• by Tanya Gazdik , January 3, 2013

After six years of celebrity-focused ads/marketing, TD Bank is shifting to feature customers and employees as the hero and encouraging consumers to “Bank human, again.”

The campaign, created by Philadelphia-based Tierney with production company New York-based Epoch Films, emphasizes that it’s the consumer experience that sets the bank apart.

For the past six years,  Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa have been "successful in building the TD Bank brand, while communicating the America’s Most Convenient Bank message," says TD Bank Chief Marketing Officer Vinoo Vijay.  

“Their energy and enthusiasm mirrored our unique culture; however, it’s time to transition to a fresh expression,” Vijay tells Marketing Daily. “The decision to shift away from celebrity-focused ads was a strategic one. Our new ads position our customers and employees as the ‘stars’ and the essence of the bank and its culture, aligning with the overarching Bank Human messaging and customer-first mentality.”

The integrated multimedia campaign, which broke Dec. 31, includes broadcast, print and digital.

Six 30-second TV spots show a customer struggling with a pen too tightly chained to the desk, a bank closing as a small business customer tries to make after-work deposits, and consumers “interacting” with robotic automated tellers at faceless financial institutions. The ads then shift to reveal the “human” customer experience offered by TD Bank, from free customer coin counting and the longest banking hours to instant-issue debit cards, and free unchained pens.

Television spots are airing on prime-time programs throughout TD Bank’s footprint, including an enhanced presence in New York with a cable buy focused in the five boroughs.

Print creative will appear in key publications throughout the bank’s footprint in New York, Philadelphia and Boston, providing a more detailed message of what it means to “bank human.” A digital effort will incorporate a variety of executions including rich media, video and dynamic banners. All activity will drive to a custom campaign microsite, BankHumanAgain.com.

Additional campaign elements will be integrated across other platforms such as social media and public relations.

America’s Most Convenient Bank will continue to be the lead message, Vijay says.

“America’s Most Convenient Bank is not a tagline -- it is who we are,” he says. “It is about how we make banking convenient for each customer. …We know consumers want to be treated like people, and this is at the heart of the TD Bank brand. This new distinctive and powerful platform communicates TD’s unique brand attributes of unparalleled service and experience and customer-first culture.”

The new ad campaign makes customers the stars because the campaign is aimed at consumers and the basic conveniences, no matter how small, that can make a noticeable difference in a customer’s overall banking experience, Vijay says.

“It is about turning customers into fans, having great locations, having long hours, being open 7 days a week and wowing our customers, even offering unchained free pens,” he says. “Being human also means being honest and transparent with our customers; even the opening of the ‘Bank human, again’ microsite states we may not get everything right all the time -- we’re only human -- but we promise to keep working until we get it right.”

Messaging throughout all engagement channels will focus on communicating the humanizing experience offered to customers through storytelling. At TD Bank stores, customer vignettes will be featured on LCD screens showing proud customers sharing why they love TD. The videos will also be found on YouTube and the microsite. Soon in New York City, consumers will find an interactive online map of store locations featuring TD employees offering directions and other information.