M&T Bank
Real Important.
Challenge
Bank advertising is often focused around products and services, and understandably so, as that is much of what they offer customers. But for M&T Bank, there’s more to their story. The main objective here was to create a strong association that makes it clear to customers, prospects, and all other audiences what M&T Bank stands for, not just what they offer – essentially bringing M&T’s tagline “Understanding what’s important” to life.
Action
If what matters to customers matters to M&T, why not give customers the platform through TV and billboards to talk about just that – what’s important to them? And so we did. These unscripted interviews took place across M&T’s footprint, with actual retail and business customers sharing what’s important to them across a range of topics. Because of this approach, the spots were intended to be less about everyday banking issues and more about the real things that are important to people in their lives. Bank ads that aren’t about banking, if you will. The responses ranged from emotional to playful, and they covered a range of values the bank shares, like service, caring for others, independence, and perseverance.
Results
With the launch of the TV spots on Super Bowl Sunday, the campaign generated much buzz with internal audiences – and external audiences took notice too. To date, M&T Bank has received more than one million views online for the campaign. Also worth mentioning, this was the first time a 3D billboard was implemented in the Greater Buffalo area.