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SPORTS MEDIA + TALENT

Cashrewards × Steve Smith

Making cashback
make sense.

A familiar face. A clearer explanation. A national campaign to help Australians understand cashback and get to know Cashrewards.

Explore the impact ↓

BRAND AWARENESS / TALENT / ACQUISITION

Historical Cashrewards television campaign featuring Steve Smith

STEVE SMITH / CASHREWARDS CAMPAIGN

ACROSS THE AGENCY RELATIONSHIP

Greater awareness.
A larger member base.

>70%

Brand awareness

Up from less than 30%

1.5m

Cashrewards members

Up from 600,000

Results reported by Bernard Wilson, Cashrewards CEO, across the broader Optimise agency relationship. They do not isolate the effect of the Steve Smith campaign.

01 / THE CHALLENGE

An early mover.
An unfamiliar idea.

Cashrewards had helped pioneer Australia’s billion-dollar cashback category. But many Australians still did not understand how cashback worked.

After six years of trading and with one million members on board, the business faced a growth challenge. Category penetration remained low relative to other markets, and limited understanding stood in the way of broader adoption.

The task was to build familiarity with both the category and the brand: explain the benefit clearly, show where it applied and give people a reason to join.

02 / THE TALENT PARTNERSHIP

A recognisable face
for a simple benefit.

Australian cricketer Steve Smith and his wife featured in TV and video-on-demand explainers that brought cashback into an everyday setting.

The work focused on education: helping viewers understand the benefits of cashback rather than assuming they already knew the category. Steve Smith gave the campaign a familiar person through whom to tell that story.

Optimise’s role extended beyond media into securing Steve Smith as brand ambassador, with support across SEO and creative production, as confirmed by Cashrewards’ GM Consumer Marketing.

Steve Smith in Cashrewards television advertising, photographed on a television in a living room
Original campaign creative. The offer pictured is historical and is not a current promotion.
03 / THE MEDIA APPROACH

Explain it on screen.
Reinforce it everywhere.

01

A national brand campaign

An extensive campaign across channels spread the cashback message and featured familiar retailers such as Apple, Amazon and Booking.com, connecting the benefit with places people already shopped.

02

Outdoor close to home

Outdoor advertising across multiple formats reinforced Cashrewards’ message, with a focus on suburban locations to build reach and frequency among young families.

03

Performance alongside awareness

Affiliates, search and social activity supported member acquisition, alongside app store optimisation and SEO. The approach combined broad brand education with channels designed to capture interest and encourage sign-ups.

Cashrewards outdoor advertising on a street-side panel, promoting cashback at well-known brands
Cashrewards outdoor campaign

A MESSAGE PEOPLE COULD RECOGNISE

Familiar shops.
A visible benefit.

The campaign connected a less familiar shopping behaviour with retailers people already knew. Screen explainers introduced the benefit, while outdoor repeated the cashback message in everyday environments.

That combination addressed the core challenge: helping people recognise Cashrewards and understand why they might use it.

Historical campaign photography supplied in the original case study.

04 / THE CLIENT PERSPECTIVE

During that period we grew from 600,000 members to 1.5m, supported by an increase in awareness from less than 30% to more than 70%.

Bernard Wilson CEO, Cashrewards

Read more from the client +

“Chris and Optimise were our media agency from an aspiring start-up to a well-funded high growth public company.”

“Chris was a key partner to our fast-growing marketing team, working tirelessly to find the right opportunities to grow awareness and acquire members most efficiently.”

05 / BEYOND THE MEDIA PLAN

A partner across
the campaign.

“Optimise was always happy to help in whichever way we needed, which started with media but extended into talent acquisition – securing Steve Smith as our brand ambassador, SEO and even creative production. Nothing was ever too hard or too big of an ask.”

Karlien McLeod GM Consumer Marketing, Cashrewards

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