We're a bank - give us money to make ads

Its no secret that banks in South Africa are dumb.

All you really want your bank to do; is try be as painless as possible.

'Today, tomorrow, whatever' and 'Conspired, demotivated.....sayings are really a big kick in the head when you're bank takes large chunks of your money to talk to like this... and then they don't even bother to return your phone calls.

Do yourself a favour - buy a Sunday Times this weekend and take careful note of the full page garbage you and your fees are sponsoring. You have to really concentrate not to skip over them.

Most enjoying is this marketing propaganda that we found here:

The core message contained in Standard Bank's latest television adverts by TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, forming part of its image campaign with the new pay-off line "Inspired. Motivated. Involved", is that it strives to make a difference in its customers' lives and businesses. The first commercial, 'Reality', is aimed at the personal and business markets and the second, 'End of Day', is aimed at corporate and top end customers.

'Reality' contrasts the formality of bank 'speak' against family milestones and achievements such as falling in love and raising a family in a home. Comments Theo Ferreira, creative director at TBWA: "This juxtaposition is reinforced by the voiceover mentioning bank definitions while the visuals portray warm emotion and human interaction."

"['End of Day'] showcases Standard Bank's optimism and can-do attitude, illustrating how we use our international expertise and experience to deliver for our partners, consistently providing them with the right solutions across multiple geographies," says Nikki Twomey, director of brand marketing at Standard Bank.

Blah, blah, blah - no one cares.

It would be the most amazing, remarkable, outstanding business strategy of 2007, if just one of the big four banks had to declare 'no advertising' for the year ahead - and instead, dedicate their resources to just 'returning your phone calls'.

That's it - just return a client's call within a reasonable time. Now that's something to crow about; and real differentiation.

Don't hold your breath though, it'll never happen - its too hard.

Its much easier to make a pointless, deceptive, BS advert and lie to people. Plus there's no media commission in it.

Comments

[Martin]

You know what? You're onto a kick ass idea... I reckon if a bank pulled this off, they would be a Harvard MBA case study for years to come. The question is, who has the balls?

[Paul]

I guess mass marketing has become a way to actually avoid any form of meaningful interaction with customers. It has become a way of fluffing the company's image without any thought to its original purpose.

As you said, blah blah blah.