Create 5 ads about the dangers of phishing scams, but make it fun.
The Challenge
Heck joined forces once again with our frequent collaborator Big Monocle to create an ambitious video campaign for the American Bankers Association (ABA), building on over a decade of collaborating on high-end video magic for the likes of Intel, eBay, and others. The ABA had a big ask: produce 5 ads about the dangers of phishing scams – but make it fun.
Funny is Money
Contrary to the “senior citizen victim” cliché, Gen Z and Millennials are now the most common victims of phishing scams – so we needed to create scroll-stopping content that could compete with Swiftie memes. Our previous campaign for ABA was BELOVED by the banks who rely on this content to educate their customers… so the bar was high for second round of content. Challenge accepted!
Heck’s secret sauce is our dual expertise in production and post, which gives agencies a one-stop-shop to scale up for big video projects, and video profits.
Collaboration from the start
Since most agencies (including Big Monocle) are VERY BUSY and don’t have in-house video crews, they depend on Heck as a trusty expansion to their team to sell more video work while upholding their creative standards. So the Heck team jumped in with Big Monocle’s copywriters to cook up a clear, comedic and consistent campaign around the tagline “Banks Never Ask That.” We had everyone around the virtual table laughing together, and since paper is cheap, we made extensive storyboards and animatics to perfect the timing and visuals before filming. When an agency is brave enough to go for entertainment value in their ads, and the client trusts that vision, preparation is key to make sure the end product is still making us laugh.
Smooth moves
The fun began with building the props and sets for each script, including a realistic safe, fake $100 bills, and a sack of slime (it’s hair gel!)
In a two-day filming spree, Heck filmed all five commercials with our talented Bay Area cast and crew. It was showtime for the Heck team, managing the logistics of many moving parts – allowing the agency folks and clients to focus on the creative results, and enjoy craft services by the heated pool on location. When the agency says “the client is thrilled!” on set, you know all the prep was a success.
We captured a car scene, an office look, and a green screen windstorm all on day one. But Heck’s proudest set piece was a living room set that quickly transformed from “normal” to “plastered with a million-dollars of prop cash”, complete with its own money tree (Where did that end up, anyway??)
Garbage day
On day two, we had planned to film a garbage truck for the next spot, but the local sanitation department was camera-shy... so we went another direction. Imagine our delight when a garbage truck just happened to round the corner to our location during filming, for a special pick up. Heck’s producer sprinted out to the driver and, with the help of a real $50 bill, we got the perfect truck shot after all. Kids, don’t ever give up on your garbage dreams.
Amy Stellhorn, CEO @ Big Monocle
“Teaming up with Heck for ABA was a great time! The collaboration was seamless, making the entire process easy and stress-free. And their creativity and dedication really brought our campaign to life. That’s the reason always look forward to working together.”
Post-production for the win
Once the cameras stopped rolling, Heck’s post-production team dived into editing with the directors, while our VFX artists added some magic and the motion team spun out some animated ads to round out the campaign.
Relationships Drive Results
Everyone at Heck understands that simply making quality, entertaining ads isn’t enough – the process itself must be frictionless, headache-free, and make the agency look good. Plus, the content must drive results for the agency and their client. Not only did our campaign generate big traffic to the landing page, but social engagement was also high – and we snagged a Telly Award, too.
With a brave agency like Big Monocle, and Heck as their trusty video partner, we elevated some banking PSAs to something really special. Take that, scammers!
Watch here.
See the finished spots, and learn how to spot a scam!
Delivered
These days, clients expect to pocket as many assets as possible, so we gave ABA some bang for the buck:
“Open This”: 30s, 15s, vertical, GIF, 30 w/ Spanish subs, Spanish vertical
“Wallpaper”: 30s, 15s, vertical, GIF, 30 w/ Spanish subs, Spanish vertical
“Windstorm”: 30s, 15s, vertical, GIF, 30 w/ Spanish subs, Spanish vertical
“Campfire”: 30s, 15s, vertical, GIF, 30 w/ Spanish subs, Spanish vertical
“Garbage Day”: 30s, 15s, vertical, GIF, 30 w/ Spanish subs, Spanish vertical
3 animated 15s programmatic ads
Promo video
2 radio ads
Recap video of the campaign
And of course, bloopers!