But What I Really Want to Do is Direct

It would have been a stretch for People's United Bank to land Philip Seymour Hoffman as an actor for its television spots. But to get him as a director, all the Bridgeport, Conn., bank had to do was say yes.

Having already conquered the box office with starring roles in films like "Capote" and "Doubt," the Academy Award-winning Hoffman was eager to launch a sideline commercial directing gig.

To help make it happen, he signed on with a Los Angeles production company, which found the People's project and thought it might be a good fit, says Greg Smith, a creative director for the advertising agency that has been working with People's since last summer. "They said, 'Do you mind if we show it to him?'" Smith recalls, laughing at the possibility there could be any doubt.

The result was a pair of well-received regional television spots that debuted on Super Bowl Sunday and earned an "Ad of the Day" nod from Adweek.com in February. The commercials will remain in rotation for the remainder of the year.

With the slogan "What Know-How Can Do," the spots launched People's new branding mission, one of a bank that values its people skills above all else to better its customers' lives. The theme is one that the company hopes will work at home and in new or under-penetrated markets where the $28-billion asset bank plans to expand.

"The bank had reached this inflection point in their growth and maturation that they needed to do more than just product advertising," says Smith, of VIA Agency in Portland, Maine.

The Hoffman-directed ads have a warm, simple and cinematic feel, with vignettes that show People's bankers lending a hand around their neighborhoods through impressively inventive means.

In a spot called "On The Go," a People's banker heading to work protects imperiled commuters he sees along the way, offering his umbrella to shield a pedestrian from a street-puddle splash by a speeding taxi, and later hanging the umbrella from an overhead handle on a standing-room-only bus so a small boy can grab onto it for balance.

In a final assist, he gets onto the elevator at work and sees a hapless gofer trying to cradle six cups of coffee in his arms. The banker opens his briefcase to give the worker a makeshift tray. "It's amazing what someone with know-how can do," says the voice-over, "like the people at People's United Bank who see past challenges and go straight to solutions."

In another spot, "Walk to Work," a People's banker exits a bistro with a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. She sticks the cup's heat sleeve under the leg of a wobbly outdoor table to help out some fellow customers. Then she uses her sandwich as a lure to help a dog untangle its leash from a tree. As a finale, she crinkles her sandwich foil wrap around a street vendor's radio antenna to improve the fuzzy reception.

The budget for the work is undisclosed. But in February, a spokeswoman for People's told the Hartford Courant that Hoffman had "put in a very competitive bid."

The ads by the rookie director are running in markets where People's operates across New England and the metro New York area. "Our new brand messaging is about being genuine," People's President and CEO Jack Barnes said in announcing the campaign. The ads show employees at the bank aim not only to bring "experience, knowledge and proficiency to the table," he said, "but to do so in a productive and a personalized way."