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Behind the Scenes of Wamu’s ‘Gutsy’ Campaign What does it take for a marketing campaign to stand out and really be noticed by consumers? Being funny and innovative helps, but also “over-commitment to a big idea,” say two of the executives who designed Washington Mutual Inc.’s recent ads touting its free checking accounts. Over-committing to the big idea means exaggeration and “stretching the boundaries” to make an impact, according to Jamie Kieffer, senior vice president and account director at Leo Burnett USA. “Not as many clients would over-commit in as big a way as Wamu did,” Kieffer said. “Really doing it takes a lot of guts.” |
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Kieffer and Mathews described how their companies designed the ad campaign for Wamu’s revamped free checking account. The Seattle-based thrift has offered free checking for a decade, but the new product features some additional perks such as free checks for life, free wire transfers and one free overdraft per year. To back up the product, Wamu has been running humorous print and television ads that poke fun at “stodgy” competitors dressed in pinstripe suits. In a TV ad, a banker smoking a cigar and grasping a champagne glass complains about Wamu’s free checking offer. “Exactly how does that help the rich get richer?” he asks. Mathews said Wamu hired Chicago-based Leo Burnett, which designed the ads, just before Christmas last year, after interviewing some 50 agencies. He said Wamu wanted to take its long-established image as a “challenger brand” to a new level in the advertising campaign for the new free checking product. Mathews said Wamu had previously succeeded in differentiating itself as a brand, with friendly, funny ads, but in a “decreasingly less meaningful way. Funny is not enough to drive business and get people to shift banks.” Kieffer said Leo Burnett developed its brand image for Washington Mutual by drawing inspiration from companies such as Apple Computer Inc., which “is about creative expression,” Southwest Airlines Co., which “democratized air travel,” and Carmax Auto Superstores Inc. , which provides “transparency” for customers, or all the information needed to shop for an automobile. “They all stood for a simple, clear thing,” Kieffer said. “We looked for a similar thing for Wamu.” The theme that emerged is that Wamu “has a better way of doing things” in financial services, which was summed up in the phrase “the Wamu way,” Kieffer said. The ads then exaggerated, or over-committed, on that idea to make an impact, he said. Mathews said new account growth since the campaign was unveiled in March is “250% over forecast,” but he declined to specify further. He also declined to say how much Wamu is spending on the campaign. The company has said publicly that its annual advertising budget averages “over $100 million a year” but has not revealed how it’s allocated. Mathews added that Wamu is taking a “huge risk” on the free checking product, which gives away services that other banks still charge for in order to gain deposits. “Most of our competitors had free checking, but they had a lot of strings attached,” Mathews said. “We said, let’s leapfrog our competitors and really make it free.” (For more on the banking industry’s renewed interest in free checking, see “Free Checking’s Second Wave” in the March 29, 2006 issue of BAI Banking Strategies Retail Delivery Insights and “After Free … What Is There To Offer?” in the May/June 2006 issue of BAI Banking Strategies.) |
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