Bill Castle (pictured above), the CEO of South Valley Bank & Trust, is the star in the bank’s latest ad campaign, Ask Bill. Castle is stepping up to answer people’s questions — even the tough ones — to show that South Valley is a bank of integrity, honesty and reliability.

South Valley is using TV spots, in-branch signage and double-sided ‘Ask Bill/Tell Bill’ comment cards to recruit questions from the general public.

“There’s a commitment to respond to everyone within 3 days,” Ann Hall, VP of Marketing/South Valley Bank, told The Financial Brand.

Hall said she sits down with her boss (Bill) daily to review a log of customer questions, checking to see who is awaiting answers.

“We’d be dead in the water without follow-through,” Hall said.

Indeed when The Financial Brand emailed a question to Bill — “Where can I find your TV spots online?” — he personally responded within 24 hours.

All the Ask Bill campaign materials point towards South Valley Bank’s website, where you can watch seven initial video questions, presented side-by-side with Bill’s answers. Some of the questions might make your average financial institution wince:

• “Did South Valley make any sub-prime loans?”
• “Checks or deposits which comes first at South Valley?”
• “Did South Valley have to foreclose on any homes?”
• “What is South Valley doing to keep people in their homes?”
• “Does South Valley have a separate foreclosure department?”
• “Did South Valley Bank & Trust take any TARP funds?”
• “A lot of banks are going out of business, is South Valley?”

The Central and Southern Oregon area where the bank is based has been slammed by the economic downturn — housing prices plummeted around 45% in some areas — so it’s easy to see how the public would be worried about these issues.

To create the video questions, South Valley had associates of The Mandala Agency, the bank’s advertising partner, read  questions real customers had sent in. The bank wanted to use different props and personalities to give Ask Bill character and make it more engaging.

South Valley’s Castle offers his responses with both aplomb and honesty, ranging in length from a half-minute to 3-4 minutes. He puts a positive spin on every subject, but there’s no harm in that. Who wouldn’t?

In the first two weeks of the promo, Bill says he’s received over 100 questions from customers, and he says he’s responded to everyone. Sometimes he emails people, writes them a letter or phones them personally.

South Valley says it has filmed at least six new pairs of Q&A yet to be posted to the web.

South Valley Bank & Trust has $864 million in assets and 23 branches in nine counties throughout Central and Southern Oregon.

Analysis and Perspective

The Financial Brand has written previously about the ethical questions that arise when agency staff present their work as content that has been crowdsourced from customers. In that article, a reader poll revealed that 42% of respondents believed it is okay to launch a crowdsourcing campaign “with a few ‘starter samples’ as long as you clarify who submitted what and why.” Another 23% said they wouldn’t be comfortable using fabricated “user-generated content” because it “doesn’t feel right.”

This is a different set of circumstances however. First, South Valley isn’t dodging tough questions. If the ad agency filmed themselves, so what? They certainly didn’t pitch the bank any softballs. Second, the questions are authentic; they come from real customers and reflect people’s real concerns.

Besides, it’s much more practical to have stand-ins read questions customers email than to ask people to create videos. Whenever financial institutions try to crowdsource videos from the general public, they invariably exclude a large portion of their audience. Only a handful of people are comfortable making YouTube videos.

Even though agency-created content falls into an ethically fuzzy category, South Valley’s campaign is ultimately noble and the bank’s interest in answering people’s questions seems genuine. They seem sincerely interested in giving people honest information about how their bank works. Overall, it’s a smart strategy: Position a smaller, regional financial institution as “a friendly neighbor in the community” by making their CEO more personable, more approachable and more accessible. People have a lot of financial insecurities these days, and what could make them feel more important than getting answers straight from the head honcho?

“SHOULDERS” TV SPOT

A TV spot celebrating the bank’s CEO’s willingness to “answer your tough questions.” The script reads: “We’re South Valley Bank & Trust, and we’ve been standing shoulder to shoulder with our clients for over 30 years. That’s why in these hard economic times, our CEO is stepping forward to answer your questions, even the tough ones. All you have to do is go to SouthValleyBank.com and hit the ‘Ask Bill’ button. A CEO who answers tough questions is just one way we put your business first. Join us.”

WEBSITE

This website, which draws on the imagery of Central and Southern Oregon, is one of the most beautiful you’ll see in the financial industry. A simple banner ad on the homepage promotes the ‘Ask Bill’ campaign. There’s also an omnipresent ‘Ask Bill’ button dangling off the upper-right side of the main nav bar.

ASK BILL VIDEOS

There are seven video questions posed side-by-side with answers from South Valley’s CEO, Bill Castle. It doesn’t appear that there are any written Q&As on the website, even though the bank has ‘Ask Bill’ forms in its branches and accepts questions via email.

CAMPAIGN MATERIALS

The campaign was supported with branch posters. There’s an ‘Ask Bill’ comment box (top) and lapel pin. There are also three displays with custom photos (below) to reinforce the campaign’s overarching “shoulder-to-shoulder” brand message.

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Connex Credit Union in Connecticut, whose slogan is “Unbank With Us,” is hosting a contest for a paid internship with a grand title, “Vice President of Unbanking.”

Amy Stanton, AVP/Marketing at Connex, said the role is “essentially a snazzy name for a marketing intern who will represent all things Connex in the young community around our branches.”

An attractive, one-page microsite provides a simple and excellent overview of the position’s selection process and what candidates need to do for consideration.

Applicants who feel they would be a dynamic, outgoing Gen-Y spokesperson should send their resume along with a brief video explaining why they think they would be the Vice President of Unbanking. To stimulate ideas and provide some degree of strategic direction for applicants, Connex makes the following suggestions:

“What is it about traditional banking you don’t like? What makes credit unions different than banks? Would you rather share your profits with shareholders, or have a say in how your money is managed? These are a few ideas to get you started. Get our attention and remember, be creative and have fun with it. Best of luck — we can’t wait to see it!”

The successful candidate will get unique experience in a real marketing environment while getting paid and earning college credits. The VP of Unbanking will help “tell the world all of the great things about Connex and what it means to ‘Unbank.’” The duration of the internship is not specified.

“It’s one of the biggest elements of my work and projects over the next several months and ties in precisely with my task of increasing awareness of ‘Unbanking,’” Stanton continued.

CONNEX CREDIT UNION – VP OF UNBANKING
This brief video, starring the credit union’s current Gen-Y spokesperson,
outlines the basics of the Connex “Vice President of Unbanking” recruitment promotion.

