For Royal Bank's new campaign, just two problems

You've probably seen a TV ad from RBC's new Carry the Torch campaign: colourful and cute plasticine-like people pass the Olympic Torch along a miniaturized version of the Canadian landscape, arriving in Vancouver to light the final flame. All set to infectious music and lyrics, the spots are very catchy indeed.

There are just two problems: the campaign is a waste of Brand equity and a waste of money.

A waste of Brand equity, because RBC had been steadily building its Brand in the fertile ground (especially for banks) of putting customers first. Hence the long-running First campaign, which situated customers as the “i” in First. But RBC has tossed First aside for an entirely new idea that has zero equity.

A waste of money, because enormous expense could have been saved by adapting the First campaign to support the Carry the Torch concept — instead of paying an ad agency top dollar to invent an idea from nothing. It wouldn't be the most difficult thing to imagine at least some connection between the Olympics and “First,” now would it?

What does the Brand Coach coach?

We are reminded, literally at RBC's expense, of these Brand-building maxims:

• Consistency is the number one rule of Branding: because a Brand is what people think of you™, they won't know what to think if you keep changing the message. Take your consistency cue from TD Canada Trust and the green chairs of Banking can be this comfortable.

• Old Friends are a Brand's worst enemies:  those closest to the Brand message get tired of it first and want to kill it off (seemingly always at the moment the message is starting to sink in with your target market).

• When tempted to revisit long-running ad campaigns, think fresh, not new. Direct your creative people to keep your current campaign great — it's a difficult challenge far more worthy of their talents than the easy route of wiping the slate clean.

• One-off Super Bowl ads are not Branding.  Yes, this is the Olympics, but the same misguided urges to blow big money apply.