The Campaign

Many of those who trade on the U.S. markets out of Singapore and Hong Kong have developed a pretty bad habit: they have become certified ‘ghosters’. Because of their nocturnal lifestyle and erratic schedule, they have a tendency to swiftly exit (or ‘ghost’) from social engagements on a routine basis – or to not even show up at all. Clearly, this is a disaster for their social and family life. Among the local trading community, this is a well-known and unfortunate byproduct of their passion. 24/5 trading from TD Ameritrade is the solution they’ve been waiting for. Now Asian-based traders can trade select securities on the U.S. markets whenever they like – 24 hours a day, 5 days a week – and still be present for their friends and family every single day.

Creative Execution

The film was shot to look like an authentic news feature. It was broadcast as an uninterrupted 5-minute spot on regional Bloomberg TV. Our intrepid reporter is investigating a troubling new phenomenon affecting South-East Asia’s financial capitals. It’s called ‘ghosting’. As he explains in detail, ‘ghosters’ are typically successful, ambitious individuals who have a habit of going missing from social occasions at night. A surprising pattern emerges from his research: because of a dramatic difference in timezones, these individuals have been ghosting on their loved ones in order to trade U.S. securities in real time. Our reporter meets a ghosting expert who, after years of research, has finally found a solution: 24/5 trading, from TD Ameritrade. This innovation allows ghosters to trade select securities on the U.S. markets whenever they like – 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.

At the time of writing, the campaign has been live for less than 2 weeks, so we are still waiting to consolidate results. However, anecdotal feedback on the campaign and the introduction of 24/5 trading has been very positive so far.

Financial services is a notoriously dry category. Not usually a source of ‘entertainment’. For this project, we needed to promote a unique innovation to a very specific audience – elite securities traders. We knew our audience were technically savvy. But they are also normal people, with their own odd habits and quirks – and, we believe, a sense of humour. Rather than hard-selling them on technological wizardry, we opted for a more indirect approach. We decided to present the innovation in an entertaining way – and in a way our audience could relate to on a more human level.

In the world of elite securities trading, this innovation is considered a true breakthrough. For that reason, a typical 30-second commercial wasn’t going to cut it. This was some really big news. So, in that case, why not make it news… literally. Taking a more indirect, tongue-in-cheek approach, we saw an opportunity to ‘embed’ our message inside one of the most trusted sources of financial news and insight: Bloomberg TV. We knew our audience had a deep understanding of the idiosyncrasies of trading on the U.S. markets. That meant we could speak directly to them, in a way they could uniquely relate to. Rather than focusing on the technical details, we wanted to reveal a truth about how trading affects people on a human level – and then demonstrate how our new product could help.