Paul Stull, SVP at Arizona State CU, points out one big snag with contests requiring video submissions: a candidate’s success is often defined by the amount of video production skills they have. “While many contests are designed to pick spokesters or high-profile talent, it seems that a large number of people with great skills may be left behind,” Stull told The Financial Brand.

“It just seems that if you’ve been to film school you have a much better chance at winning,” Stull continued. “This rules out a number of talented people who just don’t know how to express themselves using video.”

“These contests capture the flash, but not the substance,” he said.

VIDEO ENTRY FOR CONNEX VP OF UNBANKING
This candidate may be very well suited for the position, but you’d never be able to tell based on his video entry. He seems like a nice kid, but his video is super boring. Does this mean style supersedes substance?

TruMark Financial Credit Union makes it very clear what the people of Pennsylvania shouldn’t expect from the $1.2 billion financial institution: No credit card tricks. No frustration. No excuses. No hidden fees. No bailouts. No surprises. No hassles. No double talk. No greed.

In a series of three television commercials, TruMark dishes a sardonic (if not snide) dig at big banks. The campaign’s premise hinges on an obvious-yet-unspoken question: “Why fork over your money to bankers so they can splurge on a luxurious lifestyle?” You can view the three spots at the credit union’s website.

In preparation for the campaign, TruMark surveyed some 1,000+ households and found that 40% were “very concerned” about big bank executives receiving excessive compensation.

Reality Check: TruMark doesn’t reveal its executive compensation structure.

High-caliber copy coupled with professional production qualities make for some very attractive spots that are likely to be very effective at generating name awareness for TruMark.

The three TV spots are part of a wider campaign, concentrated in a nine week, multimedia schedule across Southeastern Pennsylvania. Billboards are slated to run for six months.

Going negative. Attack ads. Call them what you want, financial marketers like TruMark are increasingly practicing the dark art of bashing the competition, a strategy originally pioneered and popularized by American political campaigns. The crux of the argument assumes that people will choose you as long as they hate the competition more. Translation: Make the other guy look like a schmuck. You don’t even have to be the least schmucky option; you merely have to be less schmucky than a few.

TruMark has a cheery take on what it sees as the commercials’ central theme. “While each spot is unique, the underlying message is the same,” the credit union explains in a press statement. “TruMark Financial is focused on its members.”

“TruMark Financial’s public awareness campaign is designed to reinforce the benefits of switching to TruMark Financial,” the credit union continues.

Reality Check: It’s hard to deliver a positive message about yourself while you’re beating the crap out of your competitors.

Key Questions: What happened to advertisers who touted their own features and benefits instead of the faults and shortcomings of their competitors? Is advertising today about convincing consumers that you aren’t as smarmy as the other guy? These days, does better and different = “suck less?”

“Married to ‘Morgan’”

You made it the best day of her life.
Saw that she was pampered every day.
Gave her somewhere nice to spend her afternoons.
Even bought her a beach house in St. Martin.
Too bad she’s not your wife.
She’s your big bank CEO’s wife.
Make your money work for you.
No credit card tricks. No frustration. No excuses.
It’s about you, your family, your trust.
TruMark Financial. Your trust matters.

“Raising ‘Chase’”

You did the best you could for him.
Made sure he was comfortable on long trips.
Gave me a nice place to keep his toys.
You even paid for four years in college…in Europe.
Too bad he’s not your son.
He’s your big bank CEO’s son.
Make your money work for you.
No hidden fees. No bailouts. No surprises.
It’s about you, your family, your trust.
TruMark Financial. Your trust matters.

“Living ‘Wells’”

You bought them a beautiful home.
Made sure she got her very own room.
Gave them a place to spend family time.
And a nice back yard to entertain friends.
Too bad it’s not your life.
It’s your big bank CEO’s life.
Make your money work for you.
No hassles. No double talk. No greed.
It’s about you, your family, your trust.
TruMark Financial. Your trust matters.

Reeling from an economic recession spurred by the financial industry’s collapse, consumers are eager to finger big bank villains. ANZ gladly offers up “Barbara,” the rude, cranky, deceptive and dismissive bank manager starring in a pair of parodies that demonize the bank’s competition.

ANZ, the largest bank in Australia, is using Barbara — the epitome of what people detest about banking services and policies — to draw wry contrasts between itself and the cold-hearted perceptions of big banks.

In one of the spots, a customer complains to Barbara. “You said I should open this everyday account because it had NO monthly account fees,” the customer protests.

“No need to thank me,” Barbara snaps back.

“I’m not, look at all these!”

“Ah yeah,” Barbara says. “You see when I said no monthly account fees that was no with a silent ‘k’ as in you may not know about the fees until the fees are charged. Your mistake.”

ANZ – “KNOW FEE CHECKING”
Barbara tries to straighten out one of her customers who complains about fees on her no-fee checking account.

ANZ – “NO GO AWAY”
Barbara dismisses the complaints of one of her customers and instead signs him up for a product he doesn’t want.

Reality Check: It wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’t true.

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ANZ produced the TV commercials after the bank eliminated 27 different fees and charges on personal accounts. The spots are intended to highlight ANZ’s simple and transparent approach to everyday banking.

“We are not just parodying our competitors, we are parodying the entire industry, including ourselves,” David Lindberg, ANZ’s managing director of marketing and strategy, told the Daily Telegraph in an interview.

The role of Barbara is played by comedian Genevieve Morris, who has been enjoying a level of notoriety unbefore seen in her 20-year career thanks to the ANZ spots.

An unofficial account for Barbara has over 1,500 fans on Facebook.

Comments at various websites hosting copies of the commercials reflect a range of consumer sentiment. Some say the spots backfire, perfectly capturing the experience they had with an ANZ employee. Most take the spots for what they are: a light-hearted poke at crappy bank service.

The campaign was created by Australian ad agency M&C Saatchi.

If you want to know how Gen-Y feels about banking and financial institutions, just ask them. That’s what these three vendors in the financial industry did. They grabbed their cameras and hit the streets. Some of these videos were shot over a year ago. But has anything changed since then?

“What Is a Credit Union?”

Producer: Callahan & Assoiciates
Running Time: 4:49

Callahan & Associates sent its CYouth team out to ask Gen-Y what they know — and don’t know — about banks and credit unions. And guess what? Gen-Y doesn’t know the difference the difference between banks and credit unions.

Key Excerpt: Interviewer: “What do you think would be the biggest thing potentially holding you back from joining a credit union?” Gen-Y answer: “Umm, I’ve just never had any knowledge of them before. I’m not familiar with them.”

