The rules of the game have changed:

The recognition of collective responsibility is replacing the desire for individual ease and convenience. Americans are increasingly values led: what we drive, what we eat, where we shop, and who we do businesses with matters.

A tipping point for the newly enterprising and newly courageous:

American Millennials (ages 22-37) are a generation who have only known a climate that is ever more erratic; that questions the authority of those who say “it has always been this way.” But who also see the power in diversity and how to turn their social connections into societal power. A generation that has seen the power of how technology can level the playing field of business, reduce barriers, and create opportunities for individuals and the planet.

Bank of the West had already made bold decisions on what they would fund and what they wouldn’t:

ending financing for companies involved in Arctic drilling, tar sand mining, fracking, coal-fired power

plants, Big Tobacco and other industries that had a negative impact on people and the planet.

With “Where You Put Your Money Matters,” we purposely put the bank’s investment policies in plain

sight, challenging customers to consider what they might be inadvertently funding through their bank.

Armed with a big insight but a small budget, we bought high-impact OOH and targeted paid social in our core markets where we knew people shared our values, making declarative statements on Bank of the West’s investment policies. Not only were we confronting what people should expect from a bank but we were also confronting every banker, bank message and logo competing for their attention.

The Insight/Breakthrough Thinking:

Conversations with bank stakeholders revealed an untapped truth: bold policy decisions reducing harm for people and the planet. So, rather than compete on traditional bank benefits, we revealed our bank’s moral compass as a reason to choose. By pairing our unique stance on what we won’t finance with the inconvenient truth that the money you deposit has consequences, people were intrigued.

We immediately saw in testing that our insight and our values were compelling, sticky, and didn’t just

change what people thought about Bank of the West, but changed what they should expect from a

bank.

This represented a sustained differentiation and advantage no other bank could own. It was also

an opportunity to press an advantage at a time when one Bank of the West’s strongest competitors in our footprint, Wells Fargo, was riddled with reputation issues.

Also significant to our situation, 91% of our Millennial target believes overwhelmingly in climate change, and are deeply concerned. In our very divided nation, this is one issue that almost an entire generation agrees with. What we are not doing is perhaps more critical for this group than any other message we could share.

Immediately, people were calling, asking if they could give the bank their money. In fact, our first month in the market was the best month of retail growth for Bank of the West in seven years!

“Where You Put Your Money Matters” continued to outperform campaign goals, giving customers the emotional permission to look past competitive deficiencies and choose us on shared values:

• +50% increase in brand consideration

• +32% increase in household acquisition

• Achieved 140%+ growth against campaign goal in key markets

In a category where business builds through relationships and outreach, we immediately claimed new leads upon our POV reveal:

• SMall-To-Medium Enterprise saw a 417% increase in leads.

• Commercial Banking initiated negotiations with a $250MM renewable energy prospect

• Wealth received numerous new clients, including a new $12MM relationship

We changed what people thought they should expect from a bank.