Earlier this week, SunTrust Banks unveiled a new brand tagline and marketing campaign focused on savings. The “Live Solid, Bank Solid” campaign speaks to what the bank describes as “a new era of thrift, security and financial responsibility.”

The new campaign is rooted in the notion that consumers are moving away from conspicuous consumption towards a more mature, solid approach to their finances.

The script for the TV spot reads, “Remember the Joneses? And all their stuff? And how people were always trying to keep up? Well, some of us woke up instead. We no longer want big and flashy. We want real, true and honest. We want to stand on solid ground, and we want a bank that does the same. A bank that’s here to help us prosper, whatever our definitions of ‘prosper’ may be. Live solid. Bank solid.”

Copy writing throughout the campaign is creative, direct and crisp. The messages reflect the new economic reality many Americans are facing. And it’s all delivered in a casual, confident manner.

SunTrust says it conducted months of consumer research prior to developing creative components. Among the findings:

• Nearly 80% of those surveyed would rather be envied for spending wisely than for spending freely.
• 83% believe it’s not about how much money you have, it’s about what you do with the money that you already have.
• Eight in 10 believe that while having more money won’t necessarily make you happier, feeling in control of the money you have will increase happiness.

Key Question: How many financial institutions do any research before they launch an ad campaign? For that matter, how many do any research afterward either?

“Consumers are thinking more about how they are handling their money than they were.”
– John Fitzgerald,
President/Mullen

“It’s apparent that consumers are thinking more about how they are handling their money than they were even six months ago,” said John Fitzgerald, president of Mullen, SunTrust’s ad agency. “They are moving to lives of more substance, reason, and long-term thinking, and feel a stronger sense of personal responsibility for the direction of their lives.”

SunTrust says the campaign was underway months before the economy took a nosedive.

The campaign debuted during NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and includes TV, print, radio and internet advertising.

SunTrust’s previous tagline was “Seeing beyond money.”

SunTrust spent $26 million on advertising last year (excluding online), and $21 million through September of this year.

The ad’s body copy reads, “Something has been missing. But more and more people are choosing to find it again. Solid ground. It’s a great place to be. A life built around balance. More substance. Less flash. Priorities straight. Ready for a return to solid? There’s a bank ready to help with that. SunTrust. A bank that’s here to get the fundamentals right. Uncomplicate the complicated. Champion convenience. And find ways to help you prosper, whatever your definition of prosper might be.”

These brand ads for Continental Bank in Wisconsin encourage people to get a firm grip on their financial situations. Each ad relies on a carefully-crafted custom photo where someone is wrestling — literally — with some aspect of their financial life: a wallet, purse or checkbook.

The ads are ultra-simple in their message, supported by a strong, story-telling visual. There’s only one blurb of copy — the headline — that simply says, “Take control of your finances.”

The ads all bear a common logo block with the very clever tagline, “Money. Wise.”

Based on the age of the people used in these ads, it’s safe to assume they were squarely targeted at Gen-Y.

Key Question: How many people will relate to these ads because they feel like their financial situation is out of control?

This style of advertising is extremely popular with ad school grads, but not everyone is a fan.

The bank has 8 branches, but the ads only promote one: the main HQ branch.

Each of these photos probably cost around $10,000 each.
Scouting locations, talent, props, lighting, photographer, makeup, etc.
It all adds up fast.

Agency: Freight Train

A print ad obscures all the text with asterisks to highlight the banks’ encryption capabilities.

“We found we didn’t have a brand. People were generally confused about what it is we offer.”
– John Ikard, CEO/President

1st Bank in Denver is rolling out a new ad campaign this month with an emphasis on online security. The creative campaign, targeting younger consumers, includes television, print, outdoor and web ads on sites like Yahoo, Ask.com, and MySpace.

In an interview with Marketing Daily, Brian Jensen/VP, said, “We think when other banks are pulling back, we have a chance to stand out.”

“When is there a better time, when you’re a strong viable financial institution, a community bank, to differentiate yourself form the competition than today, when times are difficult?” said John Ikard, the CEO/President of FirstBank.

The bank has a link off its website to a “Stability, Strength & Safety” page with all the right messages. It’s a smart move.

The Denver-based bank has 11 branches and 29 ATMs.

Agency: TDA Advertising & Design in Boulder, Colorado.

Outdoor ads depict $20 dollar bills with the presidential images obscured.

This non-traditional outdoor ad is clever and creative.

