This large portfolio of financial marketing initiatives covers 19 projects from banks and credit unions around the world, including 32 illustrations, 9 videos and a few online advertising examples.

Rabo Plus – Sex Appeal

World-renowned ad agency Ogilvy came up with this racy spot for RaboPlus (now RaboDirect) and their 8% term deposit back in 2007. The Australian Advertising Standards Authority rejected a complaint accusing the bank of using sex in a gratuitous manner. Australian law prohibits advertisers from portraying people in such a way as to use sex appeal simply to draw attention to an unrelated product.

RABOPLUS – MY NUMBERS CHANGED

Ummm, what does a gorgeous woman getting dressed have to do with an 8% term deposit?

Pacific Service Credit Union – Postcard PURLs

This postcard campaign utilized PURLs (Personalized URLs) — custom, personalized websites unique to each addressee, such as www.SarahCeccin.goPSCU.com as shown in the example. The design style is decidedly unstuffy.

PACIFIC SERVICE CREDIT UNION – PURLS
The credit union offered a $50 iTunes gift card with new checking accounts.

Umpqua Bank – Welcome Gift

To promote the grand opening of its latest branch, Umpqua Bank sent a street team out to deliver small plants to people’s doorsteps. The lead message on the note: “It’s not every day that you get something nice from a bank.” This was accompanied by an invitation to the branch “to say hello, pickup a free bag of Umpqua Blend coffee and bank like you live.”

UMPQUA BANK – WELCOME GIFT

The houseplant delivered to houses announcing Umpqua’s newest location. The little round card stuck in dirt includes a map to the branch. The plastic plant marker includes the contact info of the business where the plant was purchased.

FirstBank – Kiddy Treadmill

TDA Advertising & Design came up with this clever airport ad. A round, plexiglass poster with the headline, “Tire your kids out so they sleep on the plane,” rotates 360°. Kid-sized handprints appear three-and-a-half feet above the floor. Above them, the instructions, “Have children place hand here.” The signboard makes one revolution every 30 seconds. The advertising is intended to “amuse and befriend” traveling parents, the agency said. It’s a great example of how consideration should always be made for the media and context in which an ad run.

1STBANK – AIRPORT KIDDY TREADMILL

Eaton Family Credit Union – Credit Unions by the Numbers

Credit unions bicker all the time about what a national campaign might look like in their industry. It’s a red herring. This simple video captures much of what credit unions could be communicating in a collective, cohesive, coordinated nationwide campaign, and does so in a mere 51 seconds. The data presented here is much more compelling and relevant to consumers than the oft-recited touchy-feely themes preached by the movement’s more devout clerics. This is what you call “bottom-line marketing.”

EATON CREDIT UNION – CREDIT UNIONS BY THE NUMBERS

Eaton Family didn’t make this video, but it sure makes an effective, logical case to join a credit union — any credit union. Would it be better with a different soundtrack?

People’s Trust Credit Union – Flash Annual Report

The credit union made an online, interactive, animated cartoon of its 2009 annual report. More people would read annual reports if they were like this (i.e., less dull). For dry financial data, this Flash-based presentation is about as fun as it gets…that is, without undermining the institution’s message or sense of professionalism.

PEOPLE’S TRUST – FLASH ANNUAL REPORT

Key members of the credit union’s senior leadership have been turned into cartoon characters in this interactive annual report. There’s also a cool bonus feature: The website and all of its animations are fully scalable.

Commonwealth Bank – We Return Phone Calls

The Australian banking giant adopted a distinctive story-telling concept along with a new style of black-and-white imagery earlier in 2010. In its latest TV spots, the bank promises to call its customers back (which has some Aussies rolling their eyes with a sour “whoopty doo”), and then takes a stab at humor with a talking dog. It seems like Commonwealth has yet to strike the right chord in its relationship with an American ad agency. Via: The Saatchi Daily Banking Blog.

COMMONWEALTH BANK – CALL YOU BACK

One blogger asks, “Is this what it’s come to? Have banks gotten so arrogant in their lack of service that just returning a phone call when promised is something that separates you as different?”

La Capitol – New Brand Look

Third Degree Advertising developed this new brand identity for La Capitol FCU (pronounced “lah CAP-ah-tul”) in Louisiana, using the tagline “Together We Thrive” (which, coincidentally, is the same slogan recently chosen by another credit union). The new look is comfortingly traditional. The website doesn’t look like it’s got its makeover yet though.

LA CAPITOL – NEW BRAND IDENTITY

LA CAPITOL – BRAND VIDEO
Third Degree created this brand video, and a condensed it into a :30 version for TV.

Umpqua Bank – Sale

Umpqua Bank, perhaps the most retail savvy financial institution in North America, has been pushing its summer sale hard in an aggressive online media campaign. Banner ads appear on nearly every major news and finance website when viewed by people within its geographical region. Keep your eyes on this Oregon-based bank; they are always one to watch.

