Americans feel that big banks are about one thing these days: money. With distrust permeating the market, we needed to help Santander, a European bank new to the US market, stand out from a sea of banks. And we needed to do so with only 3% of the category’s regional advertising spend. There was no better day to talk about the banking brand than a day that was synonymous with spending. We chose Black Friday as our target and set out to refine that day.

To open the conversation, we asked people to tell us what they would do with their day. Being a financial services provider that was not acting like a bank went viral and we reinforced what Santander Bank really stands for. A bank that puts ideas into motion.

The campaign relied on a digital video to tell the story on what Black Friday could mean to consumers. We launched the digital video in paid social media the week before Black Friday. And on Sunday and Monday before Thanksgiving, we added front page print ads in the main dailies to show how Black Friday can take on a different meaning.

To complement to the story, we developed radio and outdoor to continue the dialogue on what Black Friday can mean to you.

Prior to the campaign, 80% of the comments via social media were negative to the brand. This one campaign, with only $60K in paid advertising against it, changed the tenor of the conversation in social media. Within hours of the posting, the conversation switched and people began talking about their personal connection to Black Friday. There were no negatives about the brand or its customer service woes. Instead, it was a conversation about values and the traditions that make Black Friday personal to the individual.

Was it successful? The campaign went viral and was mentioned in publications like Fast Company. And this outreach raised consumers’ interest in the brand, helping contribute to our results as fastest rising Google (non-national) search term in Massachusetts and Rhode Island last year. We made consumers take notice and they went looking for us. Google proved that this strategy was successful.