2009 was a bad time to be a bank. The Global Financial Crisis saw businesses going bust, people losing their homes and banks closing down all over the world. New Zealand was not immune to this, and foreign owned banks like BNZ bore the brunt of public hatred. What was the usual response? To invest heavily in advertising campaigns reminding us of how long a bank had been in New Zealand, what nice people they were, and all the endangered species they’d saved from extinction through sponsorship … in short, to throw up a wall of advertising.

We chose to do good rather than say we’re good. For one day in November 2009, every BNZ branch in New Zealand did something no other bank has ever done: it 'Closed for Good'. All 5000 workers spent the day in their local communities working on projects those communities had nominated. Critically, we didn’t advertise the event or trumpet how wonderful we were by doing it. The only advertising was to warn customers of the closure and ask them to nominate projects for us to work on.

New Zealand had never seen anything like this. For one of our biggest companies to 'close for good' captured the country’s imagination and seized the media’s attention. Broadcast and print media delivered millions of dollars worth of unpaid coverage, and blogs, tweets and online websites spread the message worldwide through earned media. 180 community groups around New Zealand benefited directly from a day’s BNZ labour, and all 5000 staff experienced a priceless teambuilding event. Most importantly, we gave businesses around New Zealand and the world an idea that they too can use to make a real change to their communities, just by closing for good.