teo

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet II,II

Let’s start from the basics: it worked! I literally took out my phone to scan an advertisement QR code. And perceive my surprise as extremely honest. For years I’ve been wondering if people actually would make that gesture. And finally, I myself did. 

Here’s the complete story: a couple of weeks ago I was walking through the city centre of Milan, a bit late for an evening beer with friends. To Milanese people, advertisements don’t come as a surprise — ever. For being a smaller city compared to metropolitans like London or Paris, Milan is literally covered in brands, mostly fashion- and finance-related. So it’s a real challenge for marketers to capture the citizen’s attention, especially with offline media. Advertisements are an integral part of the city landscape; almost as much as air pollution is. 

I distinctly remember the 2013 ambient marketing campaign for Generali insurance Group when a submarine emerged through the cobblestone just a few meters away from the Duomo cathedral, with fake ambulances, fake policemen and also a fake news team reporting for a fake TV channel. That’s how you get the Milanese’s attention! With less effort you would more likely receive just a brief shrug.

So, yes, I admit to not being sensible to offline advertising anymore; not for a long time, at least.

That is why that evening, walking towards my well-deserved pint, I was shocked to admittedly find myself nose up looking at a 20-meter-long billboard — like the ones that cover up entire buildings during renovations of the facade — with a tiny hole in its middle, announcing: “We wanted to present our bank in style. That is why we are doing it from Teo’s window.” Allegedly Teo’s window, brightened by a warm light, was in that tiny hole in the billboard, simply pointed out by a blue arrow. “Old school storytelling”, I thought, pointing the camera at the gigantic QR code in the middle of the billboard, “Now they’ll tell me the tale of a fictional character’s endorsement to position themselves as a human brand,” I thought. In the meantime, the screen of the browser introduced me to the BBVA website, the advertised brand (which I until then did not know), where the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria presents this Teo guy: young, thick glasses, light beard and clever attitude, a Milanese architect. What I then found out contradicted my initial scepticism.

First of all: Teo is a real person;

Second: Teo is his real name (a nickname for Teodorico);

Third: he really is an architect;

but most important of all: his office really is behind that window embedded in the billboard! 

So when the blue arrow was pointing at Teo’s window, behind the glass was real Teo being a real architect, doing whatever architects do at 6 pm on Thursdays. 

With the concept "The extraordinary comes from small things", BBVA, recently recognized for the fifth consecutive year as a leader in digital experience in Europe by Forrester Research, has launched its first fully digital retail bank in Italy.

The brand lands in the country with a 360º campaign featuring a real person: Teodorico Carfagnini, a young architect and first BBVA customer in Italy to demonstrate the bank's intention to place the customer at the center of its business.

The campaign started with the installation of a tarp in Via Carducci, 13 in Milan.

In the short video pill, a voice over confides that Teo still doesn’t know that he is the protagonist of BBVA’s advertising campaign. A construction worker knocks on his window scaring him to death and asking him if he is Teo, “Yes, I am, but what the…?” All right! shouts the construction worker and gives a sign to his colleagues to put up the tarp.

I instantly decided to look up Teo on LinkedIn, hoping that he could tell me more about his role in this campaign. Incredibly enough, within a couple of hours the young architect wrote me back, arranging a call together with the Bank’s Marketing and Digital Sales representative in Madrid. 

So, Teo, I need to know how this collaboration between you and BBVA started. This campaign has made me terribly curious.

Teo: The collaboration with BBVA was born casually, like all beautiful things. I was coming back to my office after a morning spent round and round Milano, the concierge was talking to a guy, stopped me to say that I had to collect a small package for the company I worked for. To joke, I pretended that the package was extremely heavy and it worked, they both believed me, when I saw their amazed faces given the size of the package I laughed, and they with me. The guy was looking for real people to advertise the opening of BBVA and with this little involuntary sketch I impressed him and so the collaboration was born. 

How did it feel to see your office window pointed out on a 20-meter-long billboard in the centre of Milan. You seem quite shy for such a shout-out operation.

Teo: It was fun, every time I walked in or out of my office, I said to myself “Hey, that’s really my window and Teo is really me!” The funniest thing was the reactions of my colleagues when they realized it was not a coincidence but that the Teo mentioned in the advertisement was really me.

Do you think, in all honesty, that this kind of communication could be effective? And if so, why?

Teo: Yes, I think this type of communication is efficient for people living the BBVA experience, from the eyes of a person who has truly lived it personally has a greater impact than an actor playing a script. In fact, for a living I’m an architect and not an actor. With my real testimony I believe I have been able to pass on all this to other people as well.

Do you feel like the dress suits you? You feel, or at least have you felt for a while, to embody the bank’s character and values?

Teo: What you see in the advertising videos and interviews is totally me, there was no script to follow and no changes to my image. As an ordinary person I decided to represent BBVA because they were able to pass on the values of their bank to me and I was able to see with direct experience the advantages that led me to open a bank account with them, in fact I became the first BBVA customer in Italy.

Are you sad now that the billboard is gone?

Teo: Yes, I feel a little sad, I got attached to this welcome before starting work. It was a beautiful experience that I will always carry in my heart. I thank BBVA and all its staff for being able to make me feel part of this great project. The extraordinary - truly - comes from the little things.

***

Of course, the BBVA campaign - made by Accenture – doesn’t come as complete news to the marketing field; it didn’t blow my mind because of some totally disruptive features. Though in its simplicity and extreme honesty it caught my attention, because - and the context here is crucial - as many of you might know Milan hasn’t had an easy time lately. Being the epicentre of the European pandemic outbreak in 2020, fear has deeply shaken Milanese hearts which probably hasn’t happened since World War II. Citizens still carry the image of military trucks aligned in a long queue carrying hundreds of bodies that outnumbered the city’s ambulances during a tragic night in March 2020. In those days, humanity had saved Milan, a sense of belonging and the feeling of being part of a greater community, solidarity, smiles across terraces and music where empathy and generosity had saved the city. 

For this reason, today it might have felt obsolete to communicate the presentation of a new foreign bank using actors, while an authentic testimonial is truly more effective to entrust a confused and tired audience with a far more human approach. 

The BBVA campaign keeps the historical context of its audience in consideration, with a sensible touch and empathic grace, speaking a delicate and unpretentious language. The neorealist approach, quite vintage I’d say, of tracking down talents on the street is rebellious in its kind and finds its ground in the growing distrust towards social influencers, preferring more average shapes and tones of voice. This doesn’t necessarily mean a setback in marketing approaches, nor a populist attitude (so to say), but a research for a more truthful bond with audiences. 

It means listening, which as we know, has become a luxury item these days: listening to Teo, the real Teo, in his real office, highlighting his real life. 

first appeared on Human Brands Observatory on December 28th 2021

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