Now, I understand the vulnerability in expressing my views about things created by agencies who, in a year or so, I may want to work for, therefore I shall choose my words very carefully.
My bank account is not funny.
And I’m certainly not laughing at its balance.
So I simply don’t understand the current eagerness to bring humor into ad campaigns for financial institutions, namely Nationwide’s ‘Little Britain sketches’ and Halifax’s ‘Halifax FM’. Especially when the humor is just plain not funny.
I dont mean to be glum. Maybe the banks want to give us all a break from the constant economic doom and gloom that has plagued the media for the last couple of years. But surely I’m not wrong in thinking that when everyone is counting their pennies, they’re more likely to appreciate a bit of reassurance from their bank telling them that their hard earned cash is taken seriously.
I’m a Nationwide account holder. And I found Little Britain funny. But it’s had it’s day. I remember Trevor Beattie saying in a talk he gave to our course something along the lines of:
‘…ads are mortal creatures. They have their day, then they die, ceasing to work. As what worked then, worked, because it was then. Not now.’
Or something like that.
Little Britain is funny. But it was funnier a few years ago. So why bring it into a campaign now? Especially when advertising is supposedly built on ‘originality’ and ‘innovation’. And if I was a Halifax customer I’d be asking why my bank’s employees seem to be spending more time pissing around making radio shows than looking after my money…
On the flipside, Natwest seem to have nailed it with their ‘Customer Charter’ campaign. It’s not exactly entertaining, but it tells me what they’re currently doing to benefit me and my money, which is financially entertaining. Ambitious, uplifting music also accompanies the TV commercial, which not only sheds some light on our economic situation, but makes a welcome change from that soul-destroying ‘yeaaah, yeaaah, yeaaah’ sample in the Halifax FM ad.
This year on my course we’re focussing on strategy, so as yet, who am I really to judge the strategic approach in these ads? James Boulton, divisional director of customer strategy and marketing at Nationwide comments, “The new TV ads are iconic, full of humour and are a natural foil for the common sense approach Nationwide has to financial services”. As a customer with both Natwest and Nationwide, my consumer viewpoint matters more than my creative one. And, I’m sorry to say James, that my current view as a consumer is that Natwest are doing their job, whilst Nationwide are too busy watching Little Britain re-runs.
See the ads below:
Halifax ‘Halifax FM’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swC4UfWcNrY
Nationwide ‘Little Britain’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKK7aGNF-M8
Natwest ‘Customer Charter’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMc3ckjYJx4
My bank account is not funny.
And I’m certainly not laughing at its balance.
So I simply don’t understand the current eagerness to bring humor into ad campaigns for financial institutions, namely Nationwide’s ‘Little Britain sketches’ and Halifax’s ‘Halifax FM’. Especially when the humor is just plain not funny.
I dont mean to be glum. Maybe the banks want to give us all a break from the constant economic doom and gloom that has plagued the media for the last couple of years. But surely I’m not wrong in thinking that when everyone is counting their pennies, they’re more likely to appreciate a bit of reassurance from their bank telling them that their hard earned cash is taken seriously.
I’m a Nationwide account holder. And I found Little Britain funny. But it’s had it’s day. I remember Trevor Beattie saying in a talk he gave to our course something along the lines of:
‘…ads are mortal creatures. They have their day, then they die, ceasing to work. As what worked then, worked, because it was then. Not now.’
Or something like that.
Little Britain is funny. But it was funnier a few years ago. So why bring it into a campaign now? Especially when advertising is supposedly built on ‘originality’ and ‘innovation’. And if I was a Halifax customer I’d be asking why my bank’s employees seem to be spending more time pissing around making radio shows than looking after my money…
On the flipside, Natwest seem to have nailed it with their ‘Customer Charter’ campaign. It’s not exactly entertaining, but it tells me what they’re currently doing to benefit me and my money, which is financially entertaining. Ambitious, uplifting music also accompanies the TV commercial, which not only sheds some light on our economic situation, but makes a welcome change from that soul-destroying ‘yeaaah, yeaaah, yeaaah’ sample in the Halifax FM ad.
This year on my course we’re focussing on strategy, so as yet, who am I really to judge the strategic approach in these ads? James Boulton, divisional director of customer strategy and marketing at Nationwide comments, “The new TV ads are iconic, full of humour and are a natural foil for the common sense approach Nationwide has to financial services”. As a customer with both Natwest and Nationwide, my consumer viewpoint matters more than my creative one. And, I’m sorry to say James, that my current view as a consumer is that Natwest are doing their job, whilst Nationwide are too busy watching Little Britain re-runs.
See the ads below:
Halifax ‘Halifax FM’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swC4UfWcNrY
Nationwide ‘Little Britain’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKK7aGNF-M8
Natwest ‘Customer Charter’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMc3ckjYJx4
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