• by Tanya Gazdik , September 30, 2010

ING Direct is showing customers there is a better way to bank in a TV campaign that kicked off this week.

The Wilmington, Del.-based bank is using a series of awkward scenarios to show the great lengths customers go to in dealing with their banking frustrations, which are preventable through ING Direct tools such as no fee checking to mobile banking, according to the bank.

In one spot, a man sets the ringtone for his bank text-message alerts to the sound of "toilet flush" every time he pays a checking fee. In another, a family decides to move at the same speed it takes to pay down their mortgage -- in slow motion. A third spot shows a man in pajamas racing out the door to mail a last-minute check the old-fashioned way.

In each spot, ING Direct's orange ball represents an epiphany. A friend offers up the ball to the frustrated consumer as a solution. Touching the ball, the lead character experiences a revelation that ING Direct offers something new -- a better way to bank.

The first "Touch the Ball" spot broke Sept. 24 on ESPN. The campaign will continue on various national networks including NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox and online at hulu.com, abc.com and espn.com. GWP Brand Engineering created the campaign. There is no end date for the campaign, which will expand in 2011, according to John Owens, head of marketing, ING Direct.

"This campaign intends to let people know that we do things differently and we do more than help them build their savings," Owens tells Marketing Daily. "Americans are fed up with paying fees on their checking and shouldn't have to take a lifetime to pay off their mortgage. Money shouldn't be a drag, it should be fun."

The ads can also be found on ING Direct's social media channels at YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

The bank ran a TV spot for its Sharebuilder product in December, but the last "robust" TV campaign was in 2008, according to Owens.