Banking has become more consumer-friendly, particularly through sophisticated ATMs and mobile banking applications, but banks are still hampered by the stereotype that they are largely impersonal. TD Bank's new branding campaign, "Bank Human Again," makes the most of that deficiency.

New TV and web spots, supported by newspaper and digital media including a microsite, show a variety of consumers in what appears to be a cold, gray unwelcoming bank. Each consumer attempts a simple action only to be thwarted by a robotic-sounding voice that spouts bank policy.

In one spot, for example, a customer finds that the chain on the bank's pen is too short for him to write. When he asks about it, a disembodie voice says, "Here's the thing, Martin, banks can't have people taking their pens." TD Bank's answer: plenty of pens with no chains. Not to mention no rope lines, free coin-counting, and a focus on the little things that add up to the big things in customer service.

While a chained pen may seem insignificant, it's a remnant of banks' traditional (inflexible, impersonal) way of doing business. "The new marketing campaign viscerally communicates TD's attributes of unparalleled service and convenience, and our customer-first culture," stated the bank's Chief Marketing Officer Vinoo Vijay.Continue reading...

Brands spend millions to become official partners of the Olympics, and Ace Metrix says those sponsorships are worth it. Ace Metrix is the only company scoring every nationally airing US Olympic ad leading up to and during the games, and today announced their Olympic ad effectiveness program.

“We are thrilled to provide a 360 degree view of ad effectiveness for brands who have invested in Olympic sponsorships and Olympic themed ads,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, about its ranking of London 2012 marketing campaigns to date.

“The Olympics are a significant investment for any sponsor, and understanding the effectiveness of that sponsorship is critical in the era of marketing accountability," he added. "We are particularly interested in the data regarding the vital emotional elements associated with the Olympics. Understanding how the emotion of such a global event relates to the rational consumer processing that accompanies the vast majority of advertising will be fascinating."Continue reading...

Financial services brand TD Ameritrade is investing in original Web programming with The Invested Life, which it's billing as a "financial reality series" (Tagline: "Live to invest. Invest to live. Learn how one triumph at a time") for MSN that's also available on a standalone YouTube channel.

“We do plenty of advertising on TV, and our executives appear on CNBC to talk about the market,” said Peter Sidebottom, the brand's EVP for product and marketing, to the New York Times. “This is an additional way for people to engage, and puts it in a context that makes it more accessible to more people.”.Continue reading...