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Scotiabank is having a ball with the launch of its new online investment practice, iTrade.
The new service, formerly E*Trade Canada—which Scotiabank purchased last September for $444 million—was introduced today with a campaign from Toronto’s Capital C that includes TV, online and attention-getting print executions.
Capital C also developed iTrade’s new brand identity, the heart of which is a red ball that comprises the dot in the letter “i”. A TV commercial shows iTrade users tossing the signature red ball while making statements like “iTrade to take control” and “iTrade because it’s fast and easy” and “iTrade because I know I can do better.” The spot ends with iTrade users repeating the brand slogan “iTrade for me,” before one user throws the ball at the screen—where it forms the dot on the “i” in the iTrade logo.
The campaign speaks to the mindset of iTrade users, said Capital C CEO Tony Chapman. “They’re in [iTrade] because they believe they can do it better.”
Today’s launch was also accompanied by a series of live 90-second spots on the business TV channel BNN. The spots are comprised of live client testimonials and interviews with Scotiabank employees and executives. The live spots, produced by Q Media, are being broadcast every hour from a downtown Toronto Scotiabank location and will repeat through BNN’s primetime broadcasting for the next two days.
The launch campaign also features extensive use of digital media (including search and banner ads), as well as the first-ever cover wrap on The Globe and Mail’s “Report on Business” section which also promotes the national daily’s revamped GlobeInvestor.com. A print execution planned for tomorrow will consist of a double-page spread using what Chapman called a “candlestick”. The ad will feature a raised arm clutching the red iTrade ball, while editorial copy will flow around it.
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“The Globe has been amazing to work with,” said Chapman. “We pushed for some real breakthrough stuff, and we’re just very proud of it.”
Denneboom Media and public relations firm Narrative are the other agency partners on the launch.
“I love it because it’s simple,” said Chapman of the campaign. “All of our campaigns are judged on head, heart and hands. Head: do you get it immediately; heart: it plays to the insight of control; and hands: we make it very easy for the people to come on board, sign up and become a new online trader.
“We’re expecting great things from the campaign.”
Online investing is a burgeoning area for banks, with account openings at Scotiabank up 75% from the previous quarter and more than 62% from the same quarter last year. It’s expected that 1.5 million Canadian households will be trading online by 2012.