UMPQUA BANK – SALE

When was the last time your financial institution had a sale? What’s the sale for? Who cares? Consumers will click on anything if they think they’ll get a bargain.

Chase – Picture Perfect Wedding

Chase exploits the stereotypical, white, suburban “dream wedding” in this Flash-based ad for overnight checks. Using only still images, the ad tells the “story” of a daughter who phones her parents because she’s found the perfect place to get married. Only one hitch: she needs a check tomorrow.

Because there isn’t any dialogue, you have to read a script delivered in subtitles. “Mom, it’s perfect, but if they don’t have a deposit by tomorrow, we’ll lose it!” Ack! What to do??? Dad suggests using the overnight check service that Chase offers. That’s what he did when he spaced the mortgage payment last month… The execution feels dated, like a full-color anachronism from the 1950s. “Gee pops, ain’t everything just swell?” “Sure is junior. Now let’s go see Mr. Jenkins about helping him paint his house.”

CHASE – PICTURE PERFECT WEDDING

A soothing guitar melody loops for a full almost two minutes while you watch a filmstrip-style slideshow of a “typical American family” arranging the picture-perfect wedding. If you think it’s a little cheesy, you’re not alone.

BNP Paribas – People know BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas used this series of outdoor posters when it launched its first large-scale advertising campaign in the U.S., starting in the New York metropolitan area. The ads were placed in Times Square and in Grand Central Station on newsstands, bus shelters and phone kiosks. They also appeared in trains and railway stops in upstate New York and Connecticut.

BNP PARIBAS – PEOPLE KNOW BNP PARIBAS

These transit ads are supposed to generate awareness, but are they any more effective than simply running the bank’s logo with a giant “hi” for a headline?

CommonWealth Central Credit Union – Giant Deal

The typography for this baseball-themed campaign is beautiful. The credit union’s tie-in with the San Jose Giants helped generate over $5 million in auto loans back in 2009. The promo won an award from the Marketing Association of Credit Unions.

COMMONWEALTH CENTRAL CREDIT UNION – GIANT DEAL

BofA – Superlative Baseball

Watch this 30-second spot touting BofA’s sponsorship deal with Major League Baseball and you’ll swear America’s national pastime is better than Mother Teresa, Ghandi and the cure for cancer. It’s sappy, maybe even pandering.

BofA – BASEBALL

The script reads, “For well over a century now, baseball has been helping bond parents and children, unite communities, close generation gaps, overcome language barriers, seal friendships, patch up differences, instill civic pride. Bank of America is a proud sponsor of our national pastime, and the opportunities it provides to bring us all closer together.”

Citi – Outdoor & Transit Ads for Rewards Points

A collection of outdoor and transit advertising for Citi’s “Rewards Points” credit cards.

CITI – REWARDS OUTDOOR & TRANSIT ADS

CITI – REWARDS POINTS MICROSITE

3rd Federal – Beer Scene Testimonial

You’d think a financial marketer — thirsty for fun and creativity — would be able to do more with “beer” as a concept. Testimonials are always nice, but this execution is drab and unimaginative. What’s working in the ad? The name, the logo, the monster mug of beer, and the tat on a bald dude. What’s not working? Pretty much everything else, particularly the haphazard layout, awful typesetting and hackneyed message.

3RD FEDERAL – BEER SCENE TESTIMONIAL
If the bank was a person, you probably wouldn’t be interested in chewing the fat over a brew.

InTouch Credit Union – Women Testimonials

In a new round of: 30 TV spots developed to introduce the general public to InTouch Credit Union, members and employees do the speaking. The new spots let members share their stories about getting small business financing despite a tough economy. Both spots star smart, attractive women who seem to have their lives together. Great casting. Agency: CultureLab.

INTOUCH CREDIT UNION – TESTIMONIALS

If you’re going to go the safe route and run testimonials, this is a much better way to execute them than 3rd Federal did (above).

Velocity Credit Union – Loan Billboards

This series of award-winning outdoor ads suggests the credit union has a loan for just about anything, even plastic surgery.

VELOCITY CREDIT UNION – LOAN BILLBOARDS

Always good to keep billboards simple. There’s a rule of thumb that says you should limit all the words on a billboard to no more than 14. And don’t forget to count your name and slogan. If you have to read it, it counts as a word.

Educators Credit Union – Walk This Way

Sock puppets star in this homemade music video set to Aerosmith’s hit “Walk This Way.” The big question is “Why???” Well, it has something to do with a MacBook giveaway. Aerosmith, socks and a sweepstakes, you ask? Why not…?

EDUCATORS CREDIT UNION – WALK THIS WAY
Surely this can’t be legal, can it? Copyright laws have to be broken somehow here.

