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Fifth Third leverages Vine, Twitter to stand up to cancer

Fifth Third Bank is leveraging mobile-only applications Vine and Instagram as a part of a social campaign to raise money in battling cancer.

Every time a consumer uses the hashtag #PayToTheOrderOf, Fifth Third will donate $1 to Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) foundation. The idea is that consumers make a dedication to someone they know who has had cancer with a video, photo or personal story.

"The SU2C and 'Pay to the Order Of' campaign demonstrates Fifth Third Bank?s commitment to finding unique solutions to improve lives and the well-being of the communities we serve," said Shannon Paul, vice president of social media strategy for Fifth Third Bank, Cincinnati, OH. "We are using this campaign to reach consumers ? whether they are looking for a new bank or not ? with a compelling message and way to get involved in the fight against cancer.

"We understand that a growing number of consumers are using multiple devices to conduct business, do research and engage in social activities online," she said. 

"Mobile was a key consideration throughout the development of the campaign in order to ensure that everyone, whether they were on a desktop or mobile device, would have the same opportunity to learn more about how they could do business with us, or simply share his or her story or image with the #PayToTheOrderOf hashtag to help raise money for Stand Up To Cancer."

Stand up to cancer
The campaign ties in a number of different channels and media to support the battle against cancer. Consumers can use the campaign hashtag on Vine, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube to participate.

The videos, photos and stories that are posted with the hashtag will then be published in an interactive galley at 53.com/SU2C.

Fifth Third will also donate $150 to SU2C for every checking account that is opened until March 31. They will also give the consumer $150 when they make three online bill payments.

Additionally, Fifth Third has partnered with MasterCard to create a special edition card. Every time the card is used, Fifth Third will make a donation to SU2C.

There are also TV spots and videos that promote the campaign. These will run on print, radio, digital and out-of-home as well.

?Replacements? shows a boy trying to find a cure for his class crush. ?Checkbook? tells the story of one cancer survivor.

Fifth Third worked with Leo Burnett to create this multichannel campaign. The idea behind the campaign is to see if opening a checking account could help fight cancer.

Mobile banks
Banks have traditionally been somewhat hesitant to jump into new technology compared to other verticals, but Fifth Third is showing that it values mobile as a marketing channel.

A few other banks have experimented a bit with the medium.

For instance, North Carolina-based BB&T Bank released a mobile video game application to aid the company?s community service efforts in sharing its leadership model with the world (see story).

Other financial institutions have gotten creative with mobile as well.

Fidelity has been testing a Google Glass app that would enable users to view a hands-free display of quotes from major United States stock indexes at market close (see story).

Esurance recently leveraged mobile and social for a post-Super Bowl sweepstakes surrounding the hashtag #EsuranceSave30 (see story).

Fifth Third is wise to tap into this mobile, social opportunity to get ahead in the game.

"We?ve taken into consideration that a growing number of consumers are accessing social media as 'mobile only' or 'mobile first' users," Ms. Paul said. "As many as 189 million Facebook users were considered 'mobile only' a year ago and that number continues to grow.

"By introducing a number of social and grassroots components, we are hoping to shake up perceptions about typical bank advertising in order to be more relevant with consumers," she said. 

"Our social elements ?including the $1 donation for each eligible use of the hashtag #PayToTheOrderOf on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Vine ?give consumers a meaningful way to get involved and help us spread awareness."

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York