“This is Generation Y”

Producer: Weber Marketing Group
Running Time: 4:06

Weber Marketing Group created this video with a series of brief Gen-Y interview vignettes capturing Gen-Y thoughts about financial institutions.

Key Excerpts:

• “Our parents set up our accounts.”
• “When I go in to talk to [my bank], they aren’t friendly or helpful whatsoever. They talk to me like I’m stupid, pretty much.”
• “Honestly, I don’t know very much about credit unions.”
• “I’ve heard there are lots of benefits with being at a credit union, but I don’t have any idea what those are.”

“I Know Y – Getting to Know You”

Producer: The Garland Group
Running Time: 6:50

Major takeaways:

• Gen Y isn’t really clear how they choose their financial institutions.
• Gen-Y wants improved performance and functionality for online banking platforms.

“People can now accept
more complex brands with
multiple, distinct narratives
highlighting various aspects
of the brand.”
– The Martin Agency,
about its GEICO ads

GEICO uses more branded characters at one time than probably any other company in the history of marketing. Turn on the TV tonight and you could see an ad starring their Gecko, Cavemen, or the googly-eyed pile of Kash. Or all three.

Presently GEICO has no fewer than six — count ‘em…SIX! — different ad campaigns running, each with their own unique tone, style, flavor and message.

Ask any brand-builder in the world, and they’ll tell you that using a seemingly disjointed and eclectic lineup of ads is the wrong way to create a cohesive, focused brand image. Consistency, they all say, is the key to shaping people’s perceptions and getting your messages to stick.

GEICO (pronounced “GUY-co,” and short for Government Employees Insurance Company) doesn’t just ignore these widely-accepted branding “rules.” They do everything possible to break them.

1 – The Gecko

The gecko first appeared in 1999 during a Screen Actors Guild strike that prevented the use of live actors. In the gecko’s first TV debut, he pleads for people confusing “gecko” with “GEICO” to stop phoning him. The gecko speaks with an English (Cockney) accent. Why? Because it would be unexpected, according to GEICO’s ad shop, the Martin Agency.

Message: “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on your car insurance.”

“Trust Me”

2 – Cavemen

These metrosexual cavemen have somehow eluded extinction while developing a taste for racquet sports, plasma TVs, and “duck with mango salsa.” They are insulted by GEICO’s ad tagline, “So easy, a caveman can do it.”

GEICO and its ad agency tried to capitalize on the success of their Cavemen with a TV series in the fall of 2007. The move made GEICO the first advertiser in recent history to turn a fictional company spokescharacter into the star of a primetime TV show. But the show received overwhelmingly negative critical reaction, and was canceled after only six episodes. It’s a clear case of “jumping the shark.”

Message: “So easy, a caveman can do it.”

“Caveman Montage”

3 – Kash

Starting in 2008, GEICO has aired a series of TV ads featuring two paper-banded stacks of U.S. bills with a pair of big, buggy eyes on top. Kash, who never says anything, just sits and stares at people (it’s intentionally creepy), set to an obnoxious remix of a Rockwell/Michael Jackson song, “Somebody’s Watching Me.”

Message: “This [stack of cash] is the money you could be saving on your car insurance.”

“On a Date with Kash”

4 – Rhetorical Questions

An actor asks the familiar question, “Could switching to Geico save you 15% or more on car insurance?” He then follows up with a rhetorical question: “Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?” or “Did The Waltons take way too long to say goodnight?”

Message: “15 minutes could save you 15% or more.”

“Does Elmer Fudd have trouble with the letter R?”

5 – Talking Objects

Objects causing damage to people’s cars — a pothole, a fire hydrant and the fender of another car — stumble through feeble apologies.

Message: “Accidents are bad. But GEICO’s good, with emergency road service.”

“Southern Pothole”

6 – Motorcycles & Toys

GEICO’s division for motorcycles, RVs and other toys has an entirely different campaign. These ads occasionally feature cameo appearances of the Gecko and Cavemen, but not usually. Most of them are markedly less creative than any of GEICO’s other spots.

Message: “You could save with GEICO motor cycle insurance.”

“Florida Sunset”

But wait… There’s more!

There’s a multitude of different spots GIECO rolls out every year, and no two campaigns are ever the same.

In 2003, Geico debuted a campaign called “Good News,” featuring ads where one character would break bad news to another, ending with the tagline: “I’ve got good news! I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to GEICO.”

In another spot circa 2008, a squirrel causes a car to swerve and crash. The squirrel fist bumps and high-fives another squirrel. The message: “Accidents can happen anytime. That’s why GEICO’s here 24 hours a day, every day.”

Little Richard, Joan Rivers, Peter Frampton, Don LaFontaine, and James Lipton are among the notable celebrities who spoofed themselves in yet another series GEICO spots.

“Don LaFontaine – That Movie Announcer Guy”

The agency’s rationale

The Martin Agency has given different assignments to multiple creative teams, along with instructions “to tell multiple, distinct narratives that highlight various aspects of the brand.”

“Once upon a time, an ad was about a company’s unique selling position. But people can now accept more complex brands,” Mike Hughes, The Martin Agency’s president and creative director explains.

“I thought we might be able to build a deeper relationship if we built on multiple fronts,” Hughes told Fast Company.

The Martin Agency believes it has found a better way to do branding, perhaps even a new media strategy altogether. The ad shop has since begun rolling out multipronged strategies for a variety of clients including UPS and Wal-Mart.

Reality Check: This strategy is probably not for you. Most marketers have to spend a ton of money just to make one message stick, much less two (or more!). GEICO spends in the neighborhood of $500 million.

What do you think

How do you feel about the mish-mash of ad campaigns GEICO uses to build its brand? Please take the poll below. You can check all answers that apply. Also, feel free to leave your thoughts and questions in a comment.

Key Questions: Before you take the poll, ask yourself how many of GEICO’s brand messages can you recall? Do you know “it’s so easy, a caveman can do it?” Do you know “you can save 15% or more on your car insurance?” How many GEICO commercials can you recall?

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American Express first ran national TV spots for its OPEN Forum, an online resource and networking website for business owners, back when the social media project was launched in July 2009.

Now — in what may be a first in the financial industry — American Express just rolled out a new wave of ads supporting its OPEN Forum.

AMERICAN EXPRESS “OPEN FORUM” TV SPOT
In this one-minute spot, a number of real users from the OPEN Forum are quoted.