Posters speak to a younger audience’s lack of financial knowledge and sophistication.
“We’ll help you understand your money.”

“Bunnies”
In this spot, a man lays in an imaginary field that smells of fresh-baked cookies and is full of bunnies. It’s a metaphor for the bank’s online banking experience.

“Shirtless”
Some banker rips the shirt off a guy’s back, then smacks the coffee out of his hands.

You can see a couple more TV spots in the series here.

Earlier this year, Commonwealth Bank in Australia was harshly criticized for hiring a U.S. ad agency. It didn’t matter that the agency was world-famous Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, people down under were skeptical that they wouldn’t grasp the nuances of Aussie culture.

The hell with Aussie culture, they said. Instead of even attempting a spot that might try to honor the land of Oz, the bank and agency decided to take a huge gamble and made one of the weirdest spots you’ll ever see in the financial industry.

Here’s the concept: A bigtime American movie director, hired by a fictitious U.S. ad agency, makes an  unintentional parody of Australian culture in a new commercial for Commonwealth Bank. The makebelieve spot piles one Aussie stereotype on top of another: Mad Max koalas from Beyond the Thunderdome tangle with a didgeridoo-playing, boomerang-chucking Crocodile Dundee lookalike. The bank’s executives are not amused.

It’s a spot-within-a-spot, where art imitates life imitating art.

When the commercial first debuted, only the first 30 seconds were shown.
To many, it looked like the bank had gone completely insane.
A little while later, the whole spot aired, revealing the bank’s displeasure with the “ad” within its ad.

People hated it. It was lampooned around the world. But both the agency and the bank staunchly defended their strategy.

30% of Australia’s 16 million people don’t like the campaign or the strategy. That’s only 4.8 million people, or about 1-out-of-3.

Now, they’ve got some results.

Mark Buckman, the bank’s marketing director, says that brand awareness has grown from 70% to 95% while simultaneously cutting the media budget 30%.

But Mr. Buckman also acknowledged that 30% of Australia’s 16 million people don’t like the campaign or the strategy. That’s only 4.8 million people, or about 1-out-of-3, but Buckman says’ he’s okay with it because “16 million Australians are a big enough pond for us to fish in.”

Buckman defended the bank’s decision to ship it’s highly coveted $100 million account overseas: “We couldn’t find an advertising agency in Australia that was prepared to think differently about us.”

“We were sick to death of being told what we couldn’t do.”

That’s fine, but is that why they took such a huge gamble with the bank’s brand?

Buckman said there was a fundamental belief that perceptions of 100-year-old institution could not be changed. “In order to get people to think differently about us, we had to get them to notice us and then get them to talk about us — and talk they did,” he said. “We set out to achieve three things — impact, comprehension and likeability.”

Two out of three ain’t bad. But doesn’t “likeability” seem like an important brand association?

About CEO Ralph Norris’s feelings towards the risky strategy, Buckman said, “He didn’t shy away, but he did say ‘this is either going to be a blaze of glory or just a blaze. Either way there are going to be flames.’”

True that.

Key Questions:

• Would you prefer to be well-known by many, but unliked? Or would you rather be liked, but only known by a few?
• Is brand awareness more important that positive feelings about a brand?

Hampden Bank’s campaign, called “Evolved,” portrays out of town competitors as corporate dinosaurs that adversely affect local prosperity. The ads depict creatures with names like the “VelociMerger,” “Bureaucradon” and the “Bully Mammoth.”

The campaign included television, radio, billboards, bus graphics and print ads.

VelociMerger

The copy reads “Banking has evolved beyond the battling corporate monsters. Hampden Bank, indigenous to Western Mass., is more adaptable to your needs - online, in person, at ATMs or even in another language. Cold-blooded, out-of-town banking is about to go extinct. It’s nature’s way of telling you there’s a better way to bank just around the corner.”

Bureaucradon

The copy reads: “Banking has evolved beyond the complexities of corporate red tape. Hampden Bank is the next generation. Smart, flexible and adaptable to your needs - we’re more than just local and able. Cold-blooded, out-of-town banking is about to go extinct. It’s nature’s way of telling you there’s a better way to bank.”

The bank is wrapping the campaign under the slogan “A Brighter Idea.”

Agency: Winstanley Associates

In addition to winning three gold regional ADDY Awards, the national campaign was honored by the American Banking Association as one of the country’s best.

