You may well have seen plenty of banking adverts already this year. There’s been some about getting back to basics, some about rebuilding trust and others that just focus on the money. Here’s an ad from RBS that tries to do something else; it’s about being useful in this mobile world.
The ad is called “Here For You” and the singer in question is Rachel Sermanni, who is 22 years old and from Carrbridge in Inverness-shire. Wondering how a singer from singer from north of Aviemore ended up fronting an RBS campaign? It started with a tweet.
In Rachel’s own words;
I tweeted RBS and asked them what they would recommend for an account that would be good for a musician.
Rachel’s going places. She’s already played with Elvis Costello, Aly Bain and even Mumford & Sons. The ad itself isn’t about the glitz and drama of being a rising star but is more likely to appeal to folk up in the Highlands or countryside as it features mobile banking branches (RBS has a fleet) and online helpdesks.
Really like the song? If you pop over to the official “Here for You” webpage you should find the Soundcloud embed for it and a note that there are 10,000 free copies to stream or download.
It seems to be that RBS is doing two things; making sure it remembers to look back at its Scottish heritage but also forward to the future of banking. Grumble as I might at banking I find it hard to be upset over a respect for history or thinking about how technology and social media could be used to make life easier.
Disclaimer: This video has been sponsored by RBS. The text, thoughts and typos are my own. Cash raised by the paid placement goes towards hosting costs.