Skateboarders - ING | Clapboard Ad Archive

Skateboarders, the 2016 campaign from ING and agency Serviceplan, brings a fresh dimension to the finance category by standing squarely within what Clapboard's taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#10—Associated User Imagery, leveraging the universal visual language of youthful ambition and relatable personal projects to humanize banking at a critical time of year. The film, set in Belgium and delivered in Dutch, uses a montage structure centered on Victor's optimistic skateboard project, aligning ING’s brand with narratives of possibility, perseverance, and goal-setting without resorting to overused financial tropes or didactic problem-solution formulas. Instead, Serviceplan crafts an inviting and resonant New Year’s greeting that translates the bank’s business promise—enabling progress and supporting customers’ aspirations—into emotional storytelling, positioning ING not just as a provider of financial products, but as a trusted partner in life’s formative moments. The absence of celebrities, explicit dramatizations, or overt product demonstrations keeps the focus on authentic lifestyle representation, making the campaign an accessible invitation to all viewers embarking on their own journeys in the new year. Through Victor’s sympathetic project and a series of genuine, energetic visuals involving skateboarding, the campaign elegantly links the youthful spirit of ambition to ING’s core brand values, emphasizing the role of the bank as a conduit for dreams and achievements rather than simply as a transaction facilitator. It’s a technique that relies on associative meaning and community aspiration, reaching across demographics by tapping into the hopefulness that defines the start of a new year and translating it into a memorable brand experience. Serviceplan’s nuanced approach elevates the typical New Year’s finance messaging with visual storytelling that is as contemporary as it is emotionally connective, subtly reinforcing the idea that every personal project, no matter how humble, is worthy of encouragement—and, more pointedly, worth banking on. Clapboard rates this 56/100. In a market often crowded by transactional messaging, ING’s Skateboarders demonstrates that empathetic user imagery can recalibrate a financial institution’s public persona for relevance and relatability.