Who would have thought that a talking baby would be an
effective vehicle to market a new stock trading platform? Amazingly enough, the campaign has been extremely successful at promoting E-Trade, it's brand image and its product and services. Say what you want about the platform, the commercials are hilarious!
Take the following commercial from Super Bowl 43 for example. The ad features two babies, an African
American baby and a Caucasian baby. The
topic of conversation, investments, is quite dry, but E-Trade has successfully made
it a topic of interest; though indirectly.
The commercial is from 2009; a turbulent time in the US economy as many
people were afraid and skeptical of investing what remained of their savings in the stock
market. The commercial aims to calm those fears and is aim at people
who were afraid of the stock market by offering them control over their
investments and giving them hope of recovery.
As you may have noticed, the babies talk about the issues
which concerned most investors. These were, uncertainty, lack of control, and investor’s lack of confidence in
the US economic recovery. E-Trade uses
this knowledge to expertly address the issues that the investors faced. Take for example the song the African
American baby chooses to sing, “Take these broken wings” by Mr. Mister. Notice the subtlety with which they address
investors’ confidence. Anyone who has
heard the song will surely recognize the message of the song; hope.
The conversation is full of innuendo, hinting that though
the time for investing is not ideal, just as “it’s not the venue for flexing
the ‘golden pipes,’ E-Trade’s proprietary tools will help take control of your
investments and give you confidence in the market and help you be profitable.
E-Trade brilliantly employs effective marketing techniques
to attract new clients. It even boasts it's success and claims that it attracts 1000 new investors every day at the end of the
commercial.
If you visit E-Trade’s commercial website, there is no link
that will take you to their commercials or address their marketing campaign or
public relations. The website is all
business. It is professional, concise,
clear and very effective at displaying E-Trade’s brand and the services they
offer to their clients.
The marketing campaign is very successful because it employs
the right balance of humor, innuendo and subtlety to linger in the consumer’s
mind long after they have seen the commercial. Even though you may not be "in the market" right now, when you are, I'm sure you'll visit E-Trade's website to check out what they have to offer. Great commercial.
Posted by Farrukh Memon
I have enjoyed watching the E-Trade commercials and I think when they launched the campaign it was a brilliant idea. However, I think they have become worn out by now. However, it's been interesting to observe the changes with regard to demographics and race. I wonder if E-Trade will launch a version with a Hispanic baby. At least I can't recall having seen one.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen on Dr. Tuzovic but I'm sure they will have to address that as time goes on. Also I agree that the commercials have worn out and I can't recall seeing a more recent one but I do remember these from a few years ago. Thanks for the comment.
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