50% of Kiwi homes are too cold and damp, falling below World Health Organisation standards for a healthy home. As a result, 1 in 6 Kiwis suffer from respiratory diseases, especially children. New Zealand’s largest home lender, ANZ bank made a commitment to help through their Healthy Homes Initiative - offering interest-free loans for home insulation and heating. But faced with a culture of Kiwis used to ‘toughing it out’ over winter, our brief was to create a design-led solution that captivated and educated Kiwis. So that households would care about this issue, and do something about it with help from ANZ.

To make Kiwis households care about this issue, we invented Mr Humfreez by ANZ - a world-first innovation that detects home health- designed to be read and understood by the children most affected by this crisis. The healthy homes device was made in way that is healthy for people and the planet. Instead of using plastics and rare earth metals, the technology was created by programming one of earth’s most abundant materials - wood. Calibrated to World Health Organisation standards for healthy home, the device that shows you when your home is too damp, or too cold. His hygroscopic horns uncurl when humidity is over 65%, and thermochromic ink on his face turns blue below 18ºC. A smart, sustainable and unmistakably Kiwi icon of home health, Mr Humfreez forms the centrepiece of ANZ’s Healthy Homes initiative.

Kids were at the forefront of every design decision in the making of Mr Humfreez. From his core behaviour that even a child can understand (blue face to show cold, horns pointing up as a warning), to his name (‘hum’ for humidity, ‘freez’ for cold), his rhyming message and his fluffy coat of merino wool for added warmth. Instead of a plasticky marketing gimmick destined for the landfill, we aimed to create a sustainable device that occupied pride of place in the household. In collaboration with the University of Toronto, we created a world-first by coding and calibrating wood, one of earth’s most abundant materials. Calibrated to World Health Organization standards for a healthy home, Mr Humfreez relies on no power source, and is made with just wood, wool and ink. The launch campaign was combined with an education programme to help young Kiwis take action.

Thanks to Mr Humfreez, over 3X more Kiwis now associate ANZ with Healthy

Homes than any other bank.

Mr Humfreez drove 5X more search volume than any other ANZ campaign.

We received over 50,000 registrations for the device during the campaign - a massive figure in the local home loans market.

Government agencies and NGOs have reached out to seek potential partnership opportunities - including Housing NZ, EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority), The Asthma & Respiratory Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.

Mass production is underway in phase 2 due to global demand.

Mr Humfreez is being trialled as a teaching tool to become part of the NZ school curriculum.

94% positive social media sentiment during the campaign. Incredible for ANZ bank at a time of significant reputational challenges in New Zealand and Australia.