Montreal: A new campaign for Mouvement Desjardins adopts a light but widespread touch as the credit union gears up to compete for the glut of rrsp dollars in the weeks ahead.

The message on tv is being delivered by two friendly, puppeteer-controlled wallets, with a tag line that states, ‘You are always welcome at the Caisse, where investments come in all shapes and sizes.’

‘What’s closer to us than our wallet?’ asks Marie Seguin, account director at Marketel, the credit union’s ad agency. ‘And our wallet says a lot about us.’

The two 30-sec. tv spots, premiered New Year’s eve during Radio-Canada’s high-profile year-end comedy review, Bye Bye ’96.

Claudel Masse, director of communication-marketing for the Confederation des Caisses Desjardins, says the campaign’s primary goal is not only to distinguish the four-million-member credit union from its domestic competition, Canada’s chartered banks, but from foreign banks as well, which Masse says are on the horizon.

‘Consumers in general are less faithful today so we have to find reasons for him or her to continue to do business with us. We have to consolidate those who are with us and try to attract new clients, too,’ he says.

Marketel’s Seguin says the campaign strategy takes into account the wide range of Desjardins clients and the fact that everybody has to consider retirement financing.

Media includes tv, point-of-sale posters, newspapers, magazines and radio.

Mouvement Desjardins has four million members throughout Quebec and more than 1,300 branches (caisses).

The current campaign is the agency’s second major effort on behalf of Desjardins since winning the estimated $10-million annual account in July.