RBC is launching a new web content series in hopes of reconnecting with the youth market.
The three-part series, produced by Toronto-based agency Entrinsic, follows an RBC exec as he goes “back to school” to learn not only what students need from a financial institution, but how challenging it can be to live on a student budget. (RBC estimates this to be as little as $10 a day.)
Trailer
Ep 1 – Scholarship Application
Ep 2 – Food Budget
Ep 3 – Book Store
The series is designed to get cozy with young consumers who, due to high student debt and unemployment rates, may have become discouraged about their finances. Each short webisode tells students that the financial institution empathizes with their budgetary limitations, and understands the challenges they face.
Larry Jacobs, marketing head of home equity and lending, Canadian banking at RBC—and the star of the series—said filming the webisodes let him “step into the shoes of a student to get a true feel for living on a student budget.” The filming was done at the University of Toronto.
“They always have been and continue to be an important demographic to the bank,” said Jacobs of the student demographic. “The fun thing about working through this was hearing everybody’s stories, whether how they paid for their last tank of gas to get home or how they cut corners to save. Everybody has their student stories…Living on a student budget isn’t easy.”
RBC is also running a contest that offers daily prizes of $1000 to students. The series will be advertised on YouTube with the trailer appearing as pre-roll on select videos.
Jacobs added that the webisodes were designed to “get into their world” and resonate with students through familiarity.
