Coast Capital is enticing future clients through educational upgrades.
With its latest creative, the member-owned finance co-op is dangling a free Coursera subscription rather than typical items offered by banks like retail gift cards. That means unlocking access to more than 11,000 courses, guided projects and certifications from 275 leading universities and companies, in exchange for signing up with an Elevate Chequing account.
The hero spot for the new Elevate account features a personal trainer making the pitch, and a background that includes people getting training upgrades like welding and negotiation.
The goal for the new campaign, Coast Capital VP of marketing Andrew Rusk says, was to use a metaphor for income growth that would help consumers understand how various tools with Coast Capital could help increase and improve their earning potential.
“We really hope that this strikes a chord where consumers now more than ever are struggling to pay their bills, struggling to prioritize where the limited funds that we all have go,” Rusk tells strategy.
“I think that for the first time in a very long time, it doesn’t really matter where in the Canadian economy you are, we’re all feeling the cost of living and inflation crunch, and we’re all looking for solutions that are different, that take different approaches from what we’re being served right now.”
Selecting the right financial partner is a difficult decision, says Subtej Nijjar, chief strategy officer at agency partner, Cossette. Nijjar adds that in many cases, people feel like the relationship with their financial institution is one-sided.
“The financial institution gets their investment, but they don’t get much in return,” Nijjar says. “That sparked something for us. Like a personal trainer, Coast is helping people get financially fit so that they can actually grow their income.”
The campaign features the tagline “feel the earn,” and Coast Capital’s pitch person says it’s finding ways “to help you get paid more.”
The campaign used the insight that the only way to actually develop and grow, personally and financially, is if someone pushes you to be the best version of yourself, like a trainer would.
“Everyday Canadians need new strategies to grow their income, yet this just isn’t an innovation we’ve seen from the banks,” Rusk says. “We’ve challenged that status quo with Elevate, a first-of-its-kind account that aims to help people in Canada elevate their earning potential.”
Rusk says the brand has typically been successful at reaching young, suburban families, but as they’ve seen more demand from millennials in metropolitan areas, this campaign is designed to reach that audience as well.
To further demonstrate the urgent need for this account, Coast commissioned a March Omnibus on the Angus Reid Forum through its PR agency of record, Citizen Relations. The online survey of 1,500 Canadians reveals that 48% of respondents believe that obtaining additional education or skills training would help them increase their current income. Among the other revelations: 72% of Canadians do not believe that better budgeting or increased savings alone would improve their financial situation.
Rusk says the campaign is Coast Capital’s marketing focus for 2024. The 360 campaign will span Radio, OOH, TSA, Social, and PR. Cossette Media is behind the buy. The campaign includes a return to TV advertising after Coast Capital took a pause on TV last year, Rusk says. It also leans into video as a storytelling mechanism, to highlight how big the Elevate product feels.
With files from Andrew Jeffrey
