Last year American bank John Hancock launched a multi-channel advertising campaign that incorporated television, online and social media

The “Life Comes Next” campaign aimed to better understand potential customers and collect data about their stage in life.

Four television ads were launched, each depicting people in everyday life. The ads ran for just under 30 seconds each, with an open ending encouraging audiences to go online to see what happens next.

The microsite had a simple layout with the four scenarios. Selecting a scenario opened a YouTube embedded player which played the opening clip again. Below were three options for users to choose:

What I found really compelling was how each video showed the story play out in a different way.  I spent more time on here than I have on many other recent campaign sites; it had me!

In this great piece of video, the characters usually encountered a different person or situation in each ending, reflecting a common “life issue” surrounding finances.

Relevant statistics and a soft product sale for John Hancock was included at the end of each video, neatly tied together with the message “When Life Comes, Be Prepared for It.”

A pop-up in the last frame of the video led to a detailed page about how the bank can assist in a similar life stage/situation. This included an FAQ, as well as information on the different tools and checklists that can solve the problem, and a call to action.

This is a great content marketing case study because not only did it engage and present the bank as the solver of the problems, but it also enabled John Hancock to collect a huge amount of data about those who viewed the videos. Using actors in scenes that weren’t overly stylised or dramatic, as well as engaging social media posts to garner attention meant that people were interested in the videos from both an entertainment point of view and a relatable point of view.

Sparking the audience’s curiosity was the first step, but John Hancock went the extra step further by creating a campaign that was personal and individualised.

Nice work.