GSD&M Bows Everyday Investor Spots for Schwab

GSD&M unveils new work for Charles Schwab & Co.’s CyberTrader business this week.

Six commercials, scheduled to run on national cable financial news channels, also provide insight into the client’s recent decision [Adweek, April 15] to shift its corporate creative from BBDO in New York to the Austin, Texas, shop.

Unlike BBDO’s celebrity-driven offerings, such as this year’s Super Bowl TV spot featuring home-run kings Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds, GSD&M’s work portrays the everyday investor.

Men and women discuss their diverse investment styles in the introductory 60-second spot touting Schwab’s online trading platform. “I like to swing,” says one older investor. “I’m a swing trader.” The cozy shots meld into a techno-driven montage of Schwab’s CyberTrader services, such as streaming data and news, advance charting and the ability to customize the platform.

Other spots use animals to accentuate the dangers of following the herd. Sheep, wildebeest and goats are shown in the wild as the voiceover explains why the animals would make “lousy CyberTraders.”

Each commercial touts a price of $9.95 per trade and concludes with the tagline, “There are traders and there are CyberTraders.”

Co-creative directors Stephen Dean and Tim Sabo oversaw the CyberTrader campaign. Travis Waid wrote the introductory spot, and Greg Kohs directed.

The retail-driven work fits in with the overall strategy the San Francisco client plans to adopt for its broader campaign, said GSD&M group director Alicia Smith Kriese.

Kriese added that new corporate-image work, which could break as early as mid-May, will target a more general audience and have a different look and feel.

“It’s not going to be retail in the ‘Call-me-at-1-800 … ‘ sense,” she said. “But the objective is to move from nice to necessary and prompt people to take action.”

Charles Schwab spent $138 million in measured media during 2001, per CMR. GSD&M has been a Schwab roster shop since 2000.