Advertising Case Study

Scotiabank
Background
Scotiabank is a Canadian bank that offers a full range of retail, commercial, corporate and investment banking services. The bank has over 18 million customers in 50 countries around the world. PHD Canada is the Canadian division of a media and communications agency with over 59 offices and 2000 staff globally.

Facebook Executive Summary

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Objective
Scotiabank decided to become active on Facebook to engage with consumers, to share insight and information, and, ultimately, increase brand awareness. The company wanted its Scotiabank Facebook Page to look beyond providing corporate information or a customer support page. It was looking to offer Canadians a way to share ideas about their financial situation. The perfect opportunity arose when the bank partnered with Canadian financial broadcaster and journalist Valerie Pringle for a nationwide series of town hall discussions about saving and personal finances. Valeries crosscountry tour was a chance for Scotiabank to build its presence on Facebook with an exciting, engaging campaign. The companys specific objectives for its Facebook activities were to raise awareness of Scotiabank, build a fan base, and engage with those fans in a valuable way.

Objective: Raise awareness of Scotiabank, build a fan base for the bank and engage with those fans in a valuable way Solution: Marketing campaign centered on an informative content program featuring a live seminar streamed on the companys Facebook Page and promoted with Facebook Ads Key Lessons: Facebook Pages and Ads can help amplify offline marketing activities and extend their reach Ads can also contribute to the success of online events and encourage viewership. Reach Blocks are especially effective in raising mass awareness of brand events

This was not just a Facebook campaign for us. Its the way that we are engaging with our audience now. Facebook changed the way that we do business.
Paul Regan, Director of Media, Innovation and Strategy, Scotiabank

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Approach
Scotiabanks Let the Saving Begin campaign had several components, many of which fed back to its Facebook Page and were promoted with Facebook Ads. There was a series of town hall discussions with Valerie and related content that were shared on the Scotiabank Page. The highlight of the program was a live stream event by Valerie on saving for retirement, which was streamed live on the Scotiabank Page. The first half of the campaign was about amplifying what was happening in the physical space during Valeries tour around the country, says Paul Regan, Director of Media, Innovation and Strategy at Scotiabank. The second half was about making something happen in our online space for our community. Why couldnt the next stop on the tour be Facebook? Media and communications agency PHD Canada managed the campaign and Mighty Digital developed the ad creative. A Facebook Ad campaign began running in August 2010 and helped build each of the program strands. Premium Like Ads pulled people to the brand, while Event Ads drew audiences for the roundtable discussions in cities around the country. The majority of the ads used Facebook Targeting to reach both men and women most likely to be interested in the content throughout Canada. Scotiabank also ran geo-targeted ads to attract audiences for Valerie Pringle tour stops in specific cities. In order to build a strong audience for the live stream event on February 1, 2011, Scotiabank used

a Reach Block, a media buy on Facebook Home Pages and other premium locations that guarantees a marketer will reach 100 percent of its target audience over a 24-hour period. The ads encouraged people to RSVP for the live-stream discussion directly through the ad. Scotiabank looked at hosting the live event on other Web platforms but came back to Facebook, because it wanted to ensure that the content remained accessible and active for the Scotiabank online community and was not isolated on a micro-site. We had all of that equity that we had built up in the fan base, says Daryl Stansfield, Digital Account Director at PHD Canada. Streaming was a great way to leverage that audience and continue to grow it.

Results
Over 4,500 people RSVP-ed to the online seminar through the Event Ad run with a Reach Block. It far surpassed what we thought the response rate was going to be, Daryl says Approximately 5,000 people signed on to view the live stream event on February 1, 2011. At one point, there were over 5,500 people watching at one time, suggesting a viral spread. The banks goal was 500 viewersit achieved over 10 times that Over 30 million people saw the Scotiabank Facebook Ads When Scotiabank began its advertising campaign, it had a fan base of 300 people. Five months after the campaign launched, over 10,000 people had liked the Scotiabank Facebook Page Scotiabank has seen increased levels of engagement with its Facebook Page, with hundreds of fans participating in discussions, posting comments and accessing video content. We have a sustained audience that is spending time with the brand. Thats what we wanted and thats what we achieved, Paul explains

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The Future
Facebook has become a key component of the banks marketing and communication plans. Scotiabank now has a dedicated social media manager on its team and is introducing new initiatives on its Page, including a Contributor of the Month, and a high level financial advisor who participates in conversations by answering questions in video format. The company is also planning to use further Engagement Ads to promote special video content on its Page to specific audiences. This was not just a Facebook campaign for us, says Paul. Its the way that we are engaging with our audience now. It is ongoing and it is who we are. Facebook changed the way that we do business.