ANZ’s new business campaign does not out-shout competitors. It deliberately leaves out the one thing a business audience would most want to read.
The campaign
“Find the Secret Sauce” was created by TBWA\New Zealand for ANZ New Zealand to promote The Sauce by ANZ™, an insights offer built with Dot Loves Data. It is live nationwide in 2026 across out-of-home, digital and radio. No director is named in the source.
The campaign uses strategically redacted information. It shows real business intelligence—such as spending trends or customer behaviour patterns—but withholds the most important detail. The missing piece becomes the reason to engage.
- Out-of-home and digital placements show genuine business insight with the payoff hidden.
- Radio scripts create the same missing-information tension, without a visual redaction.
- A broader content programme includes Kia Ora print, NZME content and a business leadership roundtable.
What the film says and how
The film’s argument is that the most valuable information is what a business cannot already see. The Sauce combines aggregated, anonymised spending trends, industry performance and economic insights tailored to a business’s industry and location, then pairs those with ANZ Business Specialists and Relationship Managers.
Rather than explain that with a list of features, the ad makes the absence visible. It gives enough data to signal an opportunity, then hides the critical detail. Shane Bradnick, Chief Creative Officer at TBWA\New Zealand, puts it bluntly: “We realised the best way wasn’t to reveal the answer; it was to hide it.”
“You see a spending trend, a growth opportunity or a customer behaviour pattern, but the critical detail is withheld. It’s a simple device that mirrors exactly what The Sauce does for businesses.”
The response so far
The source does not report independent audience metrics. The response it does capture is internal: ANZ’s General Manager of Marketing Matthew Pickering frames the work as proof of acting on insight rather than merely talking about data. Bradnick credits the long-standing ANZ–TBWA relationship for the result.
The campaign is also being pushed through high-value direct outreach. ANZ partnered with Culley’s on a bespoke Hot Sauce pack, giving Regional Managers a tangible way to book meetings with prospective customers.
The category context
Business banking advertising often leads with rates, products or reassurance. This campaign sells access—the right to know what others don’t. In a data-rich environment, the redaction device positions ANZ’s business insight as the product, not just a support service. The localised, real business intelligence keeps the curiosity from feeling like a gimmick.
What to watch next
Watch whether the redaction idea moves beyond earned media into one-to-one sales conversations. The NZME roundtable content and the Culley’s packs are already designed to convert attention into meetings. If the missing-data hook works, expect ANZ to keep using regionalised insight as the lead creative device.
Watch the original: ANZ on YouTube
Source: Campaign Brief
