When banks score — and fumble — in marketing
February 4, 2018 9:35 AM
Make no mistake, advertising is a tough business.
Play it too safe and nobody will notice your ad. Push it too far to the edge, however, and you could find yourself in the middle of a massive controversy, as some banks and other financial companies have learned to their peril. It can be tough to find that ideal middle ground, where the ad is both noticed and manages to drive home the right message.
Nowhere are the stakes higher than at the Super Bowl, however. Most banks can't afford to run an ad during the big game — the cost to run an ad in 2018 is at least $5 million, according to Sports Illustrated — but several have ponied up, with mixed results.
SoFi, for example, scored a hit ad that ran during the 2017 game, which served as penance for its widely panned commercial during the game a year earlier. Synovus, meanwhile, ran a regional ad in 2017 during the Super Bowl that managed to be both funny and highlight the institution's work with small businesses, while Quicken's attempt to tout its Rocket Mortgage service reminded many people uncomfortably of the mortgage business right before the housing crisis.
In honor of the 2018 Super Bowl, we offer a look back at some hits and misses for financial companies' advertisements, both those that ran during the big game and beyond. (And while the final slide is not from the Super Bowl — or even a U.S. bank — it's well worth your time.)
Play it too safe and nobody will notice your ad. Push it too far to the edge, however, and you could find yourself in the middle of a massive controversy, as some banks and other financial companies have learned to their peril. It can be tough to find that ideal middle ground, where the ad is both noticed and manages to drive home the right message.
Nowhere are the stakes higher than at the Super Bowl, however. Most banks can't afford to run an ad during the big game — the cost to run an ad in 2018 is at least $5 million, according to Sports Illustrated — but several have ponied up, with mixed results.
SoFi, for example, scored a hit ad that ran during the 2017 game, which served as penance for its widely panned commercial during the game a year earlier. Synovus, meanwhile, ran a regional ad in 2017 during the Super Bowl that managed to be both funny and highlight the institution's work with small businesses, while Quicken's attempt to tout its Rocket Mortgage service reminded many people uncomfortably of the mortgage business right before the housing crisis.
In honor of the 2018 Super Bowl, we offer a look back at some hits and misses for financial companies' advertisements, both those that ran during the big game and beyond. (And while the final slide is not from the Super Bowl — or even a U.S. bank — it's well worth your time.)
SoFi's disastrous 2016 Super Bowl ad
One of the most notorious missteps in financial services advertising came in 2016, with SoFi's "Great loans for great people" ad. Running during the Super Bowl, it perplexed and even angered some viewers because of it's focus on who was "great" or not.
The ad features a narrator who rates each passerby of the camera, with some being "great" and some being "not great." At the ad's conclusion, the narrator urges consumers to log into SoFi to discover if they're "great or not." Reviewers called it "mean-spirited," and "perplexing." It was rated as one of the worst commercials of the Super Bowl that year.
Weirdly, it was almost worse. The original version of the ad —edited at the last moment — ended with the "Find out if you're great or not," but added, "You're probably not." It was clearly a good decision to cut it, but ultimately the whole approach was odd from the start. See the entire spot below:
The ad features a narrator who rates each passerby of the camera, with some being "great" and some being "not great." At the ad's conclusion, the narrator urges consumers to log into SoFi to discover if they're "great or not." Reviewers called it "mean-spirited," and "perplexing." It was rated as one of the worst commercials of the Super Bowl that year.
Weirdly, it was almost worse. The original version of the ad —
This horse does not play football
This ad ran regionally during the 2017 Super Bowl and proved a hit for those who saw it.
It's easy to see why. For one, it's funny. For another, it features an actual customer of the bank, who comes across as more genuine than most actors. It also successfully highlights the kind of help a bank can provide.
The horse may not play football, but the ad won "best in show" from the American Bankers Association in 2017.
It's easy to see why. For one, it's funny. For another, it features an actual customer of the bank, who comes across as more genuine than most actors. It also successfully highlights the kind of help a bank can provide.
The horse may not play football, but the ad won
Quicken forgets the financial crisis
It was just eight years after the financial crisis when Quicken Loans decided to highlight their Rocket Mortgage service.
The ad itself is fine, highlighting how easy it is to obtain a mortgage digitally. But that ease of service was precisely the point of criticism. Namely, observers said that it was encouraging a return to the go-go days of easy mortgages immediately before the housing crisis. Maybe getting a mortgage shouldn't be quite so easy?