SCRIPT FOR 1:00 TV SPOT

As small businesses are busy reinventing the economy,
small business owners have a lot of questions.
“Can paperless billing get me paid faster?”
“How can I keep my best employees?”
“How can I bring down my insurance costs?”
And while at American Express OPEN,
we might not have all the answers, we know who does.
Other owners.
That’s why we’re helping business owners connect.
Together, we’re building a community for them to talk,
to share, and to help each other.
A place called openforum.com.
Where owners can swap ideas and ask questions.
“Will tweeting get me more customers?”
“How can I make my business green?”
And one questions seems especially popular.
“How can I get paid faster?”
“How can I get paid faster?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
And there are inspiring ideas like AcceptPay,
a new tool from OPEN that lets owners invoice digitally
and helps them get paid faster.
Ask a question. Find an answer.
Join the conversation at openforum.com.

These days, it isn’t uncommon to see the a financial institution placing offline ads celebrating the debut of their new online initiatives. In fact, using traditional media tactics has proven to be one of the more effective ways to stimulate strong initial interest in a bank or credit union social media project. But what you don’t see are ads and other forms of offline marketing for these projects six months after they’ve launched.

Financial institutions launching their first few social media project will frequently delude themselves with these four myths:

1. If we build it… they will come.
2. As long as it’s awesome, people will find it.
3. You can do it all online.
4. It’s all free!

Many financial marketers want to believe this is all it takes
to build a successful social media project.

In reality, it takes just as much time, money and energy — if not more –
to create a successful social media presence as any other
major marketing initiative your financial institution has ever undertaken.

Reality Check: People aren’t going to magically flock to your financial institution’s social media project. It still takes good old-fashioned marketing muscle to drive meaningful results and user participation. Without marketing support, you won’t sustain people’s interest… if you were lucky enough to catch their interest in the first place.

Bottom Line: If you don’t allocate an ongoing budget, resources and personnel to your social media project — and measure according to specific goals — it’s bound to be a flop.

More about OPEN Forum: The AmEx OPEN Forum enables business people to market their companies, find vendors and build relationships with one another. Primarily the site is used for business owners to ask and answer questions about subjects like balancing cash flow and managing insurance costs. Business owners can also receive the latest news from OPEN Forum by following @OPENForum on Twitter.

AMERICAN EXPRESS OPEN FORUM

Union Bank – “Rock Solid”

A blogger snapped this photo of a “rock” on the teller counters at Union Bank. It turns out the “rock” was made of soft foam. “About as solid as a marshmallow,” the blogger wryly notes.

Allianz – Elevator

An elevator wrapped in graphics that look like a bank vault. The sign inside the elevator reads (translaätion): “Keep your money in a safe place.” Clever out-of-home advertising.

Visa – “Anthem”

Every two years, TV viewers around the world are treated to some of the most spectacular, inspiring ads ever created. The cinematography, the story lines, the editing are all extraordinary. Unfortunately, most of these ads don’t promote the companies who paid millions to produce and air them. They only seem to build the Olympic brand, such this beautiful mintue-long spot for the 2010 Winter Olympics from Visa.

Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the ad that talks about themes like “imagination,” “spirit,” “precision,” “speed,” “grace” and “magic,” concepts that seem markedly unrelated to either Visa or banking. It’s almost like a PSA for the Olympics: “This feel-good moment of unity and celebration is brought to you by…Visa! More People Go With Visa.”

You may prefer watching this kind of spot versus an ad for something like “Head On, apply directly to the forehead,” but you’ll quickly forget it was Visa who made it once you see a dozen other advertisers trot out their similarly commercialized celebrations of Olympic spirit and pride. You can see another gorgeous Visa spot for the Winter Olympics here.

SunTrust – “Swap a Solid” Facebook Application

SunTrust Bank recently launched Swap a Solid, a Facebook application that provides users with a forum for exchanging goods and services with their Facebook friends. At the Facebook app, you can “Request a Solid,” or view “Solid Requests.” The Swap a Solid name harkens back to the bank’s current ad slogan, “Live Solid,” although some people might think it’s disgusting to “swap a solid” with anyone other than their spouse.

Standard Bank – “Mr. HIV”

Standard Chartered, a bank serving Asia, Africa and the Middle East, made a pledge to the Clinton Global Initiative to educate one million people about the prevention and spread of HIV & AIDS by 2010. To achieve this, they commissioned an animated short film that chronicles a “Mr. HIV,” a personified virus looking for a job so he can destroy the human body. The script is entertaining. The CG is comparable to a Pixar production. As far as public health PSAs go, you can’t get much better. You can watch the whole series here.

Deutsche Bank – Greenhouse Gases Widget

Deutsche Bank recently launched a free widgetized version of its “Carbon Counter,” a landmark digital billboard in New York City which displays the running total of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The widget comes as part of the bank’s broader campaign to raise public awareness of climate change and encourage investment. (A widget is a downloadable, stand-alone application that can be embedded into an end-user’s web page or desktop.) It’s very interesting to see a bank commit itself so strongly to one side of a political hot potato.

Innovations FCU – “Jingle Bells Lip Dub”

You’re probably burned out on the holidays, but this video is too good to pass up. It’s a singing, dancing lip-synch of a techno version of “Jingle Bells.” The choreography involves the credit union’s entire staff — some 35+ people — in one, single 3-minute take. It is toe-tapping fun, festive and well-produced, yet not so slick that it feels expensive or pretentious. Hat tip to Christopher Stevenson at CUES who was the first to spot the video, and kudos to agency Raoust+Partners, who reportedly produced it.

Belvoir Credit Union – Brand Image & Identity

When Fort Belvoir Credit Union decided it was time to drop the “Fort” from its name, they turned to Third Degree Advertising for a new brand image and identity that is decidedly unmilitaristic.

Capitec – Simplicity

This minute-long TV spot features CG animation with a narrator in a virtual world who describes a bank that is unbelievably perfect. Quite frankly, it sounds too good to be true. The spot ends with the tagline, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

A three-minute video comparing Westpac Bank’s lending rates to the costs of making smoothies is driving Australians bananas.

In an attempt to justify Westpac’s 45 basis point jump in standard variable mortgage rates, the bank created a longwinded video parable drawing an analogy between the worldwide financial crisis and a storm that devastates a crop of bananas, thereby driving up prices of banana smoothies.

Australians aren’t swallowing the bank’s banana story.

WESTPAC – “COOL BANANAS”
This video, titled “Cool Bananas” by Westpac, appeared in customers’ email inboxes following the bank’s hike in mortgage rates. A ferocious reaction to the video swept across Australia, with many calling the video “childish” and “patronizing.” You can read the video’s entire transcript here on page 2.

