La Agencia de Orcí & Asociados, Los Angeles, recently launched a Spanish-language advertising campaign promoting the opening of Washington Mutual’s first retail banking operation in New York. The new package, which broke at the same time as a general market campaign created by agency Sedgwick Rd., Seattle, portrays the bank as a friendly place where free checking really is free.
The Spanish-language campaign includes radio spots, print ads, billboards, and two television commercials, "Full Monty" and "House of Fees," both of which were helmed by Steve Fong, of Copper, Los Angeles. "The message that Washington Mutual wants to send out is that they are ‘the un-bank,’" explains Fidel Arizmendi, associate creative director at La Agencia de Orcí.
"Washington Mutual and their clients are at the same level," notes Claudio Martinez, senior copywriter at the agency, adding that the company wanted to banish any notions of the bank being a cold, stuffy institution.
"The executions we have done up to this point have been a little absurd or funny." adds Arizmendi. La Agencia de Orcí & Asociados has been the Hispanic agency for Washington Mutual since April 1998. Two previous Washington Mutual Spanish-language campaigns, both targeting markets outside of New York, each featured a single commercial. The two spots were "The Beach," directed by D.J. Webster, and "Diner," helmed by T.G. Herrington, both via Carbo Films, Santa Monica.
According to Arizmendi, a key concept in Washington Mutual’s marketing approach is the notion of "anger makers"—services that other banks charge for, such as speaking with a teller or using an ATM, that are free at Washington Mutual. "They call them anger makers because the idea is, when you find out that this is what really goes on, they are supposed to make you angry," he says.
Washington Mutual entered New York upon acquiring Dime Bancorp. Focus groups conducted in the area by the agency were revealing. "[Washington Mutual] had gone into New York thinking that we were going to follow the same format [as in other markets]," explains Arizmendi. "But what we found is that [some of] the anger makers were different there." He points out that while some of the same hidden fees that anger bank customers in other regions apply in New York, Big Apple bankers had one pet peeve in particular: bank accounts are only "free" up to a point—after a certain number of transactions, customers are heavily charged for additional transactions.
"That was the thing that resonated throughout all of these focus groups," continues Arizmendi. "Most people feel, ‘I’m helping them make money with my money. Why am I getting charged? They’re taking advantage of me.’ "
The Humor
Approach
In "Full Monty," the agency found a funny way to portray banks that take advantage of their customers. Evoking the famous opening shot of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, the :30 starts off with a guy confidently striding down a busy city street. He heads into a bank, unaware that people exiting the place are only wearing underwear. A voiceover intones in Spanish, "Is your bank taking advantage of you?" Inside, the guy is suddenly stripped of his clothes as he faces a looming bank clerk. But then the guy is magically transported to Washington Mutual, a warm, friendly place, where his clothes reappear. He enjoys a pleasant transaction with a smiling clerk, and we hear a voiceover: "Our free checking account really is free." Outside, he now notices his former bank’s underwear-clad customers, and helpfully tosses his jacket over one woman’s shoulders. The closing tag: "Come and Live the Difference."
"House of Fees" shows how some banks confuse (and make money off) their customers with restrictions. The spot opens on a woman wearing a brightly colored dress as she makes her way down a city street. All around her, disoriented pedestrians stagger about, and others emerge from an imposing bank building, stumbling and tripping. A voiceover says, "Some banks give you the run-around every time they promise you something for free." Inside, the woman is taunted by a clerk, and finds herself trapped in a plexiglass maze. The voiceover continues, "They confuse you with requirements such as direct deposit, minimum balance, or transaction limits." The maze vanishes, and a smile crosses the woman’s face as she finds herself in the inviting environs of Washington Mutual. Happy to have switched her account, she just smiles as she sees her former bank’s discombobulated customers.
"In ‘Full Monty,’ we were articulating what people already felt," says Arizmendi. "[‘House of Fees’] is really about restrictions. Other banks give you this run-around and you get lost in this maze. We were trying to visualize what people may know or may not know. A lot of people don’t seem to understand that when another bank says free checking with direct deposit, it’s actually a restriction.
"The two spots work well together," he continues. "We thought the two messages were stronger than just sending the one message, especially in a market like New York, where nobody knew what Washington Mutual was at all."
Why did the agency choose Fong to helm the Washington Mutual ads? Arizmendi, who had previously worked with Fong on a Honda campaign, says that the director’s reel is strong on storytelling and comedy, making him a good choice for the humor-driven spots. "He used to be a creative director for BBDO and Ad Day," he notes. "He’s very easy to work with because he understands the advertising game. You’re not dealing with a director who comes to impose his own vision."
Arizmendi points out that La Agencia de Orcí and Sedgwick Rd. didn’t work together to create their respective campaigns, but that both agencies were trying to convey the same basic ideas. "We always seem to end up mirroring whatever they’re doing, but not because we have a mandate to do so," he says.
Significantly, the general market and U.S. Hispanic campaigns have different taglines. In contrast to the Spanish-language tag, "Come and Live the Difference," the general market campaign uses the tag, "Another Small Revolution in Banking."
The English-language tag wouldn’t work in the Spanish-language campaign. "With our market, especially in the Miami, the word revolution has a very political connotation," notes Martinez. "We wanted to stay away from that, and talk about what Washington Mutual is all about."
"We needed to focus on the experience of the bank," adds Arizmendi. "It was more positive."
