on. Maybe I should have left you months ago. I don't really want to get into the messy details...

The letter highlighted NAB's recent actions, adding that by abolishing all those annoying fees...my customers saved around A$230 million - yours didn't. They should have...I know I'm not perfect either. But at least I'm really trying to be a better bank for my customers...Yours sincerely, NAB. A 'break up' blog was also set up on the microsite, where customers could apply for new accounts.

Operation 'Break Up'

Just in case its competitors (and potential customers) didn't get the message, the finished letter was wrapped around NAB's buildings in Melbourne and Sydney the next day. It was also carried in every newspaper. 'Our advertising campaign was unbranded. There was no logo,' explains de Castro. 'We figured people were more likely to read the letter and take it seriously that way.

Adverts featuring the 'Dear John' letter were posted on 1,000 billboards in major cities while helicopters carrying banners declaring 'Dear CommBank, ANZ & Westpac, You're dumped. NAB' flew across the Sydney and Melbourne skies. Street artists chalked similar messages on the pavements. A pianist was positioned outside competitors' headquarters, playing break up songs. Even staff got in on the act. They delivered branded tissues and CDs of romantic break up music to customers standing in the queues at other banks and distributed to passers by. 'Staff really enjoyed themselves. There were six songs, such as I'd do anything for love (but I won't do that) and These shoes were made for walking,' says de Castro. 'It was a question of really getting our message across, and we couldn't do that with just television advertising. But we were quite clear that we wanted to do things that were playful and cheeky. We were very careful about our brand image.' If customers thought a stunt was not funny, then it could backfire on the bank.

Other guerrilla tactics involved using a suspended scaffold from the top of a Westpac building to drop to the 31st floor and paste a poster declaring Dear Westpac, Sorry it's over between us. We're leaving you, sincerely NAB over the windows of a meeting room attracting the attention of executives.

A lunchtime strategy meeting of ANZ executives on board a yacht was disturbed as a boat passed with its sail imprinted with the message Dear ANZ, Sorry, but this ship has sailed. We're breaking up with you. Sincerely NAB.

Actors playing the part of waiters also ambushed an executive lunch at CBA, where they burst into song declaring Hello lunching executives... You've cooked your goose, you're well and truly spurned... you're dumped, yours sincerely NAB. (There has been some online speculation that the 'targets' were played by actors, but the bank has yet to confirm either way.)

Spreading the message

Every moment of the break up was positioned to be shareable through social media as well as providing a potential news hook for the media. Lisa Gray, the bank's head of personal banking, was also available for media interviews to explain the bank's position.

Customer service teams were primed, ready to talk to customers and explain the new message. 'The break up generated A$5 million of earned PR media,' says de Castro. 'From sunrise until the close of day, we were on every news programme. The campaign exceeded all our expectations. Its reach was in the high 80s. We had 100,000 visits to our break up blog on the first day.' Positive online posts about the bank increased 320 per cent. 'The number of people who thought we were different from the other banks more than doubled overnight,' says de Castro. 'We had a 79 per cent increase in the number of home loan enquiries week-on-week, a 50 per cent increase in credit card enquiries week-on-week and a ten per cent increase in customer account enquiries, and that was off a high basis to start with as our business had been doing strongly.'

But, as de Castro adds, National Australia Bank now has to keep customer attention and prove that 'the break up was not just a flash in the pan. We benefited that day because what we were doing was the right thing to do. We led the market'. Perhaps it is not surprising that the next stage in NAB's campaign is entitled The other banks really don't like us very much.

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