The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2019–2020
ANZ's Mr Humfreez sheep made damp homes visible; searches jumped 5x
Mr Humfreez, a no-battery sheep, shows damp or cold homes with his horns and nose; ANZ's giveaway drew 5x the searches of any past campaign.
ANZ Bank New Zealand
the move
Almost half of New Zealand homes lack adequate insulation, and cold, damp housing harms health. ANZ, the country's largest home lender, offered interest-free insulation and heating loans through its Healthy Homes initiative but struggled to make an invisible problem urgent.
TBWA New Zealand designed Mr Humfreez, a sustainably made sheep with no battery: his hygroscopic horns uncurl when relative humidity exceeds 65% and his nose turns blue below 18°C, calibrated to WHO healthy-home standards. From 52,000 entries, ANZ mailed 100 sheep to winners and 200 to customers.
Mr Humfreez generated 5x more search enquiries than any previous ANZ campaign, and 1.5x more Kiwis came to associate ANZ with healthy homes than any other bank. D&AD gave the work a Yellow Pencil for Direct Innovation, and the sheep entered classrooms as an education tool.
why it works
- A physical object in the home keeps working after the campaign: every damp or cold night re-opens the conversation about insulation loans.
- Passive sensors made the science legible to children, turning a health worry into a shared, playful ritual.
- Scarcity concentrated demand: 300 sheep from 52,000 entries turned a giveaway into a national event.
what transfers
A brand that puts a working solution in the customer's home keeps selling after the campaign ends: the device re-opens the conversation about insulation loans every cold night, and searches follow.
what came after
Mr Humfreez returned the next winter, was extended to home-loan customers, won D&AD's only Australasian Yellow Pencil of 2020, and continues as a healthy-homes education tool in New Zealand schools.
references
- Mr Humfreez — D&AD Annual 2020 entry
- ANZ News Release — Smart Sheep Set for School Trial (25 Sept 2019)
- Mr Humfreez — Direct New Ideas, Issue 57
- TBWA Auckland scores Australasia's only Yellow Pencil at the 2020 D&AD Awards
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