The rise of ATMs, apps and other technologies may make banking in 2016 seem more of a digital experience, but BMO’s latest ad campaign is putting an emphasis on the human side of financial services.
After a brand refresh with a “We’re Here to Help” tagline in late 2014, the bank has launched a series of spots under a campaign called “The BMO Effect” which portray staff surprising customers with personal touches. In “Hello,” for example, a woman walking into the branch responds to a warm greeting from an associate by assuming they must already know each other.
In “Robot,” a woman getting a call at home assumes she’s dealing with a recording and is shocked to discover a real person on the other end of the line.
“It’s a very simple cause-and-effect proposition – ‘We’re here to help’ is what we do. How we do it is ‘the BMO Effect,’” Connie Stefankiewicz, BMO Financial Group’s CMO, told Marketing. “It’s an evolution of where we were. The tagline is not going away. What we’re really doing is adding a new dimension to it.”
The campaign was developed by FCB Toronto with support from FCB Chicago. According to Jon Flannery, FCB Toronto’s CCO, part of the challenge was conveying what “The BMO Effect” means across a wide demographic of current customers and future customers.
“Millennials are driving the push towards technology, but they too want to be treated as human beings,” he said. “They don’t want to be seen as a number any more than anyone else. People in general do not want to be treated as a financial transaction. We hunger for a human touch.”
That focus on the relationship between bank and customer may be critical now that traditional financial institutions are facing new and emerging competitors from large organizations such as Apple to a range of small fintech start-ups. Stefankiewicz pointed out that BMO already has an advantage in the breadth of its product and service offerings, which span key moments in human life up to retirement. “The BMO Effect,” however, is largely about making culture of its staff the foundation of its brand promise.
“The response internally has been extraordinarily wonderful. By and large they say, ‘That’s us, that’s who we are.’ It’s a reflection of our DNA at BMO,” she said, adding that another spot is still in the works that may reinforce the message even further. “It’s the idea that we don’t’ have that laminated card that you put in your pocket with an acronym that tells you how to behave (if you work here). We care, we want to make a human connection and we are people who want to create great service in a way that is natural and works for customers and employees.”
Flannery said while the TV spots – which will run on TV in Canada and key BMO markets in the U.S. such as Wisconsin and Illinois – would be complemented by out of home executions, digital and social media would also play a significant role.
“This is about showing you as the customer at the center of everything and are treated as such. The trick to it is, regardless of media or channel, is all about creating that feeling,” he said. “This can’t live just on a TV commercial or on a billboard.”
Maxus handled media buying for the campaign.
