Chase plans to introduce its first TV spot promoting its partnership with mobile payment service Apple Pay on Monday, according to the company. The ad, out of creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi, features members of indie pop band Bleachers roaming Los Angeles in the hours leading up to a performance. The musicians make purchases along the way using their Chase Freedom credits cards -- but through Apple Pay on their iPhones, not the physical cards.
Chase follows MasterCard among Apple Pay partners with TV commercials on the air.
"We've been working with Apple for a long time -- over a year -- on this partnership," said Chase Chief Brand Officer Susan Canavari. "We thought about their values as well as ours, and we both focus on our customers."
While Apple marketing head Phil Schiller retained final say on Chase's Apple Pay creative, Ms. Canavari called the company easy to work with. "We spent half day with them in Cupertino and they're storytellers," she said. "So are we." As guidance, the technology company took Chase through its history of marketing efforts with various partners. Apple's only actual mandate, according to Ms. Canavari, was to ensure that Apple Pay was used in realistic situations.
"Our concepts went to Phil, our storyboards went to Phil and someone from the brand team was on the shoot, so they were involved there too," said Ms. Canavari. In order to differentiate itself from other other Apple Pay collaborators, Chase focused on its small business services -- the barber shop, taco shop and guitar shop featured are some of the bank's actual partners in the Los Angeles area. Although it's all very new: "We had our teams out there and get their systems up and running," she explained.
The 90-second version of the ad will be available on YouTube as of today and a 30-second spot is set to air on NBC, ABC, Fox, CBS and ESPN during prime time TV shows, sports broadcasts and holiday specials throughout the season. Zenith handled the media buy.