Barraclough on marketing and creativity

CHRIS BARRACLOUGH

Blimey. What would you do if you were a bank now? Apparently according to a recent poll in the Guardian (21.10.08) bankers are officially the most hated and loathed creatures on the planet now with the public blaming them more than anyone for wrecking the economy.

Of course, anyone who has been as keen as student as I of bank advertising would know the banks have never really known what they were doing. Do you remember "the listening bank?". Well, they were until one of their Bank Managers called the police in to arrest some hapless overdrawn student. Or the same bank's woeful attempt to brand its products along conceptual lines such as Vector, Orchard, Wombat etc....Didn't Barclays veer from a Bladerunner inspired attack on 'Big Brotherness' to Sir Hannibal Lecter proclaiming that Big is actually good? Then they gave us some silly Hollywood nonsense with the man from The Shawshank Redemption. NatWest felt they were onto something with the little old lady bemoaning "trendy wine bars" except they then turned her into a brand spokesman which worked less well for more complex business products. And Howard and his dancing troupe of staff wannabees now look as relevant to today's realities as cheque books. Still, if we have to be grateful to the credit crunch for one thing.....

The trouble is bankers are seduced by gurus who sell them the dream of brand, which is obviously far more exciting than poring over debt books or debating compliance issues. And emotions seem easier to manipulate than FSA-driven terms and conditions. So being banks, they spent big on 'brand'.

One problem is that a bank's brand perception hangs on the behaviour and attitude of the poorly paid Call Centre worker for whom English may not be their first language. Expensive emotive-based advertising cannot cover for this. Nor can a new visual identity mask the damage done by £550m being repaid to consumers in unfair bank charges. I'm afraid they only have themselves to blame for scoring so badly on 'trust' - the one value they could desperately do with now.

So what can they do?  I'd go back to basics. I'd take the approach McDonald's took to respond to the 'Super-size Me' attack. I'd start explaining things again. I'd take the exact opposite route to Morgan Freeman's vacuous soliloquoy. I'd abandon TV advertising completely and use the web, email and print. No, I wouldn't start posting spurious user comments on social network sites and forums. No-one believes corporations when they do this. It's like your Dad dancing at a disco and easy to spot.

I would initiate a campaign, based on copy and argument, that was realistic in tone with a degree of humility. No hyperbole, sorry Halifax Howard. I'd revisit the old Volkswagen and Avis ads for tone. I'd talk about products and service, not vague and insincere emotions. It is a myth don't want to read about products. If you're not buying a house you won't read about mortgages, but if you are, you'll read a lot. Same with insurance, loans and credit cards. I would talk about CSR and green issues.  I would explain how we try to deliver service. I would outline how I try hard not to rip customers off. I would invest in well written, personalised emails (far cheaper and more effective than another big budget TV ad). I would encourage feedback, comment and interaction at every stage. I would not pretend to be a fashion retailer or a coffee shop. I'd be a bank, but a very good one. And I'd explain why.

I would close my ears to the dwahlings who say consumers don't read or write any more. What do they spend their whole time on their computers doing? Thanks to the web, we now live in a text-based interactive world. The old advertising model of presenting visual imagery on TV to people doesn't meet their needs. Consumers are more curious and demanding than that now. They want to know what your position is on various issues. What's the depth to the brand? What relevance does it have for them as an individual? What lies behind your claims? Only good copy can deliver this - online or in print. They might read in a different way - in bite-size chunks - but they read more than ever. And this way, consumers might even begin to understand the products banks are selling.

But I bet the minute there's an upturn, all those agencies with bank clients will be hot on the phone to Hollywood and "The Bank Supremacy" will hit our screens, doubtless followed by "The Bank Ultimatum". Actually, I think that's what they had last week.