Leading off as keynote speaker at OMMA Video 2013, Vinoo Vijay, CMO, TD Bank, admits off the bat he doesn’t know a lot about video. But he does believe video can be used to
tell a brand's story even in an industry as staid as banking. Specifically, he’s talking about the use of video within TD Bank’s major new “Bank
Human Again,” campaign that includes advertising, PR, a micro-site, social media and hyperlocal videos on Google+.
He also concedes consumers don’t like banks. Not
only that, they think banks are dishonest. So when it came to creating a campaign, the company was challenged to come up with a way to overcome that perception and demonstrate how it was different
from competitors.
He ticked off some of the factors that set TD Bank apart from competiors: Open 7 days a week until 8pm most days;
24/7 live customer service; you can get debit card when walk in. It also has service "intangibles" like Coin-counting machines. “Chain-free” pens, no rope lines, and umbrellas on
rainy days.
How to show all that? That’s where video came in.
Vijay shows a series of humorous TV/video spots that highlight each of these
points, and highlight the bank’s human approach to customer service versus the impersonal, automated approach of other banks. The company also created a series of brief videos of customer
testimonials based on interviews taped at the bank’s branches, emphasizing its personal service—and free pens!
On top of that, TD Bank created more than 100 videos of
branch, or “store” managers around New York that ran in Google Places and elsewhere on the Web discussing some of the bank’s unique services like coin-counting machines. The videos
themselves become an extension of TD Bank’s personal touch, focusing on its staff and customers.
In response to a question, Vijay points out that the bank
didn’t spend a lot to try to drive traffic to its videos. It mainly seeded interest via social media like Facebook and Twitter, sending traffic to its main site to access videos. “If
videos are compelling, it will be shared,” noted Vijay. “If it’s good, people will find it.”