“Once upon a time, there were big lush fields of banana crops, but one day a terrible storm rolled in and hit the banana fields,” the video’s narration says. “So the crops were damaged and there were not enough to go around. Because of the devastating storm, the price of bananas went up and it cost more to make a banana smoothie, that’s why the price of smoothies increased.”

“In some ways a bank is really just like the company that sells banana smoothies,” the narrator continues. “In 2007, the world of money changed. The money that banks needed to buy started to cost them a lot more, just like the bananas for the smoothies.”

Westpac’s rate hike far outstrips the Australian Reserve Bank’s 25 basis point increase. By comparison, Commonwealth Bank raised its rate by 37 basis points, and ANZ’s increased by only 35 basis points.

Reality Check: The video is condescending. Even worse, it’s a lousy analogy.

Westpac’s attempt to rationalize its cost structure comes off as an childish oversimplification. The video seems similar to the wildly popular internet animation, “The Crisis of Credit Visualized,” but Westpac’s lame logic only makes the bank look farcical and cartoonish. It’s almost as if the bank is saying, “We have done nothing wrong. It’s not our fault we increased our rates more than any other bank. Besides, the only reason we hike interest rates is to make the dream of home ownership a reality for more Australians.”

Huh???

It’s worth noting that Westpac’s current stated marketing aim is to “delight the customer.” Meanwhile, the company’s top banana got a $2 million bonus on top of her $10 million salary last year, something unhappy Westpac mortgage customers are quick to point out.

Banana backlash, but bank makes no apologies

Westpac sent the video to its customers via email a few days following a recent rate hike, and the bank has been under fire across Australia ever since.

The bank’s banana blunder has transcended into Aussie pop culture. Now known as “Bananagate” or “Banananomics,” the Westpac video has been parodied on YouTube, mocked in blogs and editorials, and sparked a petition that has already been signed by thousands of Australians. Even the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is blasting the bank.

“I think Westpac should have a long hard look at itself,” Prime Minister Rudd said on an Australian radio show.

In his view, the bank had done “the wrong thing” with its rate hike, and urged people to take their business elsewhere.

“Customers out there should be looking at where else they can do their banking,” he said.

Ouch.

Despite the criticism, Westpac feels confident about its policies and offers no apologies.

“We understand that people have different levels of understanding about the way banks get their funding,” a Westpac spokesperson said. “We also know that people don’t like our explanation for our rate rise.”

Reality Check: If you want to get yourself out of a hole, the first thing you should do is stop digging.

Thankful competitors smelling blood

NAB, the only major bank to follow the Australian Reserve’s 25 basis points increase in interest rates, decided to take advantage of the situation by sending out street teams to canvass Westpac branches for unhappy customers. Even if NAB doesn’t attract as many new accounts as it hopes, the move is still a PR boon.

NAB STREET TEAMS
Smelling opportunity, NAB had employees hand out pamphlets outside the branches of its rival Westpac in response to ‘Bananagate.’

Indeed it would seem every home lender in Australia owes a bit of thanks to Westpac. The bank has inadvertently elevated “refinancing” to the top of every Australian’s mind, right in the wake of something that would normally be seen as a big negative — a mortgage rate hike. Westpac has, in effect, created an opportunity for its competitors to say, “See, everyone’s rates have gone up, but we’re not that bad. You should come in and talk to us about refinancing your mortgage… perhaps over a banana smoothie?”

Reviewed and written by Jeff Stephens, CEO/Creative Brand Communications

Servus Credit Union, the third largest in Canada, has just about wrapped up its “Cash in with Your Camcorder” promotion, a make-your-own-TV-commercial contest highlighting the financial institution’s signature Young & Free Chequing Account.

The promotion is part of the credit union’s Young & Free Alberta initiative, a broad, multi-year “challenge marketing program” from Currency Marketing that has deservedly received much acclaim.

INTRODUCTORY VIDEO
An unshaven Myles Peterman, the 2009 Young & Free spokesperson, dons an undershirt while introducing the contest from his bedroom computer cam.

The Cash In With Your Camcorder contest invited residents of Alberta, Canada, between the ages of 18-25 to create 30-second video commercials about “why the Young & Free Chequing Account rocks.” Prizes included a $2,000 grand prize, and a $1,000 second place prize.

“You could buy an airport for that,” observes 2009 Young & Free spokesperson Myles Petermen says. “It would be made of Legos, but it would be an airport.”

In addition to getting cash, winners may also find their videos used in future advertising.

CONTEST ENTRY – “FINANCIAL IDOL”
This submission comes from the previous Young & Free spokester, Larissa Walkiw. The singing trio in this video uses the same stick-figure style as the video that catapulted Ms. Walkiw to international credit union fame back in 2008. With over 75,000 views, Larissa’s “The Difference Between Banks & Credit Unions” is the most-watched YouTube video in the credit union industry…worldwide. If you’re one of the few that hasn’t seen it, you should take a look.

Launched in late October, participants have been submitting their home-made commercials to the credit union. The credit union provided a “starter kit” of standard elements and other video graphics (such as logos) to help contestants with their entries.

People were able to vote for their favorite submissions on the Young & Free Alberta site through the month of November. Winners will be announced on Friday, December 4.

YOUNG & FREE ALBERTA MICROSITE
Shown here in the voting phase of the contest.

MARKETING MATERIALS

In addition to promoting Cash In With Your Camcorder on the Young & Free website, Peterman also pushed the contest on the Young & Free Facebook page (278 fans) and Twitter account (720 followers).

The Young & Free Chequing Account, available to the 17-25 year-old Alberta crowd, features free and unlimited withdrawals from network ATMs, account transfers, point-of-sale transactions, cheques, bill payments, and more. It is positioned as a simple and easy-to-understand product for those just starting to manage their own finances. The product is unique among Canadian financial institutions who seldom offer free chequing accounts.

There is an online application for the Young & Free Chequing Account integrated directly into the the credit union’s microsite that is so fantastically simple, you’ll have to see it to believe it.

Analysis

• The primary benefit of the campaign for Servus Credit Union is the super cheap marketing they get for their youth account. Giving away $3,000 in prize money is much more cost-effective than having a professional commercial made.
• The secondary benefit is increased website traffic and word of mouth, since contenders will be pushing all of their friends to visit the Young & Free Alberta site and vote. It’s highly a engaging promotion, regardless of the number of submissions.
• Contestants are in it primarily for the cash prize and the shot at getting their creative work used in real advertising. For former spokester Larissa, who is currently pursuing a degree in film, having her ad used by a company for commercial purposes would look good on her resume.

