It’s hardly the sort of ad one would expect from a button-down financial institution. Created for Oregon-based U.S. Bancorp, the commercial satirizes that most sacred of American practices, conspicuous consumption. The 30-second spot features a beautiful young couple loping dreamily down a beach. “We live in a world of pleasure … [and] romance that doesn’t exist … except on television,” they say. “Which is why U.S. Bank hired us to say that getting started in life takes more than running together in slow motion … it also takes money. So start saving some.”
It used to be that bank advertising was as simple as pushing free toasters. But with bankruptcy filings skyrocketing and lenders failing faster than you can say “Chapter 11,” financial institutions have designed a flurry of ad campaigns that emphasize safety and sobriety-and boost name recognition. Ads for Republic National Bank of New York, which feature a mother tenderly holding her baby, carry the phrase, “No bank is more protective of its clients’ money … no bank client feels more safe. " Chicago based Cragin Federal Bank shows children comparing the strength of their fathers to Samson, Goliath, Hercules-and Cragin Federal. “Sound is our middle name,” proclaims Puget Sound National Bank in Tacoma, Wash. “When a local bank fails, everybody is scared,” says Gary Zenker, marketing director for Progress Federal Savings Bank in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. “Everyone is trying to say, ‘Our bank is still operating strong, even though we may not have had a very good year’.”
Some banks are using advertisements to help feed the public’s increasing appetite for financial information. Recent ads for New York-based Sterling National Bank & Trust Company, for example, offer about 40 lines of such eye-glazing technical tidbits as the bank’s primary capital ratio (16.9 percent) and return on average assets (1.2 percent). Others are addressing the credit-crunch issue head on. While the last thing U.S. Bancorp officials wanted was a drop in borrowing, they were keenly aware that the industry has a reputation for encouraging excess spending. So they commissioned their ad agency, Borders Perrin & Norrander, to come up with a consumer advocacy theme. “Frankly, we know that sometimes even our own products may not be the best for everybody,” says Gerry Cameron, president and CEO of U.S. Bancorp’s Washington state operations. “What we’re really trying to do is create the image that we are … trying to see to the customer’s best interests.”
Just how pure are their motives? U.S. Bancorp’s ads make several suggestions for more sensible credit-card use, but the bank isn’t offering any incentives to customers who actually ring up smaller bills. Industry watchers compare the banking industry’s attempts to encourage responsible credit consumption to the alcohol industry’s attempts to encourage responsible drinking. “Beer companies don’t really want you to drink less beer,” says Kate Fitzgerald of Advertising Age magazine. “And credit-card companies are not in the business of arguing people out of using credit cards.” Nonetheless, “you could make the argument that if consumers acted more responsibly, that might result in fewer expensive charge-offs.” It’s difficult to say whether the new round of ads will send people scurrying into the local First National. But Edward Lieberstein of Sterling National says Sterling’s fact-filled print ad has been a powerful lure for customers. A strong bottom line beats a clever line every time.
