ironbound bank
The bank president said he had one-tenth the marketing budget of his local competition. Then, he shook my hand and told me he expected 10 times the return on his own.
BODY COPY: Maybe “Employer of the Year” is more what you had in mind. After all, you have big ideas when it comes to your future. And we have the small business loans you’ll need to make them come true. Just call 201-success.
TAGLINE: You’re bound for success.
BODY COPY: Your kids are hungry for the kind of future that only
comes from the best education they can get. And now you can be sure
they’ll get it. Just call 201-success. TAGLINE: You’re bound for success.
BODY COPY: Get ready to make all the noise you want. In your own home. Select your documentation mortgage for 1-to-4 family, owner-occupied homes. Just call 201-success. TAGLINE: You’re bound for success.
Exec Summary
Category Thinking: Banks are all the same, they just want our money, they’ll never really understand what we’re really about.
New Insight: There was something about the town of Ironbound. A deeper truth about its people, relationship to family, work, and community. And no bank was truly getting this, or even trying…
New Position: Ironbound Bank is success. (Yours.)
Result: A positive, welcoming personality where once there were blank walls and faceless tellers. An increase in commercial and personal accounts, revenue, and brand value, as evidenced by a highly profitable sale of its brand to a multibillion-dollar bank (2.5 x book value).
Full Case Study
Situation: A $120 million community bank that had either a negative or blank image among businesses and the public, depending on their experience with its prior board of directors. Ironbound rebuilt its board and resolved to communicate that it was a different place of business.
Category Thinking: Banks are all the same, they just want our money, they’ll never really understand what we’re really about.
New Insight: There was something about the town of Ironbound. A deeper truth about its people, relationship to family, work, and community. And no bank was truly getting this, or even trying. Despite a blue-collar label, the people of Ironbound are entrepreneurs and hard-working men and women who intend their work to pay off, for their families. They are proud, successful, community-centered, and understand the importance of customer service in making a business go.
Solution: What made the Ironbound Bank prospect tick…the deeper truths about this customer in this community. How to build trust between this customer and a bank. Establish a dialog with this customer. Relate to their lives. To their ambitions. Create an authentic feeling that this is a bank that understands their dreams. Then back it up with the experience. Give this customer a reason to believe. Create a campaign that communicates, with personality, humor, that Ironbound Bank is a place where they’ll feel comfortable doing business. And get help to be a success.
New Position: Ironbound Bank is success. (Yours.)
Result: A positive, welcoming personality where once there were blank walls and faceless tellers. An increase in commercial and personal accounts, revenue, and brand value, as evidenced by a highly profitable sale of its brand to a multibillion-dollar bank (2.5 x book value).