“No matter how long
the night has been,
there’s always breakfast.
This is America.
The sun comes up and
we get a fresh start.”
– BofA’s ‘Pancakes’

Bank of America’s current brand TV ad titled “Pancakes” is an artfully subtle message of hope and reassurance. It sends a message about the economy that Americans want to hear: “Things will be okay and we’ll get through this.”

In a sense, the ad is almost an ad for “Brand America” (not just the bank, but the whole country). It taps deep into the American psyche, speaking directly to the consummate faith in our power to prevail through even the darkest times.

Script for BofA’s “Pancakes”

No matter how long the night has been, there’s always breakfast.
This is America. The sun comes up and we get a fresh start.
At Bank of America,
opportunities are waiting for every customer, every day.
Like risk-free CDs, innovative ways to save,
and smarter ways to spend.
No wonder one-out-of-two households in America
trust their finances with Bank of America. Bank of Opportunity.

Sorry, you can’t see the spot anywhere online yet.
A spokesman from BofA told The Financial Brand the current economic crisis has kept the bank’s
internal communications team too busy to upload its latest spots to its Newsroom.
Here are a few still images from “Pancakes.”

Who knew pancakes could make such a beautiful metaphor? It’s almost like saying, “Hey, America just had a real economic bender. Glad that’s over. Now let’s have breakfast and get this hangover behind us.” Coupled with the visuals, it’s wonderfully optimistic.

The spot positions BofA as a leader, poised to guide America out of our economic crisis. This is a much more creative way to reassure people with a “safe and sound” message than simply saying, “We’re safe and sound.”

The spot weaves in a few products and services, then finishes with a point-of-proof that essentially says “half of America trusts us, so you can too.”

All around, it’s a smart spot — one that’s on-brand for BofA, offering a relevant, timely message.

Agency: BBDO

October 2008 was one of the roughest ever for the financial industry. Now that October has passed (and thankfully so), let’s take a minute to look at some of the ads banks and credit unions ran as the global financial crisis developed.

US Bank - “Roots”

The headline on this full-page ad from US Bank is awkward. The periods in “U.S.” and the overuse of the word “bank” make the headline choppy. Simply using “Bank Solid” would have been enough. Readers understand the implicit call to action: “You should be banking at US Bank.” That’s why advertisers advertise.

The artwork is visually captivating and the metaphor is relevant, although there isn’t a strong connection between the ads’ components (headline, artwork and offer). It feels a little slapped-together, which it probably was. It’s not until you get to the first sentence of the body copy (people read ad copy?) that the “roots” connection is made. The copy also promises a “guaranteed rate of return” on CDs, something BofA has started emphasizing in its ads as well.

Including product offers in your “safe and sound” message is smart. It doesn’t seem practical to run a pure image ad right now — one whose purpose is to simply reassure customers. That kind of ad doesn’t really work to build the brand as much as it “stops the bleeding.”

KeyBank - “Proven Over Time”

Any bank could run this ad. All you have to do is change the year in the first sentence of the body copy and swap out logos.

Banks run ads like this all the time. Some banks even run this kind of ad one day, then fail the next. People read this kind of stuff and roll their eyes. Why not provide more proof for the otherwise unsubstantiated claims like “proven over time” and “well-capitalized?” If you’ve got a cap ratio worth bragging about, why not explain it to people? And don’t use the excuse, “They don’t care,” or, “They won’t get it.” The typical American consumer isn’t as dumb or disengaged as you think. She is your wife, or your dad.

Using Moody’s and S&P as “proof” of your safety and soundness won’t fly with those who have been paying attention to financial news lately. These ratings’ agencies are the same bozos who gave triple-A grades to all those toxic subprime mortgage-backed securities.

Sterling Savings - “Really Boring”

This ad is great. Sterling is mixing product offers with its “safe and sound” message. The irony is that the bank says it is boring and predictable without being boring or predictable. This ad shows how you can convey a “safe and sound” message without having to surrender any sense of personality your financial institution may have. Temporarily renaming products “The Really Boring [X]” is brilliant.

Power Financial - “No Bailout Needed”

This ad for Power Financial from the marketing folks at Shared Idiz shares a similar strategy with Sterling Savings. The ad introduces the “safe and sound” message in a way that connects with people on a visceral level; things like corporate jets really rub the average American consumer the wrong way.

Again, it’s smart to include product offers. This is one of the few ads out there promoting lending (home equity and auto) as part of the “safe and sound” strategy. As previously noted at The Financial Brand, saying you’ve got money to lend in the middle of a credit crisis is one of the most effective ways to differentiate your financial institution while suggesting you’re healthy and strong.

