TheBANK of Edwardsville

It All Begins With Hello

The Objective

Introduce, differentiate and market a 150-year-old Illinois community bank into the Saint Louis, Missouri market — the second-most saturated financial market in the United States — without losing their small town community bank brand.

The Approach

Building on its legacy as a leading community bank in the Metro East (Illinois), TheBANK of Edwardsville expanded across the Mississippi into Missouri. Strategic brand messaging and a new unified brand structure was recommended to unite and promote three primary lines of business — commercial banking, mortgage lending and wealth management. The introductory campaign began with a simple “hello”. It was open invitation to simply meet and talk. No strings attached. As the campaign gained traction, additional digital tactics were added — campaign-supporting microsites and targeted digital marketing campaigns, as well as radio and outdoor advertising.

“Working on the original bank logo was my first job right out of college – 40 years ago. Everything comes full-circle, as I have the opportunity to take the same client into a new market.”

Steve Harrison, President

Logo

Very minor refinements were made to the mark itself, originally designed in 1979. Three sub-brands were created – one for each of the three lines of business that we were focusing on – a unified brand structure.

Introductory Hello Campaign

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Opening-spread-TBOE

Microsite

The microsite provided a portal into our three lines of business at TheBANK and the individuals that were there to begin a conversation. Marketing tactics – digital ads, outdoor, radio, and print – were designed to drive traffic to the microsite.

thebank-microsite

Digital Platform

A targeted, digital marketing strategy was integrated across business lines to reach consumers by through geo-targeting or audience demographic segmentation and drive conversions through the microsite.

Anniversary Celebration

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Here-mockup
150-bag

“Partnering with FalkHarrison, we have implemented a successful marketing and rebranding strategy that continues to increase TheBANK’s awareness in new markets and reshape our growth strategy in all markets.”

Grady L. Ambuel, SVP/Marketing

Conclusion

A microsite was developed as a central hub to the campaign – a destination where consumers can be introduced to – and begin – a conversation with a bank representative. This served as a way to keep the conversation going and the financial and banking-related content current. Updates from bank representatives are added and promoted regularly. An integrated media buy consisting of targeted digital, print, radio and outdoor boards was implemented to continually drive traffic to the site.

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