It’s so reassuring when banks shed their corporate sell and become human rather than telling you they’re human. US agency, TDA_Boulder, has realised there’s power in this and given First Interstate Bank and absurdly honest campaign in its first work for the bank.

The four commercials in No Nonsense Banking mock the bank advertising clichés audiences love to hate. Banks using humour well is reassuring too. The campaign doesn’t make First Interstate Bank “reinvent banking”. Instead, it positions the bank as bringing banking back to the basics – straight answers, human relationships, and tools that work.

The US campaign will run through the end of the year across 10 states, and spanning audio, CTV, digital display, high-impact rich media, out-of-home, social, and search.

Interestingly, the campaign’s Middle of Nowhere OOH is placed in places most major banks skip entirely – remote towns, some of which are where First Interstate has long done business, with headlines that speak directly to local audience – “The only B.S. out here comes from cattle,” “Because banking should be out in the open,” and “Out here, nonsense doesn’t last long.”

Credits:
Client: First Interstate Bank

Creative Agency: TDA_Boulder
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Schoenberg
Creative Director: Jeremy Seibold
Associate Creative Directors: Kyle Rathod & Sean Wright
Art Director: McKenzie Jenkins
Executive Producer: Dennis Di Salvo
Account Director: Layne Iafrati
Account Manager: Sydney Ebbeler

Production Company: The Sweetshop
Director: Michael Downing
Executive Producers: George Meeker & John Malina
Editing & Sound: Whitehouse Post US
Editor: Brian Gannon
Producer: Alicia Ryan
Sound Mix: Paul Hurtubise