WaMu + Chase = “Peace of Mind”

The headline on this ad from WaMu raises one big, implicit question: Didn’t WaMu checking accounts come with peace of mind before the takeover? It’s the word “now” that triggers the scrutiny. You wouldn’t wonder what was previously wrong with WaMu if the headline simply read, “Free checking. With free peace of mind.”

The body copy in this ad is pretty good. Too bad no one reads ad copy anymore though. If you’re one of the few who does, click on the ad to enlarge it.

ING Direct - “Manifesto”

As usual, ING Direct is taking its own unique direction on the financial crisis. Recognizing the public’s shift from credit-based spending to thrift-based savings, ING Direct is seizing the opportunity to tell its brand story in one of the most unique ads ever to come from a financial institution.

Netbanker reports that over 5,300 people have gone online to “sign” this “manifesto” at a special wethesavers.com microsite from ING Direct.

Tip of the Hat: To my dad, for mailing all but one of these ads to me.

“Money creates money concerns. And genuine attention to money helps eliminate them.” That’s the underlying premise behind Key Bank’s latest brand ad campaign, “Money Needs Attention.”

The campaign includes print, TV and outdoor advertising, as well as a microsite.
(more…)

Here’s a new print ad running in WaMu markets that, considering the situation, is pretty darn good.

The ad’s copy reads: “WaMu has a bright new future, thanks to the stability of JPMorgan Chase (and their nearly trillion dollars in customer deposits). But Chase brings more than money to the party: together we have 14,300 ATMs and 5,400 branches nationwide, a quarter of a million employees, and the confidence of banking with over 100 million other customers.”

That definitely sounds like a bank that’s “too big to fail.”

Tip of the Hat: To Josh Streufert at Weber Marketing Group
for sending the ad along.

Harris Bank recently unveiled a new branding campaign to drive home the bank’s “here to help” message, a slogan the bank has used for the past two years.

Harris expects to reach 95 percent of its core audience — millions of people across the Chicago area — using television, radio, digital, print, outdoor and transit advertising, including this example:

[Click any image to enlarge.]

The triptych says, “Bored? Pass the time with a word jumble. ULOQOSYIL HRSPIM NUJOROS EENRSE LSAIOABT. Hint: They all start with ‘S.’” The answers for the word jumble are here on page 2.

Unfortunately, the solution to the word jumble says nothing about the Harris brand. And you have to wonder, is a word jumble really that helpful to a bus riders?

Helping people in seemingly trivial ways is actually part of the bank’s brand strategy.

“The ads are about regular life and demonstrate that Harris is committed to helping in ways that are unexpected,” said Justine Fedak, SVP/Marketing with Harris. “They also provide clarity to our customers at the times they need it most — something we have been doing for over a century in Chicago.”

A YouTube account created last week has 11 different videos, all offering some sort of semi-useful tips completely unrelated to banking, like this one that shows a cool way to fold t-shirts:

TV ads are the cornerstone of Harris’s media strategy. The bank says it’s buying time on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, WGN, ESPN and CNN. The ads will appear during major news and sports broadcasts as well as top-rated programs such as CSI, Dancing with the Stars and The Late Show with David Letterman. The campaign debuted during the Chicago Bears’ season opening game against the Indianapolis Colts on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

This is the first TV campaign from the bank in two years. The bank has a number of popular TV spots from years past uploaded by various Harris ad fans.

Alan Spindle, creative director with Element 79, the agency behind the campaign, said, “The TV spots grew out of the print and outdoor we’ve established over the past few years. So out-of-home, transit and print ads actually star in the TV spots.” When you see the ads (sorry, they are only viewable at the microsite), you’ve got to look closely and pay attention to catch the cab-top ad whizzing by:

Element 79 is the same agency that released the popular viral video “Ball Girl” for Gatorade earlier this year. The agency lost the Gatorade account despite their success with the video, which has been viewed over 1.3 million times.

The bank’s microsite for the campaign offers advice in six different categories: Financial, Planning, Small Business, Travel, Entertainment and Unexpected.

At the microsite, there are “helpful” videos and links to external, third-party websites — an interesting use of other people’s content (perhaps without their consent).

There are also five puzzles at the microsite, including word jumbles and visual riddles. All but one of the games were crafted to reinforce some aspect of the Harris brand.

The microsite is linked off the home page of the main Harris Bank website.

Harris Bank, a unit of the Bank of Montreal, has assets around $40 billion.

