Marc Forster Takes Us From Sea to Space in Stunning Julius Baer Ad

The ‘Visionary Thinking’ campaign is a key aspect of Julius Baer’s approach to setting the pace in the industry with forward-looking, innovative ideas and solutions. It aims to establish the Bank as a leader in international private banking and as a visionary partner that makes clients aware of the challenges of tomorrow. The campaign complements and supports Julius Baer’s ‘Next Generation’ efforts which aim at providing sustainable and socially responsible investment ideas.

The motifs examine the trends that are changing the world and shed light on how they can be translated into comprehensive investment solutions. In doing so, the campaign is focused on establishing a dialogue with the clients: the motifs teaser certain topics by raising a question which is answered on Julius Baer’s website where corresponding investment ideas and solutions from the Bank’s Research team can be found. The first motif ‘Mars’ communicates the comprehensive approach, while the additional ads are centred on specific research topics such as ‘Feeding the World’, ‘Growing Urban’ or ‘Shifting Lifestyles’.

“It is essential to have a campaign that embodies our whole strategic approach,” explains Boris F.J. Collardi, CEO of Julius Baer. “The financial crisis of 2008, the euro crisis, ongoing political problems around the world – all these things have left people feeling insecure. Every day, our clients come to us with concerns about where the world is headed. We want to demonstrate that we know what is going on today and that we can translate this knowledge into comprehensive, sustainable investment solutions.”

Hollywood film director Marc Forster, who acted as creative advisor for the campaign, has made the TV commercial that captures the ‘Visionary Thinking’ spirit of the campaign in a very emotional way. “Today, making a commercial is not so much about showing a product, but rather evoking an emotion and a reaction to it. In this case, it is a metaphorical journey of what it means to go through life – the challenges one faces financially and creatively,” he explains. His concept for the commercial stemmed from the Bank’s own aspiration to always look forward and to have a clear vision for the future. “Julius Baer is a bank that is constantly striving to explore and discover the next ‘unknown’ and this commercial propels you through humanity’s journey to do just that: we started in water, then conquered the air, and eventually explored space,” Marc Forster says.

The campaign, which has been developed by the German communication agency ‘Zum goldenen Hirschen Köln’, was launched at the end of last year in Switzerland and is set to run in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.