CommBank has undertaken a number of successful content initiatives on Facebook over the past year. The bank says the strenght of the consumer response has exceeded its expectations:

• Community Seeds (May 2011): Fans were invited to give away over $125,000 of the bank's money to six community organisations in need, by voting via the Community Seeds Facebook tab.
• Facebook Deals (August 2011): Partnered with Facebook to launch Facebook Deals to the Australian market. The bank's 'Open a saving account and receive free movies passes for a year' sold out in three days with the campaign being referred to as the 'most aggressive deal' in the launch.
• Thank You (October 2011): Customers were invited to select one free gift out of a choice of three (EMI Music voucher, Gloria Jean's voucher, Movie voucher) for making Commonwealth Bank - 2011 Money Magazine Bank of the Year. The campaign sold out in three days.
• Centenary Time Vault (November 2011): Fans were sent on a two week treasure hunt with a question on the bank's history posed each day for a chance to win $2,000 per day.
• Hussy's Lunch Time Legends (December 2011 - currently active): Each lunch break of the Test matches, the bank post an episode of "Hussey's Lunchtime Legends" on the Love Cricket tab. Each episode tests the audience with a video question delivered by Hussey about his favourite all-time great cricket moments. The daily prizes range from cricket packs to signed memorabilia.

CommBank has also moved its customer service team to the social platform, promising real-time responses to queries posted on its Facebook wall. And in late December, Commonwealth Bank became one of the first in the world to enable customers to pay each other in Facebook using its Kaching iPhone application.

Andy Lark, Commonwealth Bank chief marketing and online officer, explains the bank's strategy: "We're less interested in the industry echo-chamber and more interested in building bridges to customers in new ways. November saw us reach an engagement rate of over 20%, one of the highest globally for any Facebook page. Social platform, Facebook in particular, provide an opportunity to support and serve customers in new ways."