The ad itself is fine, highlighting how easy it is to obtain a mortgage digitally. But that ease of service was precisely the point of criticism. Namely, observers said that
Samuel Jackson's bad damn day
Let's be honest: It's not unusual for Samuel L. Jackson to swear. The actor is well-known for it.
But when he said "damn" in a Capital One ad, people lost their minds. Never mind that "damn" barely counts as profanity and falls well short of Jackson's obscenity-laden tirades popularized in movies like "Pulp Fiction" and "Snakes on a Plane."
Still, Capital One ultimatelyresponded by striking the word out of the ad.
The true source of outrage may have less to do with Jackson's word choice, however, and be more related to politics. At the time, some conservatives were angry at Jackson because he was an outspoken supporter of then- President Obama, likely fueling the controversy over the ad.
See the original ad below:
But when he said "damn" in a Capital One ad, people lost their minds. Never mind that "damn" barely counts as profanity and falls well short of Jackson's obscenity-laden tirades popularized in movies like "Pulp Fiction" and "Snakes on a Plane."
Still, Capital One ultimately
The true source of outrage may have less to do with Jackson's word choice, however, and be more related to politics. At the time, some conservatives were angry at Jackson because he was an outspoken supporter of then- President Obama, likely fueling the controversy over the ad.
See the original ad below:
Your bank for life
$11.9 billion-asset Old National, of Evansville, Ind., proved that you don't have to be a big bank to pull off a professional, heartwarming ad.
The ad features a young boy receive a pen while visiting the bank with his parents, and we watch him use that pen as a child and into college, where it plays a key role in introducing him to his future wife. Never has a pen proved so consequential in a person's life.
The ad hits all the marks, including driving home its final message, "Old National. Your bank. For life." Unsurprisingly, it won theABA's 2016 "best in show" for advertisements.
The ad features a young boy receive a pen while visiting the bank with his parents, and we watch him use that pen as a child and into college, where it plays a key role in introducing him to his future wife. Never has a pen proved so consequential in a person's life.
The ad hits all the marks, including driving home its final message, "Old National. Your bank. For life." Unsurprisingly, it won the
E-Trade has an unusual bank robbery
It's a bank robbery with a twist. Instead of someone holding up the bank, this 2007 E-Trade Super Bowl featured an unnamed bank robbing its customers, with the idea that customers will pay less in fees if they avoid using the bank.
The ad is done with cinematic flair, but the overall creepiness (complete with tellers putting on animal masks) and implied violence make it a strange way to promote your business. Contrast it with E-Trade's usually funny "baby" ads and it's not hard to see why the company stopped making ads like this.
The ad is done with cinematic flair, but the overall creepiness (complete with tellers putting on animal masks) and implied violence make it a strange way to promote your business. Contrast it with E-Trade's usually funny "baby" ads and it's not hard to see why the company stopped making ads like this.
Bigger is better?
This 2000 Barclays ad starring Anthony Hopkins manages to be terrible in almost every conceivable way.
For one, Hopkins comes off as arrogant, condescending and sexist all in the space of a minute and a half, arguably his worst role since"Legends of the Fall" .
But the worst part, in addition to the mindless repetition of the word "big," is the message of the ad, which is that big banks are better (and, indeed, bigger is better in general). The ad ends with the tagline, "Barclays: A Big World Needs a Big Bank."
It's notable that this ad came eight years before to the financial crisis, when the idea of big banks lost its luster to many.
For one, Hopkins comes off as arrogant, condescending and sexist all in the space of a minute and a half, arguably his worst role since
But the worst part, in addition to the mindless repetition of the word "big," is the message of the ad, which is that big banks are better (and, indeed, bigger is better in general). The ad ends with the tagline, "Barclays: A Big World Needs a Big Bank."
It's notable that this ad came eight years before to the financial crisis, when the idea of big banks lost its luster to many.
It's the Super Bowl. Do you know where your child is?
Nationwide gets points for bringing a serious message to its 2015 Super Bowl ad: that most childhood deaths are preventable. Still, the ad comes across as just plain morbid as a young child narrates all the experiences he will never have before declaring, "I won't ever grow up because I died in an accident."
Just in case you were having fun watching football with the kids, this ad will make sure you lock your cabinets and keep your kids safely in a padded room with no sharp edges.
Just in case you were having fun watching football with the kids, this ad will make sure you lock your cabinets and keep your kids safely in a padded room with no sharp edges.
This ad is well worth watching
The ad is dated (see: stereotypical gender roles), but it's still worth a look. I’m not going to tell you why — just wait for it.