Michigan First Credit Union – Parrot Funk

“Does your bank have a dancing parrot?” asks Michigan First in this 30-second video. It may be different, but how relevant is it? What do you think? Cheesy gimmick or a cute way to communicate the credit union’s personality?

MICHIGAN FIRST CREDIT UNION – PARROT FUNK

Watch this parrot bust a few moves (ala Napolean Dynamite) to a techno soundtrack. It’s been viewed 866 times on YouTube. Did it ever air on TV?

In no other industry do companies change names more often than in financial services. It’s not just due to mergers. Banks and credit unions voluntarily choose to switch monikers quite often. Below are some of the elective name changes financial institutions in the U.S. underwent recently.

Credit union sheds a common name

Old Name: Community First Credit Union
New Name: Magnify Credit Union

Reason: The credit union offers no real explanation, although it says the new name “reinforces our fresh, new focus,” which seems to be built around a slogan, “Simplify banking. Magnify life.”

Analysis: It was smart to make the switch. 525 credit unions are using “Community” in their name. Another 179 use “First.” These are two of the most commonly used in credit union names (see the full list here). There are eight other credit unions using the exact name “Community First,” including one with over $1 billion in assets in the same state.

The new “Magnify” name has positive financial connotations and appears to be available in the USPTO database in the financial services category, which is unusual for such a common, real word. The credit union has applied for trademarks on both its name and its slogan.

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Transitioning beyond transit workers

Old Name: MBTA Employees Credit Union
New Name: Mass Bay Credit Union

Reason: The credit union has outgrown its single sponsor, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Analysis: Single SEG credit unions are becoming increasingly rare. It seems that serving one employer doesn’t suit credit unions with plans for future growth. At least this credit union trying to preserve some connection with its heritage by keeping the “Mass Bay” in its name.

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Railway workers no longer driving growth

Old Name: Railway Employees Credit Union
New Name: Greater Ozarks Community Credit Union

Reason: The credit union says it wanted to make it more clear that membership isn’t limited to railroad employees.

Analysis: There was no future for the credit union if it continued to serve railroad workers exclusively, so changing names made strategic sense; they were dead otherwise. The new geographical name will probably not limit the credit union’s growth potential, and should be adequately suitable for the indefinite future. The word “Community” was an unnecessary addition, however.

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Not ‘elderly’ anymore

Old Name: Elders Rural Bank
New Name: Rural Bank

Reason: A merger with two other banks presented the opportunity… but one can only assume the bank was itching to drop a crusty word like “Elders” from its name.

Analysis: Years ago, Rural Bank merged with Elders Bank. Then, more recently, Rural Elders Bank merged with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. The less-than-sexy “Rural” name probably works well with the rugged outback Australia communities the bank serves.

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We’re dedicated

Old Name: Darlington County Bank
New Name: Dedicated Community Bank

Reason: The bank says it decided to change its name and slogan as “a way of restating our commitment to our customers and our community.”

Analysis: PRO: They kept the bank’s acronym, “DCB,” by reverse-engineering a new meaning, so they don’t need to change the logo or web address. CON: The bank’s rationale sounds pretty shaky. You can “restate your commitment” without changing names. In all likelihood, the bank needed to expand beyond Darlington County, but concocted a story and picked a name that would be as painless and objectionable as possible. Too bad the new DCB name is a basically bland.

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We’re cooperative… and a credit union… did we say we’re co-op?

Old Name: Puget Sound Energy Credit Union
New Name: Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union

Reason: The credit union wanted a new name to reflect its expanded charter. It now serves anyone, not just employees of Puget Sound Energy.

Analysis: It’s an interesting choice to add the (redundant) word “Cooperative” to the name, as 36 other credit unions have also chosen to do.

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Big brands cause credit union naming complications

Current Name: EDS Credit Union
New Name: InTouch Credit Union

Reason: EDS (the company, not the credit union) was purchased by Hewlett-Packard a while ago. Also, sources suggest that EDS lawyers requested the credit union divorce its identity from the corporation.

Analysis: The credit union had been discussing new names internally for over four years, so the move comes as no big shock. EDS probably gave the credit union a heads-up a few years ago by saying along the lines of, “Hey, would you please change your name at the next/earliest opportunity? Thanks!” Hewlett-Packard probably plans on killing the EDS brand sometime soon, so this eliminates one part of the EDS legacy.

Credit unions like those affiliated with big brand names like John Deere and Weyerhaeuser have been asked to change names. It has nothing to do with trademark infringement and lots more to do with bigtime corporate lawyers zealously protecting their clients brand names. It doesn’t appear that there was any pressure from EDS for the credit union to change names, nor does it seem the credit union bears any grudge.

