Meet Marcus. Named after Goldman Sachs founder Marcus Goldman, Marcus by Goldman Sachs is the new consumer-facing online bank from the nearly 150-year-old financial institution. While Marcus was founded 18 months ago, it's now starting to ramp up its marketing in order to increase awareness around its product offerings, which currently include personal loans and savings accounts.
On Tuesday, the bank began a new campaign for its four-month-old online deposits platform. In two 30-second spots, Marcus highlights the differences between a digital bank and a traditional brick-and-mortar chain. In one commercial, a bank's money is saved under a pile of old mattresses. In another, a big pile of cash is so dusty it causes its feather-dusting housekeeper to sneeze.
"Is your bank just storing your money?" the text asks. "Earn 4x the national average with a Marcus savings account."
The spots are meant to highlight the interest possible with Marcus, versus the sometime zero-interest earnable with the competition, according to Dustin Cohn, head of brand and marketing communications at Marcus.
"People know Goldman Sachs for doing business with large institutions and high net-worth individuals—[part of the campaign] is intended to introduce Goldman Sachs to Main Street," adds Cohn, who joined Marcus three years ago ahead of its launch to the public in 2016. "We're not looking to be your only bank, but we're certainly looking to be your savings account that gets a lot more interest than you're probably getting today."
The spots will air in targeted TV markets and on social media. Marcus will also run radio and outdoor advertising. Last year, it ran a campaign called "Debt Happens" that focused on its personal loan product. Before November of last year, Goldman's deposits business was part of GS Bank, but it rebranded in late 2017 under the Marcus platform to provide one retail brand to consumers, Cohn says.
Marcus, which has about 600 employees and is headquartered in New York, worked with Elephant on the new campaign.
