TD Ameritrade's Training Montage Gives a Nostalgic Edge to Investor Growth

TD Ameritrade launched a new platform, ‘Where Smart Investors Get Smarter,’ to show how the company will not only grow its investors’ money, but also their minds. The campaign, created in partnership with Havas New York, comes at a time when investors can finally choose a brokerage based on investing experience rather than cost. To differentiate TD Ameritrade from other firms, the new platform positions the brand as a more meaningful trading partner, where knowledge-hungry investors can become smarter and more capable. 

As TDA shifts the focus to this target, it has evolved the campaign while retaining some of its key elements. Jim, our Green Room guy, still meets with investors but is now helping them grow by demonstrating our award-winning platform thinkorswim and sharing the resources that can make someone a smarter investor. TDA is also leveraging pop culture and entertainment to appeal to its target audience. 

To demonstrate the new brand positioning with ‘Training Montage,’ TD Ameritrade looked to recreate the most iconic training montages from the Rocky franchise but with a new hero and coach. Jim and our aspiring investor, who is already confident but wants to get better, recreate scenes using Rocky’s iconic ‘Gonna Fly Now’ soundtrack, leaving us with an unexpected and entertaining take on what it means to become a stronger, smarter investor.

At the climax of the film, one of the original characters from the Rocky franchise, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), makes a guest appearance – elevating the fantasy happening inside our trader’s mind. 

The ad is certainly timely. With Facebook announcing Sylvester Stallone, Rocky himself, will star in their Super Bowl ads—which has already generated significant media conversation—the Rocky franchise will enjoy renewed energy in early 2020. It is also the 35th anniversary of the beloved film.  

Havas NY CCO Harry Bernstein said: “It started with a simple insight: knowledgeable hungry investors can go to TDA to become smarter. So we brought this insight to life, in the literal sense, by tapping into nostalgia and the successful hungry trope of one of the most powerful and unforgettable training montages from the Rocky franchise. Fuelled by iconic music and imagery, we showed what this smarter training looked like from the inside of a trader’s mind. We even had Rocky star Ivan Drago—Dolph Lundgren, who has a 160 IQ—make a guest appearance, further fuelling and blurring the lines of reality and daydream.”

Kerin Morrison, managing director of brand and advertising at TD Ameritrade said: “While our marketing approach has always been grounded in cultural relevance to appeal to the modern investor, we’ve gone even sharper with ‘Training Montage.’ We’re showing both new and seasoned traders that they can become a stronger, more capable, investor in ways they’ll find light-hearted, relatable, and – most importantly – smart.”