• by Karl Greenberg , June 19, 2008

Chase Bank is pitching Hispanic consumers with a campaign that launched this month with the tag line: "Chase. Juntos Se Puede (Together We Can)."

The campaign, via Leo Burnett's Lapiz Hispanic shop, aligns with the bank's "Chase. What Matters" general-market push focusing on what matters most to customers.

The effort--comprising two black-and-white TV spots in which the only color is Chase's blue logo, ATM and card and radio ads--is intended to appeal to Latino consumers seeking convenience and access to bank information.

One spot, highlighting Chase debit cards, features a Latino who goes from bodega to bodega unable to make a purchase because either the store doesn't have the right change or can't take money. Finally, he opens a Chase account, returns to the store and flashes his card when the manager points to the correct-change-only sign. The ad, in Spanish, touts a Chase checking account that is free when consumers make five debit card purchases in a statement period. The spot's music is "El Bodeguero" by Orquesta Aragon.

The other ad shows a guy opening a letter from his bank, and staring at it in horror. It's clear what the letter says when he flashes back to all of the toys, dinners, and clothes he's recently bought for his girlfriend. At the end of the spot, now with an account at Chase, he uses his cell phone to check his bank account balance before entering a nice restaurant on a date so he doesn't overdraw again.

Rebecca Vargas, SVP of Chase's multicultural segment, says the company will run the ads on Univision and Telemundo in New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

"Our Hispanic customer base has been growing, especially more recently when we have launched new services such as a new Web site in Spanish and recently account-opening documents in Spanish," she says. "We also recently launched a money-remitting service that allows consumers to send money to Mexico."

She says that while the Hispanic consumer wants what everyone else wants in a bank, half want it in Spanish. "The Latino/Latina consumer wants a checking account, credit cards, debit cards, to invest for the future, but we know that 50% of Latinos prefer to speak in Spanish--especially when it comes to finances and money."

The campaign also includes three radio commercials on Chase's mobile banking, free checking, and Chase as a partner for Hispanic consumers.

Per Vargas, the company has been putting bilingual employees in branches in Hispanic neighborhoods, and "bilingual infrastructure at all touch points."