Peoples Trust & Savings Bank operates nine branches in small towns surrounding the greater Des Moines area. Their "people first banking" tagline has been in use for years, and is the core of their brand. When our team was given the job of coming up with a new multimedia campaign, the only requirement was that it conveyed the people first message. They are a friendly, small-town bank and proud of it. They wanted to look professional, but not too corporate. And they were hoping for something that would stand out from the crowded banking industry.
The copywriter and I explored several approaches. Ultimately, I came up with the base for this campaign — 'real' people and their list of wants, giving the bank a chance to say "yeah, we do that." Our goal was to use a wide variety of people who looked like they could be your neighbors. The series of "I want" statements conveyed the people-first message and highlighted the bank's best customer service points.
This campaign stretched into nearly every type of media: website, online ads, newspaper and magazine print ads, tv spots, radio, targeted direct mail, internal products such as ATM deposit envelopes, and point of purchase displays. The client was so happy, we continued running and adding to the campaign for two years. People's Bank entered the campaign in The Iowa Banker's Association 2009 Best of Iowa awards, where it won the multi-media category. Quite an honor for the bank, as well as for us.
