(September 18 – 11:50 ET) – Richmond Savings says that it has won its six-year battle against the Canadian Bankers Association for the right to its signature advertising slogan “We’re not a bank.. We’re better.”
The credit union says the decision by the Trade-marks Opposition Board paves the way for a relaunch of Richmond Savings’ irreverent, award-winning “Humungous Bank” advertising campaign this fall. The “We’re not a bank. We’re better.” tagline was first coined in 1993.
The CBA opposed the slogan on the grounds that it violated the Bank Act, which states that any financial institution that is not a chartered bank cannot use the word “bank” to describe its services. The CBA argued that the credit union also couldn’t state that it wasn’t a bank, because in doing so it was using a prohibited term to describe its services.
“We pride ourselves on being an unconventional organization, and that includes our marketing approach. We’ve won the right to retain what has become a rallying cry for our whole organization and a benchmark for everything we do,” says Richmond Savings CEO Harri Jansson.
-IE Staff