On Thursday, September 4, an ad from Silver State Bank asked, “Why do so many of Nevada’s strongest businesses trust Silver State Bank?”

The answer? “Security” and “protection.”

The next day, the bank was seized by federal and state regulators.

Apparently people weren’t buying the bank’s “you can trust us” sales pitch. When you lose people’s trust, you lose their deposits. In the two months prior to the bank’s seizure, customers pulled $264 million of the $1.7 billion on deposit at Silver State.

“A run on deposits
is what kills banks.”
— Tim Coffey
VP/Research, FIG Partners

“A run on deposits is what kills banks,” said Tim Coffey, VP/Research for FIG Partners, in an interview in the Las Vegas Review Journal. “It happened that way in the Great Depression, and it’s happening again.”

Reality Check:

• People already don’t trust banks. Most financial institutions are seen as greedy and self-serving.
• Situations like this, where Silver State advertised blatant lies, don’t help financial institutions shake this image or build any credibility
• People’s B.S. detectors trigger alerts whenever they hear someone say “Trust Me.” Images of used-car salesmen go through their minds.

Key Takeaway: It takes more than just words to earn people’s trust. Reminding people that your financial institution is “safe, sound, secure and stable” is an important communications strategy these days. Just remember: Marketing can’t ever create a sense of trust. As with all our relationships, trust is something earned — usually over time.

“Welcome to Blingola,” an imaginary world where everyone has “all the happiness in the world,” courtesy of their Virgin Money credit cards. With headlines like “The land of milf and honeyz,” you’re probably thinking this campaign is a joke. It isn’t. These ads are fo’real cuz.

(Click to enlarge)

Apparently in South Africa, where these Virgin Money ads are running, “wish fulfillment” means all your pimp-daddy, gangsta-wannabe, holla-balla, schnizzle yo’ dizzle dreams come true. This campaign is sure to offend the puritanical — if not frequently hypocritical — sensibilities of many Americans. But remember: Americans aren’t the target audience. Nor are puritans.

Check out this TV spot. It looks more like a promo for MTV’s Cribs than for a financial institution.

It’s easy to get distracted by the campaign’s socio-cultural fantasies — it’s blinginess, if you will — but the actual product it’s promoting has one feature that’s pretty slammin’. South Africa’s “Bling” edition of Virgin Money’s credit card actually pays “a whopping 9.5% interest rate on all positive balances.” The downside: 20.5% on negative balances.

Key Question: Does Virgin cap the size of balance you can earn 9.5% interest on?

The fact that you can both earn interest and borrow money from a single, card-based account is really amazing. It’s a big enough breakthrough that Virgin Money should have probably renamed the product. “Credit card” just isn’t right.

The cards themselves come in three flavors. One is fire red and says, “Just use me.” Another has a crazy line-drawing of gawd-knows-what. A third one has a faux diamond-encrusted “Bling” in gangsta lettering.

Click on these ads to enlarge them. Then soak it all in — the planning, the set, the items, buying the items, casting, makeup, photography, art direction, copywriting, design, layout and typesetting.

The ads are fun and extravagant.

FYI - BPay is a bill payment service unique to Australia.

Key Question: What do you think these ads cost to produce? Most agencies would probably charge $10,000-$25,000 USD. Each. Small design studios might charge a little less.

Fifth Third’s “Unlock Your Dreams” campaign, which started yesterday, centers on a scratchcard and a $250,000 sweepstakes. Anyone can enter by stopping at a branch to pick up their game piece, or you also can request game pieces by mail (as is legally required, but who does that?).

In addition to the $250,000 grand prize, the bank is giving away 22 first prizes of $10,000 — one in each of the bank’s regions.

The scratch-off the game pieces reveal one of the following “instant prizes,” most of them contingent on acquiring a new Fifth Third product:

+ One of 42,500 MasterCard gift cards worth $10
+ $50 in a new “Goal Setter” savings account
+ $50 off loan closing costs
+ $50 off mortgage loan app fee
+ 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points with a new Visa credit card
+ 5,300 Bonus Rewards Points with a new home equity line

The value of the campaign’s prizes, including cash and discounts, totals $895,000.

The scratchcards also include a special “code.” To win either of the cash prizes, you have to go to a special microsite for the campaign at www.53unlockyourdreams.com and type in your “code.” But that’s not all you have to type in.

