RICHMOND SAVINGS RETURNS TO SIGNATURE AD SLOGAN
By Adnews Staff
Next week marks the re-launch of Richmond Savings' "Humungous Bank" campaign following a six year battle to trademark the credit union's signature slogan. In 1993 Richmond Savings and its advertising agency at the time, Palmer Jarvis DDB of Vancouver, created a new slogan for the credit union: "We're not a bank...We're better." In 1995, the two launched an ad campaign called "Humungous Bank" that was designed to build upon the trademark slogan and play on the common frustrations associated with banking experiences. The Canadian Bankers Association opposed Richmond's ad slogan saying its violated the Bank Act which states that any financial institution that is not a chartered bank cannot use the word "bank" to describe its services. The association also argued Richmond Savings couldn't state it wasn't a bank, because it would be using a prohibited term to describe its services. A decision made yesterday by the Trade-marks Opposition Board ended the battle for the credit union to trademark its slogan. Richmond Savings plans to re-launch an updated version of its "Humungous Bank" campaign building on its original concept. The new campaign, from Richmond's new agency ReThink of Vancouver, will again build on the slogan and highlight banking frustrations with a focus on advice.