Creative: Newcampaigns

Schwab Casts Real Investors In Candid Ads Everyday Agency: Partners & Simons Client: Charles Schwab & Co. Co-Creative Directors: Jeff Billig, Don Easdon Copywriters: Jeff Billig, Rick Cohn Art Director: Don Easdon Producer: Debbie Finlayson Production Co.: Tony K. Director: Tony Kayepeople Call them anti-commercials. The first TV campaign created by Partners & Simons in Boston for Charles Schwab & Co.'s online services stands out for what it doesn't have: No voiceover. No musical backdrop. No props or costumes. No scripts. No artificial lighting. No sets or special effects. No tagline. It simply features Schwab customers in their homes, discussing their investment experiences in an easy-going, conversational manner. The aim is to demystify financial planning and drive do-it-yourself investors to Schwab's Web site. "We wanted to come away with little pieces of film, not do commercials," says freelance co-creative director Don Easdon. (Easdon was the art director 10 years ago on the well-received "Real Life, Real Answers" campaign for John Hancock Financial Services.) Adds co-creative director Jeff Billig: "Don't tell. Show. That was the whole idea. We wanted to let people see how investing is done by people who do it themselves." Schwab plans to put $30-50 million in media behind the national campaign, which broke last week. Eight spots introduce viewers to real customers, carefully selected by Schwab and the creative team to represent varying degrees of investment experience. Rick and Marion, a fun-loving retired couple, talk about buying stocks from a pay phone in Utah while traveling cross country in a mobile home. They are the kind of couple who finishes each other's sentences and relax with their laptop. "We enjoy playing. We enjoy investing. We enjoy traveling," says Marion, whom Rick describes as a "raging bull" when it comes to investing. He is more conservative, she points out. Their on-camera dialogue is intercut with brief screen shots of their portfolio as they explain how they use the Schwab site to guide their financial decisions. In a second commercial, a middle-aged mom named Holly talks about joining an investment club to find ways to finance her two daughters' education. The girls goof around in the background as their mother talks about their lives and investment goals. The spot closes on the face of her gap-toothed eight-year-old, whose expression freezes when mom says she puts money in stocks, "So you can go to college." The ads, conceived and executed in just 10 weeks, were directed by Tony Kaye. Each investor was filmed at home for up to eight hours at a time. Audio for television is being recut for radio. A print component will feature the same investors but provide greater detail on their investment strategies. If the campaign is successful (as measured by usage of www.schwab.com), it could be the beginning of a series. New commercials would revisit the customers and update their financial progress.

Brand Marketing

Creative: Newcampaigns

Judy Warner

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