In order to complete your entry at the microsite, you have to give up a lot of personal information — including your name, email, phone number, mailing address and DOB — so the campaign will definitely be a success from an MCIF perspective. Entrants even tell the bank what kind of financial products they might be interested in by checking a lifestyle option like “getting married” or “retiring.”

The magic of the “code”

From a marketing perspective, the “code” is just a ruse to make the scratchcard more exciting. It gives people the impression that their “code” may “be the one” and they “may already be a winner,” giving them more incentive to visit the microsite and surrender their MCIF profile. In reality, the cash prizes will be given away in a conventional drawing, so the “code’s” only real purpose is to validate entries, thereby preventing contestaholics from repeatedly entering. (Fifth Third is limiting the number of entries each person can have at 20.)

Key Takeaway: Scratchcards tickle people’s gambling nerve center — a juicy marketing tactic.

Bottom Line: This well thought-out and fairly straightforward promo should yield an immediate return in the form of new accounts and new relationships. If they maximize their MCIF opportunities, there should be additional ROI streaming in for months to come.

The contest complements Fifth Third’s slogan, “The things we do for dreams,” which the bank launched back in February.

“This year, our ads have touched on dreams of all shapes and sizes, and have celebrated the steps and sacrifices individuals make today to realize their dreams for tomorrow,” said Terry Zink, EVP/Retail for Fifth Third in a press release.

With $115 billion in assets and 1,300 branch locations, Fifth Third is one of the top 20 banks in the U.S. based on assets.

These brand TV ads from Alabama Credit Union are terrific. They are brimming with personality and look nothing like any other financial institution’s ads. (Well okay, they may look a little like the recent Telly Award-winning spots from Truliant, but they are still very cool and fun to watch.) Take a look, and enjoy the entertaining print ad for a branch grand opening after the videos.

The only downside is that Alabama Credit Union’s website doesn’t ooze with the same kind of spunk and attitude. As Ron Shevlin points out, it’s a bit of a brand disconnect to see ads as fresh and creative as these, then see a functional-but-unexciting website backing them up.

Key Questions: What are Alabama Credit Union’s branches like? How do these ads align with- or complement their in-branch experience?

The ads are the work of the Red Square Agency, Mobile, Alabama.

“Make your money multiply.”

Banco Matone

Ad Agency: DCS, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Art director: Gregory Kickow

There’s an old adage in financial marketing: “It’s all about the rate.” Recent evidence from two different case studies suggests that’s wrong.

Case Study #1

Take BankWest’s promotion to launch a new savings account, where they tested two versions of their online ads. Both versions of the ad were animated. In the first version, the ad started by introducing a big rate. In the other version, they led with a photo.

Bottom Line: The version of the ad leading with the photo generated three times as many deposits as the version leading with the rate.

Key Question: Have you ever tried testing two versions of your marketing?

Case Study #2

Yesterday, some well-respected voices in the financial industry blogged about a South African bank that conducted an interesting marketing test. One version of the bank’s loan mailer had a man’s photo in it, another version had a woman’s photo.

Bottom Line: The woman’s photo impacted the bank’s male customers about as much as dropping the loan’s interest rate by 4.5%. (Women, it seems, were less impressionable.)

Key Takeaways:

• With both deposit and loan promotions, there’s a lot more to it than just the rate. Other psychological and emotional factors are at work.
• Be brave and have the courage to experiment. Financial marketers need to conduct more tests like these.
• Pay attention to what’s really driving your results, but be prepared to have your assumptions challenged.
• The next time you do a rate-based promotion, shift your focus from the rate to a photo and see what happens.

Little details can have a huge impact on the bottom line. As one credit union marketer recently pointed out, even something as subtle as a pronoun can make a big difference.

Further Reading:

• A Pretty Woman Beats a Good Loan Deal
• Sexy Nude Chicks by Ron Shevlin
  
• If sex is selling then I am buying! by Tony Mannor
• The Little Things by Andy LaFlamme

Flagstar Bank debuted a new brand campaign during the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Spots depict consumers with boxes on their heads who need to “open their eyes” to Flagstar’s products and services. Here’s the video:

“People are different and want different things from their bank.”
– David Joyce, VP/Mktg Director
Flagstar Bank

In a press release, David Joyce, VP/Marketing Director at Flagstar, said the campaign’s new tagline, “The New Wave in Banking,” shows the bank understands “people are different and want different things from their bank.”

Flagstar’s brand ad positions the bank as a ‘unique alternative’ for ‘a different kind of people’ without ever really defining how the bank is unique or how the target audience is different. You can read the whole script on page 2.

