Santander: Hosed

One of a bank’s most important responsibilities is to protect and grow its customers’ assets. The trust between a customer and a bank is paramount, and demonstrating a respectful approach is key to building the relationship. Boston-based Santander, one of the country’s top retail and commercial banks with over 650 branches principally located in the Northeast and serving more than 2.1 million customers, is bringing respect back to banking and reaffirming its customer promise in a new integrated campaign, “Respect Adds Up.” Santander understands that respect is critical in every customer interaction, product, and service, and the campaign depicts just that.

“Respect Adds Up” launches with “Piggy,” a brand-differentiating :60 story, created in partnership with global creative studio Framestore, featuring a family’s pet pig that has gone missing. It opens with a little girl and her father posting “Lost” signs around their neighborhood. We soon find the small pig wandering around the city overwhelmed by the lumbering trucks, towering buildings and curious pedestrians. A group of young boys comes across the little guy and upon picking him up, they hear change rattle inside. Perplexed and curious, they shake the pig harder. This raucous causes a banker, inside a nearby Santander branch, to take notice. He runs out to the aid of the little pig causing the boys to drop him and scatter. Unexpectedly, when the pig impacts the ground, it shatters into pieces sending coins all over the sidewalk. The banker scoops up the broken pig, brings it home and begins gluing it back together. As he puts the final piece on, it comes back to life. He then cleans him up, puts the change back in him and takes him for a walk. This is when the banker comes across the “Lost” sign, and realizes that his new little friend actually belongs to someone else. The feel-good story closes with the banker returning the rehabilitated pet piggy bank back to the little girl. A narrator punctuates the end, “At Santander Bank, we want you to prosper. That’s why we treat you and your money just like you would – with respect. And respect adds up.”

The campaign will be supported on Santander’s social channels, as well as featuring OOH, radio and digital ads. Within this mix will be a second, product-based campaign that touts proof-points that demonstrate how Santander shows respect for its customers, their time and their money like easy-to-use mobile banking options and simple checking account features that waive the Monthly Fee.

This secondary campaign includes a series of online videos that uses a tongue-in-cheek approach to address the customer promise that has been somewhat forgotten, but that Santander is committed to. For instance, in one video a man is meeting his friend for a game of squash. As he enters the court, he awkwardly drags a large metal object in with him. His friend questions him about it, and he proudly answers that it’s a pole that he got from his bank. “You got that from your bank?” his friend asks. Again, the man says yes. “Gus, I think you got the shaft.” Suddenly, Gus realizes that his gift from the bank isn’t as great as he thought, and asks, “Have you ever gotten the shaft?” His friend says no and goes on to explain that Santander Bank gave him Instant Card Hold, “If I misplace my card, I can use my app to put it on hold.” The video ends with the thought, “We give you and your money respect, not surprises. And at Santander Bank, respect adds up.”