Sometimes, when seeing an ad whizz by you on a bus, or hearing a spot on the radio, you can reach straight through the ad to the creative brief -- and in a good way. A creative solution to a well-defined business problem can have a sort of elegance that practically sparkles when you see it, brimming with energy.
This isn't one of those ad campaigns. I unveil to you: Whoo hoo! (See the TV ads on their microsite here.)
Hello, Washington Mutual -- or should I call you WaMu? Let's spend millions of dollars on TV, in-store, direct, print, out-of-home, radio, and Web site communications on a large-scale advertising and branding campaign associated with a word without any defined meaning to our audience (other than calling to mind Homer on The Simpsons and "Song 2" by Blur). We can then imbue said exclamation with the following meaning: that it is related to the experience that people have when they come in and bank with us -- specifically, as they discover the great set of benefits we provide them for free, and enjoy not being smacked with fees as they do their day-to-day banking.
Great idea in theory. But this creative approach is what I call WTF Advertising. You look at these ad executions in and out of home and go, "What the heck is this supposed to mean?" Then you connect the dots when you happened to collide with a radio spot or TV ad. I didn't for many weeks. And when I did see the ads, I was very disappointed. This is it? This is "Whoo Hoo?" Big whoop.
Here are three lessons I learned from enjoying these ads.
1. Don't do an integrated campaign with a print execution that relies on a sound.
The term "Whoo hoo" totally flops in the out-of-home executions because it has no tangible meaning outside the TV and radio spots.
The key insight and hook of your campaign isn't working if it can't be transmitted across all media in a cohesive manner using words and images that convey a solid, consistent meaning. You should never expect that someone will see more than one execution in a campaign, no matter how much money you're spending on media. Unless you embed sound chips in all your print materials, and when you pass by the billboards, it beams the words "Whoo hoo!" at your car and pipes them through your stereo speakers.
2. The entire hook of the campaign isn't supported across the customer experience after purchase.
All of the ad executions in TV and radio rely on invoking the emotional experience of starting a relationship with WaMu, and imagining how your day-to-day life and dreams become real as a result.
Dreams, meet responsibilities. "Whoo hoo!" isn't supported in the actual experience of being a WaMu customer in a consistent way after you've initiated a relationship. "Whoo hoo" becomes marketing fluff after purchase.
Since the campaign has come out, a few people who are long-term WaMu customers have mentioned to me how they have never felt "Whoo Hoo" about their banking relationship. In fact, they're looking to get out, and were prompted by the ads to make a faster exit. Was this an intended byproduct of the ads? Can't you make more money from making your current customer base happy, instead of going out and trying to land new ones? Talk about alienating your core constituency.
Plus, you know it's bad advertising when people start sending phone messages regarding said ads to your wife, asking her if said blogger feel embarrassed to be in the same profession as the people who created them. Or when people start blogging in such an eloquent manner to bring down the two-handed hammer.
3. Don't cultivate a rebel personality when you're really just pretending.
Do you sign up for banking services on a whim? Because of a feeling?
Being this unbanklike isn't necessarily good for a bank brand. Especially when banks make money off late fees, interest, etc. "Whoo huh?"
I'm a big fan of disruptive, polarizing ads -- if that's what they're intended to do. There are a number of brands, such as Axe in America, or Pot Noodle in Britain, who do a great job of being brash to the point of inspiring real brand hatred, inspiring a closed circle of ever more loyal product users.
In this case, what polarized me was recognizing the audience WaMu was really aiming at. Perhaps they have always been aiming at them, but it's just so baldly explicit in the ads, I can't help but take notice.
The people who float through dreamy interludes where they frolic and dance from the feeling of a bank that truly "gets them" -- those people are not doing so hot when it comes to finances. I can just hear the creatives presenting the concept: "The target audience -- those people 25-45 who are scrambling for money to make rent or their mortgage, that are dancing on the razor's edge with their finances to open their business or save for their children's college tuition -- will respond well to these ads. Because we've 'got their back' and a suite of great rewards for signing up with us, they'll switch to WaMu."
Gawd, that's bold. And exploitative. And insincere.
You're a bank. You hold people's money to make more money. You'd better "have my back." The last thing I want a bank to do is tell me that I'll feel good signing up for a bank account, because that feeling will fade. What I really care about is having money in my bank account and my bank not going under.
I have nothing wrong with the business strategy that is behind WaMu's staple Free Checking package. They've been hammering on it for years, positioning it in a number of different ways. It's the weak marketing strategy here that makes me cringe. WaMu isn't Umpqua Bank. Now they know how to be sincere.
You blew it, WaMu. Now go merge with Citigroup. You can join good company, as pundits have been tearing apart their ads for years.
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