Key Takeaways:

If you’re going to hold a “make-your-own-TV-commercial contest,” there are a few things you should learn from the Cash In With Your Camcorder promo:

1. Consider defining the specific focus of the commercial, as Servus did when they asked contestants to concentrate on the credit union’s unique chequing product. If you don’t provide a range, then you better be prepared to receive entries encompassing the full spectrum of possibilities — loans, savings, checking, brand… who knows?
2. Provide your logo, slogan, colors and other creative resources to assist entrants with their submissions. This also helps create a standardized framework or “visual vocabulary” for entries.
3. Never promise the winning video will run on TV. With any kind of online vote, you can never be sure of the turnout, so don’t obligate yourself to publicly running a commercial that would make you (and your CEO) uncomfortable. You can entice contestants with the mere possibility that — if their submission is appropriate — it may actually air.

Bottom Line: All in all, Cash In With Your Camcorder is one of those smart contests where the winners benefit, but the credit union gains even more.

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About the author: Jeff Stephens is founder and CEO of Creative Brand Communications (CBC), a full-service bank and credit union branding and marketing agency. CBC helps financial institutions find their story, tell it, and most importantly, prove it.

As part of a broader initiative to reach out to customers experiencing financial hardship, TD Canada Trust has created TD Helps, a subsite featuring 12 employee videos. The project was inspired by stories shared among employees on TD’s intranet.

Most of the videos — 10 of the 12 in fact — are firsthand testimonials, where an employee shares a story about how they were able to help a customer who has been severely effected by the economic downturn. There’s also one video with a step-by-step breakdown of TD’s loan consideration process, and another one from TD Canada Trust’s CEO introducing the subsite.

“Our employees were the driving force behind this website. We thought and hoped that a lot of our customers would identify with some of the situations our employees have helped with, and that their stories would encourage people to come and see us sooner,” says Tim Hockey, CEO/TD Canada Trust.

It does not appear that TD Canada Trust will be rotating any fresh videos into its TD Helps lineup. Maybe they will if the idea takes off, but don’t count on it.

“Let’s figure it out.”

The subsite’s banner has an understated sense of design. A simple, overstuffed, green leather chair serves as a metaphor for the bank’s “sit-down-and-talk-to-us” message. It’s like an invitation from a financial psychologist, “Here, please, take a seat and get comfortable.”

The subsite’s banner contains is the only place you’ll find any copy from TD corporate:

“If you’re like many other TD Canada Trust customers, you may be finding it difficult to make ends meet. This site is for you. More than ever, our employees are empowered to offer solutions that will help get your finances on track. And while we may not be able to help everyone, we’re truly doing our best to see that our customers feel comfortable.”

The TD Helps subsite, hosted as a part of TD Canada’s main website and not as a stand-alone microsite, is fairly simple in its structure. There’s the welcome banner and 12 videos, and that’s it. But that doesn’t mean that TD didn’t put a lot of thought into it, because they clearly did, and there are lots of little details to prove it.

People can rate- and comment on the videos. You can even rate- and reply to other people’s comments.

The CEO’s welcome video has received the most comments so far, 63 in all. People are wondering, “Is this a genuine reflection of the bank’s beliefs? Or just a PR stunt?” The conversation is actually quite fascinating.

While customers have been able to comment on the TD Money Lounge on Facebook for a couple of years, this is the first time the bank has ever opened up its own site for comments.

A couple of the videos are rated five stars out of five. The lowest ranked video, “Their High Interest Was Weighing Them Down,” received only 2.17 stars, but unfortunately, the site doesn’t tell you how many people rated each video.

There are buttons that people can click to share the subsite with their Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Clicking on the buttons will auto-populate a somewhat presumptuous message from your account: “Wow, a story about a bank who’s actually helping people? http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdhelps”

The subsite has one other interesting feature. You can download a PDF transcript for any of the videos. But again, who’s going to do that?

Tasha’s Video

Tasha Serraro is a banking specialist at TD Canada Trust branch in Marathon, Ontario. The closure of the town’s local pulp and paper mill dealt a heavy economic blow to her customers. With her help, one of her customers secured lower monthly payments on his loan, and developed a plan to keep his family comfortable until he could find a new job.

“We were able to arrange lower monthly payments and offer a bit of a cushion in case times got worse and they did… he lost his job,” Tasha says in her video.

Her testimonial continues: “We don’t know if the mill’s going to reopen, but what we do know is that this couple is comfortable for the next few years. They have a plan in place and they’re going to be okay.”

Tasha’s Video
In this video that runs just over a minute, Tasha Serraro shares her testimonial about how she helped a customer after her town’s mill shut down.

TD Canada used Tasha’s testimonial as the showcase video for the launch of TD Helps. Her video travelled along with another video from the CEO in PR materials. It is the most professional of the 12 videos available on the site, with a higher production quality and good editing. Most of the other videos are shot in branch lobbies and typical office environments.

In case you were wondering… Yes, The Financial Brand was able to confirm that, similar to Delta’s Katherine Lee, Tasha is indeed a real employee at TD’s Marathon, Ontario branch, and not just an attractive paid actor or someone recruited from somewhere else at the bank.

“Project Umbrella”

Earlier this year, TD Canada Trust introduced an internal program to make sure that its employees knew what customers were dealing with. It was called “Project Umbrella,” an internal codename is meant to signify the bank’s willingness to shield customers from a rainy day.

Employees were trained accordingly, and given new tools, like the ability to defer mortgage payments.

“The result was that we were helping thousands of customers stay in their homes, get their debt under control and their lives back on track,” CEO Hockney says.

TD Bank says it has helped “nearly 20,000 clients facing severe financial hardship” from February to July under Project Umbrella.

According to TD, employees started asking “How do we reach more people? How do we get the word out to more people that we can help them?”

The Toronto Star reports that TD “executives weren’t convinced at first that going public was the right approach,” and that Project Umbrella is expected to have “no material impact” on TD’s earnings or loan loss provisioning.

That’s an interesting thing to admit to.

HSBC has introduced new components supporting its Soapbox promotion, including a microsite, TV spots and an exclusive sponsorship of the New York magazine video section.

The ValuesSoapBox.com (below) publishes people’s comments on education, jobs, technology and bottled water.

The topics aren’t lightning rods that strike people’s hot buttons (like abortion). It would have been interesting to see what people said about a topical issue, like health care, for instance.

