Last year, Arnold kicked off its relatrionship with PNC Bank by announcing that the bank was boring. The distinctiveness of the idea stood out. It resonated with an audience dealing with economic uncertainty. And it was memorable – boring is why humans go on holiday, try difficult skateboard stunts and eat petrol station sushi, but in a bank boring is good.

This year, Arnold has taken its Brilliantly Boring Since 1865 brand platform for PNC Bank further, doubling down on helping folks divert risky money moves into the right ones by spotlighting the outrageous lengths people will go to with their finances, and positioning PNC as the brilliantly boring solution. It’s all about proving that boring works, by contrasting it with the flashy, risky, exciting alternatives that tempt PNC’s target audience every day.

The centrepiece of the campaign is a 30-second TVC, Naming Rights, that examines an interesting premise, What if parents could sell their kids’ naming rights to local businesses to offset the cost of kids these days?

The spot’s absurd humour presents PNC Bank as the help with much smarter financial ideas to set customers up for the future. The spot ends with the tagline, The right money moves aren’t as absurd as you think. PNC Bank. Brilliantly Boring Since 1865.

“Year two of our Brilliantly Boring platform continues to evolve our campaign using humour and risky (yet relatable) extremes to reinforce the virtues of our boring banking philosophy, further solidifying PNC as a smarter financial way forward,” stated Jenn Garbach, chief marketing officer at PNC Bank.

Naming Rights will extend into digital and social pieces as well, with an emphasis on native assets that feel less like tried-and-true ads, and more like content that sparks conversation, engagement and sharing, bringing PNC’s likeable personality to life in the context of everyday feeds. 

“This is one of the smartest, not-so-smart ways of making money we’ve come up with,” stated Arnold ECD, James Bray. “Super unexpected but right there in front of all of us. To be honest, I would happily rename my kids PNC One and PNC Two if it means helping out with all these travel sports team expenses.”  

The campaign will air nationally on broadcast channels and subsidiaries such as ESPN, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, Nick, Marquee Sports and the CW. Social media includes Meta, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Naming Rights is the first of 3-4 waves of content rolling out this year and next.

Where the campaign began:

Credits:

Client: PNC
Chief Marketing Officer: Jenn Garbach
SVP, Director of Marketing & Paid Media:Dresdyn Hefferen
SVP, Group Marketing Manager: Amy Farrell
VP, Marketing Manager Senior: Sara Needham
VP, Marketing Lead: Ben Langdon

Creative Agency: Arnold
Executive Creative Director: James Bray
SVPs, Group Creative Directors: Sam Mullins & Justin Galvin
VPs, Creative Directors: Patrick Harrington & Kelly Nichols
SVP Head of Business Affairs: Lisa Belden Colucci
Director of Business Affairs: Elyssa Ahern
SVP, Executive Producer: Whitney Bogosian
Senior Producer: Steve Caldera
EVP, Marketing Director: Sarah Taylor
SVP, Marketing Director: Laura Allen,
Marketing Director: Jaclyn Posner
Senior Marketing Manager: Maddie Basirico
Marketing Manager: Paige Hardy

Production Company: Anonymous Content
Director: Tim Godsall 
DoP: Darko Suvak
Line Producer: Laura Miller 
Production Supervisor: Amanda Musso 
1st AD: Craig Owens 
Production Designer: Mark Snelgrove 
Executive Producer: SueEllen Clair 

Post-Production: Arcade 
Editor: Will Hasell 
Assistant Editor: Paulo Miramontes 
Post Producer: Fanny Cruz 
Flame Artists: Tristian Wake & Scotty Hardin