• by Aaron Baar , November 5, 2008

Beneficial Bank looks to capture the zeitgeist of a new president with a new campaign encouraging customers to make a new financial beginning.

 

The campaign, with its tagline "Starting Now," evokes the themes of change and responsibility that characterized the just-completed presidential election--although the planning and creation of the marketing effort began well before the presidential campaign heated up and the financial markets melted down, says Bruce Lev, partner and director of creative services at LevLane, the Philadelphia advertising agency that created the campaign.

"This is something that was a direct reflection of the times, especially with the current financial environment," Lev tells Marketing Daily. "But the positioning and the thinking and the way we went about it began at the beginning at the year before any of this happened."

In a television spot that began airing on election night, various consumers talk about what they're going to do, "starting now." One woman says she's going to bring fiscal sanity to our world. Another businessman riding a bike says he's going to find ways to spend less and save more. A chef (and presumably restaurant owner) says he's going to figure out what's ahead "before I get there."

"The idea is that each and every day you have the opportunity to take control and make things happen," Lev says. "From that perspective, we felt it was a great opportunity to take advantage of the election. Certainly coming out of the last eight years, this is a great opportunity."

A second television spot touts the bank's "Solar Lending" product, which helps fund energy-efficient construction. In the commercial, an architect states that his bank gets the importance of his greener priorities.

Print and outdoor advertising continue the aspirational approach with a transit wrap showing different consumers and the headline: "Reach for higher places." The wrap will be featured on two trains on New Jersey's River Line. Another print ad promoting savings programs features a small boy holding a big guitar. "What's ahead for him? Why not everything?" the headline asks.

While the creative genesis of the campaign may have begun long before the election was in full swing, its launch at election time is intentional, Lev says. "With Philadelphia as a battleground, we knew there were going to be a lot of eyes looking at this," he says. "Everything that's out there is speaking to the fact that it's all about starting now. With the election results, it really paid off beautifully."