The spot’s conceptual device – putting boxes over people’s heads – creates a surreal world that feels oddly in contrast with the idea that “people are different.” Instead, they are faceless, lifeless robots, waiting for liberation. The somber, three-step German polka soundtrack adds to the strange vibe. Ooom-paa-paa, ooom-paa-paa.

Flagstar’s brand strategy is similar to the one used by Pemco Insurance. To paraphrase, it goes something like this: “Everyone is different, and for people who are different like you, we’re your kind of bank – different.” Pemco takes a more direct approach while injecting a heavy dose of satire. Enjoy this spot:

If you liked that spot, here’s another one from Pemco, “Blue Tarp Camper.”

The Pemco spots are arguably the more effective way to deliver the “We’re-Different-Like-You” strategy. They make clear statements about how they are “different like you.” Like the Obsessive Compulsive Recyler, Pemco believes in doing the right thing even if it means going to tedious extremes. And like the intrepid Blue Tarp Campers, nothing will deter Pemco, certainly not Northwest rain. Pemco has a whole series of these lifestyle vignettes (around 20 total), so they’ve clearly given this some thought.

The Flagstar Bank delivery of the “We’re-Different-Like-You” strategy feels shallow and empty.

Key Takeaway: Relevant differentiation is the key to branding. Simply claiming your different doesn’t cut it. You actually have to be different. Sure you can say you’re different even if you aren’t (and many financial institutions do it). But be prepared for people’s disappointment if the experience you deliver is less different than people expect. Brand gaps like these can come back to bite you…hard.

Flagstar’s campaign includes television, print, radio, Web and in-branch advertising and is scheduled to run in Flagstar’s three banking states of Michigan, Indiana and Georgia. Joyce called it the largest brand campaign in the bank’s history.

SMZ Advertising in Troy, Michigan, where the $14.6 billion dollar bank is headquartered, created the campaign for Flagstar.

“Frost Bank understands the value of focusing advertising communications on the brand.”
– Pam Thomas, CMO
Frost Bank

“Frost Bank understands the value of focusing advertising communications on the brand.”

That’s how Pam Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer at Frost Bank, put it in an interview with The Financial Brand about the bank’s latest brand campaign.

The campaign, launched back in April this year, consists of magazine and newspaper ads, online advertising, outdoor and direct mail.

“It is imperative for Frost to stay at a high level and communicate relevant brand messages in a visually compelling way to current and potential customers,” Thomas added.

“The competitive environment in the financial category in Texas is cluttered,” Thomas explained. “We have to be different to stand out.”

Most financial institutions aren’t comfortable using marketing dollars for ads that don’t push a product or contain a rate, which may suggest a separate budget is needed specifically for brand-building initiatives.

Bottom Line: It takes courage to run brand ads.

Frost has been running brand ads for over 10 years, focusing a majority of the bank’s media budget on branding. This strategy, Thomas says, shows the bank is “acting in our customers’ best interests, not pushing products.”

Key Question: When was the last time your organization ran a pure brand ad (i.e., an ad without a rate or product offer)?

The primary purpose of the new campaign is to increase awareness of Frost’s full range of services, including banking, investments and insurance. Frost has even made an interesting choice to opt for a utilitarian tagline in lieu of a more traditional rallying cry (e.g., “Where service comes 1st!”).

By putting “banking, investments and insurance” everywhere the Frost logo goes, the bank ensures its product awareness message is getting out there.

Frost’s previous campaign, which ran for three years, is particularly stunning and distinct, especially for the financial industry:

The look of new campaign may be visually different, but there is a similar vibe shared with the old campaign. This undercurrent of consistency is good branding. Frost knows what it wants to say and maintains a consistent “brand voice,” even from one campaign to the other – a voice that is bold, proud, confident and distinctively Texan.

The timing of Frost’s latest campaign makes it stand out even more. In these dark financial times where budgets and staff are being slashed, who else is out there with brand ads (megabanks not withstanding)?

“We have a great story to tell right now in this time of economic anxiety,” Thomas explained.

Tip of the Hat: To both Frost Bank and their agency, McGarrah-Jessee, for their help and cooperation with the writing of this article.

Further Reading: Frost Bank Momentum Account Combines Reward Checking and Personal Financial Management

In this :30 TV spot supporting WaMu’s “Whoo Hoo!” branding campaign, a couple fantasizes about being tucked snug in giant kangaroo pouches (no joke, for real) after discussing the security of WaMu’s online banking.

