Scotiabank wants Canadians to define their own wealth through a new national marketing campaign that launched last week as part of the bank’s ongoing “You’re Richer Than You Think” brand platform.

When the bank first launched “You’re Richer Than You Think” in 2006, it was meant to spread a sense of optimism across the country during troubled economic times.

But through consumer research, the bank has learned that “richness” means different things to different people, and that Canadians want to define it themselves, said Duncan Hannay, senior vice-president, head of marketing, Scotiabank.

The new campaign shows richness can be defined by the customer’s stage in life – having a baby, retiring, striking out on your own or paying off your mortgage.

Once Canadians have defined what this means for them, Scotiabank can help with the rest, Hannay said.

Historically, bank advertising has the latest product or money solution front and centre. Scotiabank wants to buck the trend to focus on the consumer and the moments in life that matter to them.

The effort from Toronto agency Bensimon Byrne includes five television commercials, digital ads and in-branch materials that use a combination of scripted creative and user-generated content from sources such as YouTube.

In one of the scripted television spots titled “Conversation,” young parents discuss how they want to do what’s best for their baby. The copy reads, “Richness is: a 7 pound 4 ounce fresh perspective.” Another scripted spot shows a 20-something male returning home after work to a messy kitchen and his two roommates sitting on the couch playing video games. In this instance, richness is “having friends and an exit strategy.”

“We really are being a reflection of Canadians and all ages and income brackets and really the fabric of the country is what we’re trying to reflect and what richness means to them on an individual basis,” said Joseph Bonnici, creative director at Bensimon Byrne.

To keep the campaign “authentic,” two of the commercials were put together with user generated content. For instance, “New Baby” uses home footage of a father talking to his newborn daughter only hours after she was born.

Bonnici said a friend of a Scotiabank employee offered the footage when she heard about the campaign. The friend defined this as her moment of richness, he said.

“There’s a level of authenticity to this spot that if you shoot it, you obviously couldn’t obtain,” said Bonnici of the “New Baby” commercial. “That’s really what’s at the core of this campaign is these rich moments that people are experiencing in their daily lives.”

In the coming months Scotiabank plans to launch a Facebook campaign to solicit more user-generated content for future campaigns.

The first flight of campaign ads run until mid March, with PHD handling the media buy.