May
25
Bank of America: Keep the Change
May 25, 2006
Traveling home from a meeting on a crowded New York City subway car, I got a glimpse of an advertisement placed above the door. The ad displayed a number of coins standing on their edge with the accompanying slogan "Keep the Change". Nowhere on this ad was the name of the company nor its contact information.
I struggled in the crowded car to look at the ad placed next to this one… maybe it would have the company name. Again, it was the same thing… coins and a slogan. Coins and a slogan. No other information.
As the crowd reduced, I realized that like many companies, this business managed to secure the entire upper portion the subway car, a common phenomenon on the NYC subway, consisting of approximately six horizontal ads over the doors and windows and two or three portrait ads placed below them.
Finally I was able to maneuver myself and view one of these portrait ads, where the words "Bank of America" (BAC) were printed.
Throughout most of my ride, I was intrigued by this ad, but had no idea what company it was for. If I Had I gotten off the subway, two stops earlier, I might never have known. Now some may say "if you really want to know about this ad, you would go on-line and search "keep the change" and get the info you need". And I would reply, "Why would Bank of America" spend all this money on advertising and then make it difficult for me to get the information I need?" Why make it harder for potential customers to find information? I would also remind them that in the age of the internet and cell phones, people want their information and they want it quickly.
This is not uncommon in advertising… particularly print advertising. Whoever designed the ad probably did so on their computer and thought it looked “cool… “ “beautiful”… “slick…”
But the ad is what I like to call "location-challenged". It was created in a vacuum, instead of created for its target location…the subway!
If the project team ever traveled on the New York City subway, they would know that most of the time one gets only small glimpses of the surroundings only to be interrupted by another head or elbow blocking the view. The trains are usually crowded… very crowded.
When you create advertising you must go to the target location and make sure that it will work within that environment. Otherwise you are doing the advertisement and your company a disservice… and worse, you’re probably not receiving the full benefit of the ad.
Two rules to live by if you’re responsible for advertising a business:
1) Place your company name on everything you print.
2) Always check out the ad’s living environment.
The following picture was taken two weeks after the original blog posting on a less crowded train. I would have taken pictures of the ad the first time I saw it, but the train was too crowded to take out my camera.
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Comments
1 Comment so far
Some of the points you make make sense and I especially agree with checking out the target location. However, I have a comment, or maybe a question….
Bank of America already has a presence in the city and its distinctive red and white color brand is also well known. Further, while true that on any one ride, only glimpses can be seen , but over many rides, you get to see a lot of the same surroundings; over the course of a month’s worth of commutes, you get to see pretty much every part of that ad. In small doses, over the course of many months, they build brand awareness. This ad built suspense and interest. Did you not, yourself, keep an eye out for a way to identify the company throughout your ride?
Anyway, excellent post!