CIBC’s new campaign features a photo finish

Who: CIBC, with Juniper Park\TBWA for strategy and creative, Soft Citizen for production (directed by James Lees); Rooster, Oso for post-production, and MediaCom for media.

What: A new campaign promoting the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite credit card that taps into the nostalgia of youthful hobbies and the joy of pursuing creative passions as an adult. It is the sixth campaign in CIBC’s nearly one-year-old “Ambitions Made Real” brand platform, and the first promoting a credit card product.

When & Where: The campaign launched this week, running through the end of the year on TV, online video and social. Additional digital assets will be released as the campaign progresses, showcasing as many as 30 hobbies/passions that CIBC clients care about.

Why: The campaign is promoting the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite credit card, which offers users up to 4% cash back on purchases. “Canadians love rewards, and we wanted this campaign to be a celebration of what you could do with cash back from a CIBC Dividend card to pursue your ambitions,” said Esther Benzie, CIBC’s vice-president, marketing and client communications. “This spot speaks to making long-held dreams a reality, with the CIBC Dividend card as a means to achieving this, responsibly.”

How: The spot uses two visual styles to show a woman who has been a photography buff since she was young. It opens on grainy images of her younger self using a variety of cameras before cutting to the present day, where we see her in a photography store debating an expensive camera purchase.

“I’ve wanted a good camera since I was 15,” she says in the voiceover. “Should I get it?” The spot depicts her using her would-be new camera in a variety of scenarios, before she realizes that she can buy it using the extra funds available to her because of the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite credit card. As in previous campaigns, the CIBC’s diamond-shaped logo is depicted as a portal that serves as a gateway to her ambitions.

And we quote: “By tapping into happy memories of hobbies or passions that may have been on the back burner in recent years, this spot demonstrates that the cash back from the CIBC Dividend card can be used for something that makes you happy—whatever it may be.” —Paul Little, group creative director, Juniper Park\TBWA

Chris Powell