R/GA Launched First Broadcast Campaign for E*Trade

Back in January, we learned that E*Trade had decided to drop Ogilvy as AOR after less than two years and go with R/GA, which had been creating digital work for the client for some time.

This win came as the agency planned “a new emphasis on TV work” for 2015, and its first broadcast campaign for the client quietly debuted nearly three weeks ago.

The campaigns are similar to Ogilvy’s work for the client in that they star Kevin Spacey, but the theme is now “Opportunity Is Everywhere.”

The first ad, “Beards,” is aimed at the kind of woman who might be spending a little too much time on the L train:

After watching Sunday night’s Mad Men, we can only say that we hope mustaches NEVER come back.

In the second spot, “Fast Food,” Spacey observes an investor who may be the last man on Earth to see the latest McDonald’s ads or stop by his local Chipotle:

Point taken, though. Finally, the most recent ad involves an impressionable everyman witnessing yet another thoroughly awful trend: “barefoot shoes.”

Cool. Now do “smart watches.”

 

Agency: R/GA

Taras Wayner, SVP Executive Creative Director

David DeCheser, Group Executive Creative Director

Michael Lowenstern, VP Digital Advertising

Lee Margolis, Creative Director

Philip Rackin, Group Strategy Lead

Peter Pawlick, Associate Planning Director

Kat Friis, Director of Broadcast Production

Kelly Wood, Executive Producer

Jeff Skutnik, Senior Producer

Jonathan Goldmacher, VP Client Services

Michael Beverley, Account Director

 

Production Partners:

Wayne McClammy, Director

Hungry Man, Production Company

Rock Paper Scissors, Edit House

Brand New School, Graphics and Design

Kevin Spacey Joins E*Trade’s New Ad Campaign as a ‘Type E*’ Talent Scout

When Kevin Spacey appears on screen these days, you expect him to speak to camera in a South Carolina drawl, assess his chances at screwing over a rival, and perhaps even (spoiler alert) kill a person or two.

He does none of those things in E*Trade's new campaign from Ogilvy & Mather, but does aim for an air of mystery in his role as a "talent scout" who can tell by looking at someone whether he or she is "Type E*"—the company's term for sophisticated, savvy, self-directed investors.

This Spacey spot is the first in what will be a series, Ogilvy tells us.

An earlier spot that launched the campaign was titled "Epic Musical" and featured everyday people singing and dancing because they are Type E*. The new campaign follows the demise of the E*Trade baby, the star of Grey's longtime campaign, who was put out to pasture after six years of never growing up.

"If you think about it, our target has grown to become more sophisticated, so the baby needed to grow up as well," said Russell Messner, global managing director at Ogilvy. "That being said, we did not want to alienate the smart wit and irreverence that are inextricably linked to the E*Trade brand. We believe Kevin Spacey, our 'Type E* Talent Scout,' is a great embodiment of this new phase in the brand's history."

CREDITS
Client: E*Trade
Spot: "Talent Scout"
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, New York
Executive Creative Director: Steve Howard
Group Creative Director: Chris Van Oosterhout
Chief Creative Officer: Alfonso Marian
Copywriters: Gage Clegg, Ian Going, Chad Johnson, Allison Lackey
Art Directors: Lauren Van Aswegen, Kevin Riley, Becca Morton
Executive Producer: Maureen Phillips
Global Managing Director: Russ Messner
Executive Group Director: Adam Puchalsky
Account Director: Melissa Bartolini Kearney
Head Planner: Margaret Rimsky
Senior Planner: Ned Sonnenschein
Director: Stacy Wall
Senior Content Producer: Karen Rossiter
Production Company: Imperial Woodpecker
Editing: Chris Franklin, BigSky Edit
Music: Tonal Sound
Color Correction: Chris Ryan, Nice Shoes
Mix: Tom Jucarone, Sound Lounge

 




Here’s the Last E*Trade Baby Commercial You’ll Ever See

After six years of infancy, the E*Trade baby is finally moving on with his life.

This week, the online brokerage began airiring what is said to be the last ad featuring the longtime spokeschild, a Super Bowl staple since 2008. As a bit of an admission that the campaign has started to get stale, the spot shows the baby being subjected to a new sidekick. In true 2014 Internet style, it's a zany cat.

The campaign's end was somewhat inevitable, given that the agency behind it, Grey, resigned the E*Trade account in 2013. Just a month later, the account was handed to fellow WPP Group agency Ogilvy & Mather.