Hasta La Ideas

A documentary-style ad from Karmarama for both the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks aims to show that they understand the needs of their local communities

The spot comes in two versions – one with a Scottish accented voiceover for Clydesdale and a Yorkshire one for the Yorkshire Bank. “The idea was to set Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks apart from the big four and show that they understand the communities that they have been part of for over 150 years,” says Karmarama creative partner Sam Walker.

The ad is beautifully shot by director Vince Squibb and DoP Marcel Zyskind. “The film was shot in the regions the banks cover and the people featured are all real, doing the jobs they do everyday. We were aiming to give the film some scale while being true to the people within those communities. The film was shot over two and a half weeks and we covered hundreds, if not thousands of miles, changing our schedule at the drop of a hat to accommodate the schedules of the people we were filming,” Walker says. Film fans will recognise the Benjamin Britten music used as it also featured heavily in the movie Moonrise Kingdom.

It’s certainly a lovely piece of film but the strategy and the endline of “We care about here” may prove contentious. Apparently the agency’s brief was to “Underline the commitment Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank are making to the communities and customers they serve”. They’ve delivered on that, but a public with whom bankers are not exactly popular right now draw a parallel between that ‘commitment’ and the fact that in May last year the banks’ owner, the National Australia Group, announced that it was cutting 1,400 jobs in those same communities. In the current climate, can a bank genuinely claim to ‘care’ for anyone other than its shareholders?

RELATED CONTENT: See our previous post on bank advertising in the current crisis here

Credits
Ad agency: Karmarama
Creatives: Simon Connor, Stephen Cross
Creative directors: Joe De Souza, Sam Walker
Director: Vince Squibb
Production company: Gorgeous
DoP Marcel Zyskind
Post-production: The Mill
Editor: Neil Smith, Work Post
Audio/sound design: GCRS