Creative Inspiration: Musical Bus Stop | Airport Stunts | Sneaky Banana
Musical Bus Stop
People’s Choice Credit Union in Australia gave commuters a choice of music while they waited at sheltered stops. Five different headphone sockets were fitted in various bus and tram shelters, and people can choose between country, rock, classical, pop or RnB by local artists.
In some locations, in lieu of the music stations, bust stop benches were replaced with four seating options: a leather lounge chair, an office swivel chair, a body-molded seat and a kitchen bench. The campaign is all about communicating one simple theme: Members have choices at People’s Choice Credit Union. Agency: KWP.
Kiddie ATM Step Stool
ING Vysya in India put these irresistible kiddie step stools next to its ATMs to promote Zing, the bank’s new savings account for kids. If your financial institution does any kind of marketing aimed at kids, this is an excellent — and inexpensive — idea.
Sneaky Banana
FirstBank in Colorado wanted to mock the slippery disclosures used by so many financial institutions today. The headline on this ad illustrates their point: "Our mortgages are straightforward, to the point and without superfluous words and jargon that have no reason for being there except to confuse you and sneak something in, banana, that you might not notice." Pretty funny. Agency: TDA Boulder.
National Bank Rebrand
Six pictograms each represent a financial objective, each accompanied by an action verb that defines it. The bank then used this simple visual vocabulary throughout its collateral system. By Cellule Design. You can see what the old brand looked like here.
Banks Don’t Like You
This general credit union awareness campaign from CO-OP Financial Services was launched in November 2011.
Airport Stunt: The Cube
Customers think banks don’t care about them. UniCredit Banca wanted to dispel that notion. They placed a huge retail display in the middle of the Rome airport with all kinds of fantastic freebies — the things people might forget when heading to places like London, Venice, Ibiza and Maldives. Giveaways included inflatable pool cushions, flip flops, hats, sunglasses and suntan lotion, all much better than standard swag… like pens. The only thing that kept the booth from getting mobbed bare in five minutes was a pair of UniCredit staffers on hand to explain why a bank would be giving away such great stuff. Agency: Publicis Milan.
Baggage Carousel Advertising
SunTrust Bank bought this unusual ad in the Ft. Lauderdale airport. As people wait for their bags to come around, SunTrust’s ad reads, "Solid Banking. Without excess baggage. A static poster on the wall says, "SunTrust. Your ultimate destination." Agency: DT Advertising.
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Mobile Brochure with a QR Code
To download First Direct’s iPhone mobile app, you can capture the QR code in the bank’s brochure. A clever use of technology, for the small percentage of mobile users who know what QR codes are… and use them.
Does anyone else find it a tad ironic that offline brochures still have a role in this digital day and age — even when pushing purely online channels?
Double Benjamins on Bank Transfer Day
First Tennessee Bank offered a $200 bonus on Saturday, November 5th, better known as Bank Transfer Day.
Flexible Bus
Community First Credit Union in Australia custom wrapped this commuter bus to tout its "surprisingly flexible home loans." The word "flexible" is stretched and distorted into an optical illusion that makes the bus windows appear squeezed.
Need a Lift?
The "Heli-Bus" is a free shuttle ferrying snowsliders between a parking lot and the base area of Copper Mountain, Colorado. It’s kind of hard to see, but there is a giant pair 25’ propellers on the bus. FirstBank bought ads on the side of the shuttle saying, "Heli-skiing. Now as affordable as free checking." Agency: TDA Boulder. (Banana.)
Ooops… How’d That Happen?
How does a bank the size of BofA let a typo get through? BofA’s poster for its 1-2-3 rewards credit card reads, "More cash back or the things you buy most." Not that a spell-checker on any computer would catch the flub, but someone should have — the designer, or proofreader, or creative director, or project manager, or production manager, or press operator, or shipping person, or… the branch manager who opened the package and hung the sign.
If bank’s won’t read their own lousy ads, is it any surprise no one else does either?
Gr8 Rates Building Wrap
US Bank wrapped one of its buildings in Southern California with this massive ad for CDs (probably many moons ago considering the CD rate environment today). Why did they use the customized license plate motif that would have been better suited to auto loans? Who knows. But it grabs your attention.
Giant Jersey
Standard Chartered hung this massive jersey for a Liverpool football club it sponsors outside its Botswana HQ. Environmental advertising like this — and the subsequent PR and word-of-mouth advertising it generates — are often overlooked by financial institutions.
IRA, eh?
An ad from Brookline Bank targets those with questions about Individual Retirement Accounts, or "IRAs." Agency: Shark Communications.
Go West!
A poster from Bank of The West. The bank, a recently acquired subsidiary of BNP Paribas, is running a campaign stressing its Western roots. Agency: Heat.
BANK OF THE WEST – :30 GO WEST TV
