Talk with Tom
Get the dispatches from the new world of work
Badvertising: Wachovia
Wachovia Securities has a series of ads that I find to be trite, and a waste of money for them. The copy in these ads follows a pattern of "What does X have in common with Y," where Y is some sort of financial service.
I just saw one that has a shot of a ship plowing through arctic ice. The voiceover says, "What does an ice breaker have in common with an investment bank? You need someone in the lead to crush all obstacles."
Problems with this ad: First, it's trite and simplistic. Second, even if I believe that message, all it's done is tell me why investment banks are valuable, not why Wachovia is special. Third, anyone who makes decisions to select investment banks wouldn't learn anything from, or be impressed by, an ad like this.
Another case where the only winners are the ad agency and the media.
ARCHIVES
Before blogging became all the rage, Tom was posting book reviews and Observations (essentially early blog posts) to this site. You can find the archives below.
What Tom's Reading Archives
OBSERVATIONS ARCHIVES
right now
What we're talking about
on the front page.
Comments
Thanks Steve - plus the name "Wachovia" - what is that - Eastern European dessert? Citibank and Bank of America and Chase Manhattan - now those are finance names.
An ice breaker winter scene as spring and summer are upon us?
Posted by Sean at April 19, 2005 7:14 AM
I love these type of adverts - my mind always jumps to the wrong conclusions. So for this one
freezing your assets
cold customer service
hitting icebergs (titanic)
Posted by PaulH at April 19, 2005 10:13 AM
Wachovia? Isn't that from Star Wars? That Chewbacca guy is a Wachovia, right?
Steve, you sure the ad agency is a winner? If all they want is short term money, I guess they won.
Sad.
Posted by Dustin at April 19, 2005 11:10 AM
where's Tom? I haven't seen him post in a very long time...
Posted by Dean at April 19, 2005 12:34 PM
What does an icebreaker and an investment bank have in common? Once the course is set, it's almost impossible to change direction!
Posted by Richard Armytage at April 19, 2005 12:44 PM
Hahaha Richard, very nice.
Yeah, these ads are dumb. "Wow, you made...a connection. I still don't give a shit about the company, what they're selling, or why them instead of Joe's Investin' Firm."
Posted by Evan Erwin at April 19, 2005 4:29 PM
I think Wachovia needs to hire a new advertising agency. Using the icebreaker approach is effective in other products, like breathmints, athletic stuff, etc; but when used in banking and finances; cold turkey is what you're getting.
Posted by DJ SKYY at April 19, 2005 5:53 PM
Not only do the Wachovia ads, stink, they're getting worse as they run out of things to compare. Still, it's not as bad as any ad showing stupid, immature, or uncaring fathers, which there seems to be an inordinate amount of.
Posted by Michael Martine at April 19, 2005 7:19 PM
Wachovia's ads would be better if they tried to trigger an actual emotional reaction other than disgust. I see those "What does (random object/item) and investment banking have to do with each other?" and want to throw a brick at my TV.
If they had a 'candid' interview with a father starting a family saving for retirement and talking about how he'll get to fish more and get to know his son, then it'll make me want to start using Wachovia. Then again, who knows.
Posted by Andrew Poe at April 20, 2005 12:18 AM
"plus the name "Wachovia" - what is that - Eastern European dessert? Citibank and Bank of America and Chase Manhattan - now those are finance names".
USA!! USA!! USA!! (it's just jokes....)
Posted by fredd kambo at April 20, 2005 5:37 AM
Salespeople, more often than not (so I hear) become CEO's of large companies like Wachoiva. The Marketing Director frequently does not. That's part of the problem.
Ultimately, ads of that caliber are likely previewed by top brass and signed off on (meaning the agency sucked and the CEO signed off on it).
The other version (which is frustrating for ad guys like me that own the company) is that the agency desperately wants to position Wachovia the way they could be positioned, but due to bad ideas being dictated by the top brass, their hands are tied.
What do you do with that dilemma? Turn away the business - or roll with a client dictate?
Posted by Tony May / Mayday Media at April 20, 2005 10:21 AM
From the "About Wachovia" section of the Wachovia Championship web page...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What Does Wachovia Mean?
The former Wachovia (founded in 1879 in Winston, N.C.) and First Union (founded in 1908 in Charlotte, N.C.) merged on Sept. 1, 2001, to create Wachovia Corporation.
Wachovia (pronounced wa-KO-vee-yah) is the Latin form of the name "Wachau," (place of water) which was given to the tract of land in the Piedmont region of North Carolina settled by Moravians in 1753.
The name honored the settlers' connections to the Wachau Valley along the Danube River.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Posted by Brian Taylor at April 20, 2005 3:21 PM
Ok, and the connection to financial security? Not really a big deal, they just don't seem to have the "it."
Posted by Darren at April 20, 2005 3:48 PM
""USA!! USA!! USA!! (it's just jokes....)""
Swiss Bank Corporation (SNB) (Switzerland); Union Bank of Switzerland
Posted by Sean at April 21, 2005 9:35 AM
Here's the real problem with their metaphor: financial service companies make us all face our fear of death and plowing through an iceburg is not what we want. We want someone to make us feel ALIVE. We want someone to help us overcome our inevitable intolerable and say, "Get the f*ck off the chair and take the biggest risk of all - go live a happy, healthy life and let me help you do it!!" Come on now Wachovia - take a risk.
Posted by Wendy at April 21, 2005 9:48 AM
"Swiss Bank Corporation (SNB) (Switzerland); Union Bank of Switzerland"
lol.....point taken. And I agree...there is much in a name. On the other hand,some companies have managed to bend the world to accept their made up names as standing for something. Accenture?
Posted by fredd kambo at April 21, 2005 10:20 AM
Accenture - was thinking about that when Tiger won the Masters - we deal with Accenture and they tend to pass on Tiger as their "mascot".
BearingPoint is a puzzle to me since "bear" is a poorly performing market and they are heavy into finance.
Posted by Sean at April 21, 2005 10:27 AM