Here’s another spot. In this one, a regular guy has a fantasy associating the bank’s offer of “free checks for life” with the experience of a roller disco.

Some people regard WaMu’s “Whoo Hoo!” campaign as nothing more than a shallow knockoff of a familiar Homer Simpson expression. But you have to admit, these spots sure are different.

And they are kinda funny.

Is it enough to get me to open an account, buy WaMu stock or become a WaMulian?

No.

But the next time I think of WaMu, I’ll tink happy tots.

Paul Economy, that is (yes, that’s his real name). Economy, a VP and manager of a Member One Credit Union branch, is the star in his employer’s latest ad campaign.

“Come see Paul,” the headline on the billboard reads. “He has $50 million to lend.”

This deceptively simple concept may not be the sexiest campaign in the world, but it’s super smart and strategic. In our new, deleveraged economy where lenders are evaporating and capital is tight, Member One looks like the only financial institution out there with money to lend. Meanwhile, everyone else is slugging it out for deposit dollars.

This demonstrates one of the Fundamental Theorems of Branding:

Zig when everyone else zags.

The Roanoke Times reports that the campaign generated “multimillions” in loans in its first month, a dramatic increase from previous months.

“The well’s not running dry.”
– Brad Boothe, AVP/Marketing
Member One Credit Union

The campaign doesn’t specify any particular type of loan. It applies to all loans – auto, personal, mortgage and home equity.

Brad Boothe, AVP/Marketing at Member One Credit Union, said that the credit union is able to run this kind of promotion because it’s not in same the situation as many other lenders with high default rates on loans.

In an interview with The Financial Brand, Boothe said, “We have lent a lot but we still have plenty more. The $50 million was used more for impact than actual money to lend.”

“The well’s not running dry,” he said.

Member One has around $350 million in assets, 56,000 members and 15 branches.

The campaign, including print, radio and in-branch components, will run through August.

:30 Seconds on Paul Economy
- Paul has worked for Member One for 21 years.
- He is 43.
- He is a native of Roanoke, Virginia, where the credit union is based.
- He recently returned from a mission trip to the African nation of Malawi.
- Paul serves as the president of the Roanoke Ballet Theatre Board of Directors.
- He’s a member of the Rotary Club of Roanoke and the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.

With a sleek, jet-black website, and equally slick TV spots featuring a Beatles soundtrack, CommSec claims to be the first and only financial institution enabling Australians to access both cash and investment accounts in a single view with a single login.

CommSec provides an overview of the service in a snazzy Flash tour at a microsite created for the promotion. The microsite takes about 10 seconds or so to load, after which you are treated to a few floating words along with a contemporary interpretation of the Beatles “Come Together.”

Key Question: What do you think it cost to use the song?

The song was chosen to reinforce the firm’s slogan, “Better Together,” which was also the inspiration for the microsite’s URL, www.bettertogether.com.au.

There’s not a lot of meat or info at the microsite, just a few facts about and a six-question quiz CommSec calls the “Better Together Challenge.”

CommSec calls the new service a “Cash Management Account,” which includes a 7.5% interest rate an no monthly fees. You can move money quickly and seamlessly between cash, your investments and your trading account, plus you can tie your trading account to a margin loan. There’s also an auto-sweeping option.

Sounds like everything the self-guided investor needs.

There is one drawback though, and it involves a complicated system of ID verification in Australia. Apparently CommSec’s process for opening an account falls short, at least according to one expert on Australian banking who reviewed the new offering.

To support the launch of the new account, CommSec is giving away $100,000 AU to ten new customers, plus another additional $150,000 AU in other prizes. A special :15 second TV spot is used to communicate just the giveaway component of the promotion, while another pair of :30 TV spots communicate the new account’s broader benefits, including this one:

The spots use the “Come Together” metaphor and soundtrack, as clips show a series of innovations that – in retrospect – naturally go together.

The “Cash Management” aggregation account isn’t the first “first” for CommSec. They’ve also recently introduced Australia’s first trading platform for the iPhone.

Are these posters on-brand for Absa Bank and its target audience? Who is the target audience anyway? Hard to say.

Two things are for certain: (1) The posters look cool, and (2) they are very different. The copy, however, might be a stumbling point for some readers. Too hokey? Trying too hard?

By the way, Absa is in South Africa.

The series is a unique range of retro-eclectic and vibrant visual styles, sprinkled with semi-poetry here and there.

“Do your little bit of good where you are:
It’s these little bits of good pu