Battle of Mortgage Campaigns: Scotiabank vs RBC

Here we are in the second round of our Bank Battle Series searching for the best mortgage campaign. So far, round 1 saw razor thin victories and we expect the competition to get tougher this time around. The competitors still left in our tournament are Scotiabank, RBC, ING Direct, and TD. What we are looking for is the ability to effectively target prospective mortgage consumers to gain market share. We’re using available TV commercials and videos from the internet to judge each participant.

Banks are the number one source for new mortgages and according to CAAMP that number is almost at 50% since 2010. With the mortgage industry expecting to grow further this year, it’s a necessary move for lenders to get as much of the market pie as they can, using the best marketing strategy possible. Let’s take a look at today’s contenders who share a similar background.

CONTENDERS:

In the red corner: Scotiabank, out of Toronto, Ontario by way of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In the blue corner: The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), also out of Toronto, Ontario and founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

VIDEO CAMPAIGNS:

Scotianbank’s Marketing Theme(s):

“Flip the coin mortgage plan”

“Diversify your mortgage”

“Mortgage-free faster”

“How Will Changes to Canada’s Mortgage Rules Impact You”

 

RBC’s Marketing Theme:

“Mobile Mortgage”

“New to Canada”

THOUGHTS:

We’re so proud of Scotiabank’s YouTube mortgage videos which were done in both English and French. We found a new ‘mortgage video’ to add to Scotiabank’s growing list. This video focused on education and we really liked the purpose of the video, that is, the new Canadian mortgage rules that took effect earlier this year. However, the Scotiabank representative in the video wasn’t the most charismatic guy, which leads us to believe that they didn’t hire an actor for the part. We think it’s a great touch of transparency and honesty from Scotiabank.

It’s rare to get an apples-to-apples comparison with our mortgage ads, but RBC’s “Mobile Mortgage” commercial offered the same mortgage solution as Scotiabank’s “Flip the Coin Mortgage” spot – which was to get a split fixed and variable mortgage. So who did it better? Frankly, we think Scotiabank edged RBC’s attempt because we’re such suckers for comedy. Mortgages aren’t always the most exciting topic to talk about, so when someone incorporates a little humour, they’re bound to capture attention a little better than the next person.

CURRENT MORTGAGE RATES:

Let’s compare mortgage rates and examine RBC and Scotiabank’s current 5-year fixed rates and 5-year variable rates :