Ads, social media eschew product promotion for storytelling that makes emotional connection to customers’ desires, needs
On Monday, April 27, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) will launch a new
integrated marketing campaign featuring storytelling that conveys Wells
Fargo’s appreciation of the many reasons why people work, and resonates
with consumers by connecting at an emotional level.
“By recognizing and appreciating people’s hard work, and, importantly,
why they do it, we are showing them we understand their desires and
needs. We believe their ability to see that in us is fundamental to
customers welcoming Wells Fargo to help them succeed financially,” said
Jamie Moldafsky, Wells Fargo’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Caring is core
to who we are at Wells Fargo, a belief that very much influenced our
approach to this campaign.”
The campaign’s first TV ads will debut on Monday, with others premiering
later in the week and into next month. As each new ad premiers, they
will also appear on Wells
Fargo’s YouTube channel, other campaign elements include radio,
print, in-store, ATM, online and digital. Wells Fargo will also invite
social media fans and followers to use the hashtag #WhyIWork and
share stories about what motivates them – be it to start a family, to
start a company, to have more time to volunteer or mentor, or to have
the financial resources to care for their loved ones.
Moldafsky said the new campaign aims for a variety of narratives,
reflecting Wells Fargo’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and its
“total market” approach to major marketing initiatives – outreach to
mass market audiences through fully integrated cross-cultural approaches
and messages that represent the increasingly diverse U.S. population and
incorporating cultural cues with universal appeal.
“We believe you can create marketing that resonates with a wide range of
people if you have storytelling with universal themes that they can
emotionally connect to,” Moldafsky said. “The message behind our new
advertising is a great example - we all work, and do so for what are
often emotional reasons. That’s a place where we think Wells Fargo’s
brand can have a very meaningful connection with people.”
As an example, one
of Wells Fargo’s new commercials depicts the emotional journey of a
same-sex couple as they prepare to adopt a young deaf girl. The two
women are followed as they learn sign language, leading up to meeting
their new daughter and helping ease her worries by showing they can
communicate with her. The ad, which is the first national commercial for
the company to feature a same-sex couple, shows that people work hard
for different reasons, in this case to grow their family.
The new campaign is also the first time the company will feature a
television commercial for its Wholesale Banking group, highlighting the
hard work, and teamwork, that comes with growing a company. Wells Fargo
is the country’s largest commercial lender to mid-sized, or “middle
market” businesses, in addition to being one of the largest community
banks, home mortgage and consumer lending businesses.
The new campaign is Wells Fargo’s first with BBDO-San Francisco, its
agency of record since March 2014. It is the latest expression of the
company’s long-running brand positioning, “Together we’ll go far.”
About Wells Fargo & Company
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified,
community-based financial services company with $1.7 trillion in assets.
Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides
banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial
finance through more than 8,700 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet
(wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 36 countries to
support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With
approximately 266,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three
households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29
on Fortune’s 2014 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells
Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help
them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells
Fargo Blogs and Wells
Fargo Stories.