InTouch appears to be available at the USPTO’s online trademark database. The name, however, has the waft of presumption: “We’re in touch with [you, reality, our feelings].” Any member with a gripe will be tempted to lob the obvious insult: “You guy think you’re ‘InTouch?’ You’re outta’ touch!”

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No, we are not the Bank of Canada

Old Name: Canadian State Bank
New Name: Bank of Commerce

Reason: 1.) People were confused. Based in the Yukon’s Canadian County, the bank routinely received the type of questions that would normally be asked of a state-run government bank. 2.) The bank may someday consider opening branches outside of Canadian County.

Analysis: The name is about as boring and as common as they come in the financial industry, which will create online search issues. At least Canadian State Bank sounded Big and Important. Fortunately, it’s in a rural area where everyone knows all the available financial players.

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From one community to three cities

Old Name: Kennewick Community Federal Credit Union
New Name: Tri-Cities Community Federal Credit Union

Reason: The credit union expanded its charter to include additional counties.

Analysis: Geographical names are only good for one thing: clearly defining your target audience. But what happens when you grow? You have to change names… which is exactly what this credit union will have to do — again — if it ever grows beyond the “Tri Cities” region. Also, the pairing of the singular “Community” with the plural “Cities” is a little awkward in the name. What does the credit union gain by adding the

Why are there five “branches” in a logo for an organization named “Tri-Cities Community?”

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State charter means bank is no longer ‘National’

Old Name: First National Bank of Montana
New Name: First Montana Bank

Reason: The bank switched to a state charter, so it dropped the grandiose and inaccurate “National” from its name to reflect the bank’s focus solely on Montana.

Analysis: Sure, there are legal requirements when you switch charters, but it’s expensive to change names, whether you change the whole thing or just drop a single word. Hopefully the advantages of having a state charter outweigh the expense and disruption.

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Members from hydro plant evaporating

Old Name: Bangor Hydro FCU
New Name: Changing Seasons FCU

Reason: The Bangor Hydro Electric Company had been “down-sized,” so the credit union had to get a community charter and new name.

Analysis: The credit union said it picked the new name because “we want our members to know that we are here for you in all the seasons of your life.” But some people are uncomfortable with life changes, preferring stability over fluidity. And how will Seasons FCU in Connecticut and Four Seasons FCU in Alabama feel about a credit union in Maine picking a similar name like “Changing Seasons?”

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For all life’s needs

New Name: LifeStore Banking Insurance
Old Name: AF Bank

Reason: The bank sees itself as something more grand than just a mere financial institution. It wants to be a “retail store for life.”

Analysis: This is the 15th name change the bank has undergone in its 70-year history. That’s a new brand consumers have to become familiar with about ever 4-5 years. This latest name is certainly distinct, but it’s somehow strange. It feels more appropriate for a New Age bookstore than a financial institution. While the name may reflect the bank’s brand strategy (something about how money intersects with people’s “life stages” and “life plans”), one can’t help but wonder if there wasn’t a more subtle way to make this connection in a name.

Why is the word “Life” so crudely rendered in the logo? Will the bank’s branches look like “retail stores? Or will they look more like regular bank branches?

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Trouble brewing on ‘River Bank’

New Name: RiverBank
Old Name: Lawrence Savings Bank

Reason: The old name was geographically limiting. The bank says it is “honoring its past” by picking a new name alluding to the Merrimack River Valley it has served for the last 138 years.

Analysis: There could be big trouble brewing. There is a River Bank & Trust in Alabama that has held a USPTO trademark since 2007. It doesn’t matter that Alabama and Massachusetts are miles apart. Nor does it matter that the names may be spelled a little differently.

Federally registered trademarks cover the whole country, and infringement suits address consumer confusion. If the Alabama bank presses the issue, they will probably prevail.

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Trademark infringement lawsuit…16 years later

New Name: TBD
Current Name: MidFirst Credit Union

Reason: MidFirst Credit Union in Ohio may lose a pending trademark infringement lawsuit recently filed by MidFirst Bank in Oklahoma.

Analysis: A quick check by Armco Employees Credit Union at the USPTO website back in 1994 would have stopped them from picking MidFirst as their new name in the first place. The search would have shown that MidFirst Bank holds four separate federally registered trademarks for “MidFirst” with the USPTO, with one dating as far back to 1987. Of course, the courts may wonder why it took Midfirst Bank 16 years to file suit.

Two credit unions merge, new name needed

New Name: TBD
Current Names: Australian Central Credit Union, Savings & Loans Credit Union

Reason: The second- and third-largest credit unions in Australia are merging. They have already decided they aren’t going to keep either name going forward.

Analysis: This is a solid strategic decision. Neither name is distinct nor worth retaining. More importantly, if one credit union’s name survived, members of the other credit union would feel inferior, as if their credit union was taken over. Whenever similarly-sized organizations merge, a new name should always be considered.