Each section has a video introducing some various points of view on the subject. You can read what other people have said, or leave a comment yourself. There’s no more than 50 comments in any one section, and the frequency of comments seems to be waning.

Reality Check: For such a large bank — the world’s largest — running a full-fledged campaign in a city the size of New York, it’s a little surprising to see so little participation.

Soapbox TV Spots

Using footage captured from an event held last month in a New York park, HSBC created a series of commercials where people share a range of opinions on issues like immigration, technology and family.

Three commercials from HSBC produced with footage captured at a live event a few weeks ago. While the topics could be controversial, the bank has clearly taken pains to sanitize the spots of anything too provocative.

“Why does a bank care about what people value?” asks text superimposed on the screen at the end of each spot. The answer: “Understanding people’s values helps us better meet their needs.”

HSBC has been positioning itself as “The World’s Local Bank” for a few years now. The Soapbox campaign is part of what the bank calls “an ongoing initiative to listen to what is important to people today.”

An editorial in the Wall Street Journal criticized the campaign, saying it is essentially a cop-out to share people’s points of view without taking a stand yourself. “There is no way to make ‘values the core of an advertising campaign while remaining neutral about the character of the content,” wrote Eric Felten.

New York Magazine Sponsorship

HSBC bought exclusive sponsorship of New York magazine’s online video section. Twenty videos filmed at the Soapbox event are available for viewing there.

The Financial Brand sat down with Nancy Radermecher, President of John Ryan, a global retail marketing agency specializing in total store messaging systems, to talk about digital signage for financial institutions.

Who’s using digital signage correctly in the financial industry?

There are many good examples of financial institutions using digital signage to engage customers at the appropriate times and places. Here are three:

In ING Direct’s cafes, they use digital content to both entertain and engage customers who stop by for an espresso and might not be aware that ING is indeed a bank. So, their content has to pull double duty. It has to introduce visitors to ING’s gospel of savings and also demonstrate how ING’s direct-only banking concept actually works.

Caja Mediterráneo is a client in Spain that uses its network to deliver brand and promotional messaging in eight different languages and to convey community-oriented content, such as help-wanted and real-estate listings, that is both current and unique to each branch. Most, the bank’s product messaging is tied to each individual branch’s sales results for the prior week. Just try doing that with paper posters and brochures!

CIMB in Malaysia is another client who has used digital media to help improve staff efficiency, move customers to self-service and reduce perceived wait time. My favorite example is their “queuing tree,” which tracks wait time in a highly visual format. As more customers take a queue number, the tree populates with leaves. When the leaves turn red, staff knows that it’s all hands on deck to alleviate the wait. At that point, other screens in the branch turn to more entertainment-oriented content.

What are the big mistakes financial institutions
frequently make with their digital signage?

“Locally relevant content” is the whole reason banks get into digital signage.
– Nancy Radermecher,
John Ryan Global

One of the biggest mistakes they make is in viewing digital signage as a technical problem for IT to solve, when in fact it’s first and foremost a marketing challenge. The technology has to serve marketers goals.

“Locally relevant content” is the whole reason banks get into digital signage in the first place. But when the sourcing of digital signage is left to IT, marketers typically end up with a network that either is not capable of localization or requires far too many staffers and ad-agency resources than is feasible. That’s when many banks give up and simply run CNN on their screens, which, by the way, is the next biggest mistake. Too many institutions just run cable shows on their screens and in doing so miss out on a great opportunity to communicate.

How do you know digital signage works? What’s the ROI?

That’s the ultimate question, isn’t it? Obviously, most people want to know how an investment in digital signage will boost sales. But it’s seldom easy to tie digital signage as a direct cause of product sales, because there are other influences in a customer’s decision to purchase a financial product. Digital signage is rarely deployed in isolation. A promotional spot running on the screens at the branch is usually one piece of a larger campaign that includes TV, print and online ads. So, determining which of all those mediums actually prompted the buy decision is not always easy. What we do know, though, is that banks can achieve measurable and meaningful gains by fine-tuning their messaging to branches based on CRM, geodemographic and patronage information. Two of our major clients are seeing regular sales lift in excess of 10% by bringing the intelligence once reserved for direct marketing into their POS efforts.

We also know that digital media improves the overall efficiency of point of sale marketing and have seen in some specific cases:

• 200% increase in awareness of bank offers
• 400% increase in recall of two or more messages
• 62% reduction of perceived wait time

Where’s digital signage going? What’s the future hold?

We’re getting past the stage where banks are questioning whether they need a digital signage network. The question is quickly becoming, “How can we make the most of this investment?” So, even as banks get their heads around the basics of digital messaging, I think they are going to look for other ways to leverage their investment. Here are some ways they might do that:

• Education – As educational marketing takes off, we’re seeing a lot of interest in using the digital signage network to deliver educational content to the branch. For instance, a bank might set up a temporary theater in the lobby and having hourly shows on topics like debt management, rebuilding your nest egg, or mortgage relief.
• Guided sales – With the use of touch screens and other interactive devices (e.g., Microsoft Surface) it’s possible to provide sales reps with something better than brochures as they walk customers through products, features and personalized what-if scenarios.
• Direct mail fulfillment – Some of our clients have run “scan and win” direct-mail campaigns that invited customers to bring their letters in to the branch, run them under a scanner to see if they’ve won a big prize. Sweepstakes are nothing new, but when you combine it with direct mail, the amount and quality of data you can collect is impressive.
• Staff training – If you can communicate to customers, why not to employees? Some banks run employee-only programming before opening time, or run employee-only content on screens that can be seen only in backstage areas.
• Customer experience – As I mentioned earlier, we had an instance where one of our clients used digital signage to reduce the perceived wait time for customers by 62%. How else can we use digital content to affect the ambiance of the branch and shape the customer experience? I believe this will be an area of greater experimentation going forward.
• Feedback – Digital signage makes it possible to pose questions to customers about different financial topics, say, as they wait in the queue, and then use their collective responses to influence the content that plays on-screen.

What I intentionally left out are Minority Report scenarios in which customers are identified upon entering the bank and presented with personalized selling propositions. Aside from the technology companies selling those kinds of approaches, I don’t think there’s a lot of mainstream interest in this. Maybe someday, but not in the current economic climate. For now, digital signage is appealing to banks only to the extent that it can solve existing business problems.

How much time should be spent managing a digital signage system?

