Wachovia Launches New Retail Advertising Campaign Also en Español.

Wachovia Corporation marking another milestone along its merger timeline, launched a new retail advertising campaign to promote Wachovia Bank N.A.

This campaign focuses on money management, financial relationships and managing small businesses. In addition to seven new television commercials, the campaign includes print, outdoor and radio advertising.

“This new campaign shows Wachovia is a company that cares about its customers and wants to take all that they know and all that we have learned to create shared success,” said Kirt Hibbitts, director of marketing communications for Wachovia Corporation.

“Uncommon Wisdom for shared success,” is the foundation for all of Wachovia’s new corporate advertising. The basis of this campaign explores several compelling questions about the lessons that can be learned from common things and events in the world around us.

“Consumers are looking for a fresh voice in the financial services industry,” said Denzil Strickland, executive vice president and creative director at Mullen, Wachovia’s advertising agency of record. “They are looking for relevance. The Uncommon Wisdom campaign is about living in this world. By learning from the real world, and by applying that knowledge to financial issues, Wachovia stands apart from other financial institutions.” The campaign also recognizes that a significant portion of the South Florida population is Spanish speaking. Therefore, some of the ads in the campaign have been transcreated — with the help of Zubi Advertising in Miami, Florida — to be culturally relevant to the Hispanic community.

“Wachovia understood the importance of the Hispanic market and made it a priority from the campaign’s inception,” said Michelle Zubizarreta, Zubi Advertising’s Chief Administrative Officer. “The analogy concept for the Wachovia campaign, created by Mullen, resonated with the Hispanic market, and we helped to make the subject matter, images and copy more relevant.”

The new advertising will appear in Wachovia’s East Coast footprint according to Wachovia’s merger integration schedule, beginning in Florida and ending in the Northeast in late summer.