How Not To Do it - Overpromising

Posted by Lior Arussy on October 7, 2009

2 comments | 2246 reads

In my travel this week in Europe I came across a new ad campiagn by a local bank. The bank advertising reads "14,000 Branches - Each one a banking pit stop at your service" the text was accompanied by a picture of a Formula 1 car.

Reading this text I was horrified. what a case of over-promising. An average pit stop at Formula 1 is 6 seconds! can the bank's service staff solve my problems at this speeed?
Any one fo the 25 mechanics working at a pit stop is empwoered to stop the competition and do the right thing. is that the level of empwoerment i should expect at the branch?
At a pit stop there is no manager it is just the mechanic and his task. should I expect a similar performance at the branch?

Using a pit stop analogy will evoke certain expectations. I just hope that the copywriter who wrote the ad and the marketing expecutive who approved it made sure that such claims are fully backed up by a ready and empowered to perform employees.

Lior Arussy

Lior Arussy is the president of Strativity Group and the author of five books, including Customer Experience Strategy The Complete Guide From Innovation To Execution (4i, 21). To learn more about customer strategies, sign up for Arussy's newsletter.

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Maxim Puzin

October 7, 2009

The ad is created to make people feel good

Hello, Lior!
The advertisment created to impress people, to make them feel good. It is just the feeling you link to the brand.
There are a lot of greatly exaggerated ads. Its not a promise to customers.
For example, loook at the great ad of Microsoft: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uswvZul1Z2s
We know for sure, the life is not as short as they show, but its funny and have some message to think about: hey, life is short, put your problems out and relax playing.

And the ad you've seen shows that the bank cares about the speed of their service. Maybe they just have faster service than any other bank has, not so fast as pit stop of Formula 1, but faster than any other bank has.

So the aim of such ads to show the message and make it funny. I would be boring if they would print a line "WE HAVE HIGH SPPED OF WORK, HIGHER OF ANY OTHER BANK".

The creative ad should send a message to customers in funny, surprizing way.

I don't know what bank exactly you mentioned, but i guess its ING. And as far as i know about ING bank, they really have good service and solve problems as fast as they can.

But if you have already been at that bank and their service is really bad and slow, then its a huge overpromising and i would totally agree with you. When they notice smth in their ad, they should be sure about what they are advertising.

Lior Arussy

October 8, 2009

Its about setting the expectations

Maxim, thanks for your comments. first the bank is not ING. I decided to keep the name confidential because the point was not a specific bank, but the principle. which is be careful about how your portray yourself you may create too high of expectations.

Lior Arussy

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