We’ve said that locally relevant messaging is the key to ROI. However, most banks do not have the staff in place to manage large volumes of message permutations through a manual approach. For that reason, we are working with our clients to develop rules-based mechanisms to direct the right messages to the right branches. We’re also developing techniques to “assemble” content on the fly – again based on business rules. This “set it and forget it” approach lets our clients manage thousands of message permutations with very minimal in-house staff.

How often should messages be rotated for “freshness?”

It’s always good to give customers a fresh experience each time they visit the branch. To that end, we make a lot of use of “dynamic content,” which might include news-related content, stock-market information or weather updates – all of which update daily. It’s important to embed visual and other “clues” in the content to let customers know that they are watching the latest information. Product and service messaging is a little more long-lasting. We might aim to refresh those messages every four to six weeks, though these, too, can benefit from the addition of time-sensitive calls to action or other techniques to give them a sense of urgency.

What’s the right mix of messages — brand, product/service awareness, promotional? How much third-party content should there be?

It does vary from one client to the next and all depends on the bank’s marketing strategy. That said, we almost always employ a mix of third-party (news, weather, stock, entertainment, etc.) content with bank and community messages. Like editing a newspaper or TV broadcast, the art lies in how you mix all those elements.

What are the latest trends in digital signage?

We see that digital marketing – across all sectors – is thriving when used as an aid to enhance the shopper experience and build sales through coherent, locally relevant messaging. Classic digital-out-of-home (DOOH), which is ad-based, seems to be struggling as a model. There are an increasing number of ad-based networks that are moving toward a more customer-centric and “intelligent” model-even if the networks are still co-funded by advertisers. The Wal-Mart Smart Network is just one example of that.

What percentage of financial institutions are already using digital signage?

We don’t have hard numbers on actual install rates in the U.S. We know from our survey of 64 European and South African banks that 34, or 53%, have piloted a digital signage system, and 23 of the 34 have already rolled out or are preparing to roll out.

What’s a basic system cost? For one branch? 5 branches? 50 branches?

Obviously one branch is less expensive than fifty. Beyond that, at least when you’re talking about larger banks, the cost is dependent on several factors-but primarily, the type and number of screens.

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Nancy Radermecher serves as President of John Ryan, a global retail marketing agency specializing in total store messaging systems. Her responsibilities include global operations, finance administration and sales and marketing. During her 20-year career with John Ryan, Radermecher has devised retail marketing strategies for clients throughout the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Among the clients with whom she has worked are Toyota Financial Services, UniCredit and Lloyds TSB. She has also served customers through the establishment of John Ryan offices in Madrid, London, Sydney, Lisbon, Milan and Tokyo.

Prior to joining John Ryan, Ms. Radermecher was Vice President of a marketing communications agency specializing in the personal financial services market. She also served as managing editor of a weekly banking magazine.

Radermecher holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Grinnell College, in Iowa.

This parody video is pretty funny, so it must be hitting close to home. If you can’t watch YouTube videos at work, you can (1) read the script below, and/or (2) get your financial institution to change its silly policy.

Customer: I was hoping you could help me.

Sales Rep: We can make that happen!

Customer: I want to open a checking account.

Sales Rep: What if I told you you could open a checking account… AND help your daughter pay down her student loan?

Customer: I don’t have a daughter.

Sales Rep: Maybe not. But I’d bet you have a wife who’s always dreamed of starting her own vineyard.

Customer: My wife died three years ago.

Sales Rep: That must be hard — raising an adopted Chinese baby by yourself.

Customer: I don’t have Chinese baby.

Sales Rep: Maybe not. But with a few smart investments, you could afford one.

Customer: Excuse me?

Sales Rep: And fly her back to China for a visit.

Customer: What?

Sales Rep: I know how much maintaining her Chinese roots would mean to your dead wife.

Customer: I just want to open a checking account.

Sales Rep: What if I told you you could open a checking account… AND pay for your daughter to go to medical school. She’s Chinese? She’d appreciate that.

Customer: I’m out of here.

Sales Rep: What if I told you you could get out of here AND finance your dead wife’s medical Chinese baby vineyard.

Here are some of the more notable or interesting TV spots that The Financial Brand has run across in the past few weeks. (Please note: there are many YouTube videos embedded in this article.)

Chase – “Blue Sky”

Having successfully eviscerated WaMu’s branches, Chase is proud to announce its arrival in California with a spot featuring a high-energy cover of John Lennon’s “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)”. The ad paints a pretty cliché portrait of California, including beaches, surfing and shades of Easy Rider. Chase has been using nothing but black-and-white brand imagery for around a year, but in this spot, it makes California look drab, dreary and depressing – completely the opposite of what they were shooting for.

E*Trade – Where’s the Baby?

E*Trade just rolled out three new TV spots last week that are very descriptive and very average. The reviews on YouTube haven’t been kind. The question everyone wants answered: Where did the E*Trade baby go? You can see the other two spots (that look pretty much exactly like this one) here and here.

OnPoint Community Credit Union – “Coming Home”

Weber Marketing Group just made two new brand spots for OnPoint. These professional and well-produced spots do a good job of blending brand themes with products and services. You can see the other spot, “Furniture Store,” here.

St. George Bank – “Lullaby”

A huge crowd of St. George Bank employees gathers outside an average Australian man’s house as he retires for bed. They hum him a lullaby. The announcer explains, “At St. George, every single one of us is working to make sure that the things that keep you up at night no longer do.” The man sleeps blissfully.

First Tennessee – “Buttons”

The small buttons on a wedding dress become a metaphor for the little details that make up people’s big dreams. This is one of three spots in a touching series of lifestyle vignettes. However, the connection between what the spots are depicting and what the bank offers isn’t readily apparent. They are just mostly “feel good” brand ads. The other spots can be seen here and here.

TD Bank – “Computer”

TD is sticking with Regis and Kelly Ripa in their latest TV spots. In the first, the TV talk show hosts try to interview a talking computer from a competitor bank. The computer has zero personality, which frustrates Regis to the point where he walks off the set. The announcer says, “At TD Bank, you get a real person 24/7, 365 days a year.” The “Computer” spot is better than “Owl,” where Regis and Kelly share the stage with an owl, who — as a nocturnal creature — would bank at TD since they are “open late.”

RaboPlus – “Always High Interest”

These ads for RaboPlus, a bank in Australia, feature strange, faceless animated beings that look kind of like aliens. Here’s another one.

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The largest single collection of TV spots exclusively from financial institutions can be found over at The Financial Brand’s YouTube channel. There are over 100 commercials with more added every week. It’s a great resource if you’re looking for inspiration, or just want to see what other people are doing in the financial industry.