The big four banks have been given a significant rap over the knuckles by the recent Royal Commission. It’s a great time for a new home loan company to enter the market and Athena has launched with a promise to help Australians pay off their home loan faster. The new challenger brand is taking on the big banks and inviting Aussies to free themselves from mortgage bondage.

Its message, Life’s too short for a long home loan, has come via Athena’s agency, The Royals, accompanied by the rallying cry, Love us and leave us. 

The Royal’s campaign announces Athena’s arrival as a genuine alternative to the big banks in the $1.7 trillion mortgage market, positioning the newcomer as a home loan wrecker.

“Our proposition is that we will give you a great home loan, then we will help you get rid of it. That’s why we want you to love us and leave us,” stated Natalie Dinsdale, chief marketing officer at Athena.

“Research has told us that nearly all borrowers (93%) want to pay off their home loans faster, but fewer than 1 in 5 think their lender wants them to succeed.”

The campaign has been in market for one week and has already generated $345 million in application interest.

Dinsdale added, “Australians are taking 10 years longer to pay off their home loans than a generation ago and collectively, they’re paying an estimated $10 billion more than they need to each year. Athena’s mission is to change home loan lending in every way so that Australians can achieve financial freedom faster.”

Athena has been on a two-year journey to build a very different home lender on different foundations, focused single-mindedly on homeowners and their needs. It’s proudly not a bank, and never will be. It uses a digital platform to avoid the costs of bankers, branches and overheads so that it can pass on savings to customers via lower interest rates.

The first phase of the campaign includes executions across digital, social, out-of-home and PR.

“We asked for a bold and differentiated campaign to generate cut-through and also to reflect Athena’s unique mission, and The Royals delivered exactly that. Love us and leave us perfectly captures the Athena spirit of cutting through the banking jargon and general crap,” Dinsdale noted.

The Royals creative partner, Nick Cummins, commented, “Athena has created a model that is simple, focused on customers, and uses funding and technology in the smartest way – our work sticks to the same principles. ‘Love us and leave us’ is a no-nonsense message that demonstrates Athena’s customer-centric DNA.”