Emphasizing differences
Banks shift marketing strategies for new economic reality

Advertising and marketing in the banking world is changing as banks work to separate themselves from troubled Wall Street firms and misconceptions about the industry. 

Banking officials say new advertising efforts are meant to tell customers that not all banks are taking funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, that some banks are ready to lend, and that not all banks were involved in subprime mortgages or other risky lending practices.

The ads also are a sharp change from pre-recession advertising strategies banks used, which were often based on specific products and services, said Michele Stevens, senior vice president of advertising and marketing for Abilene-based First Financial Bankshares.

First Financial Bankshares is a financial holding company operating 10 separately chartered banks across Texas, including several locations in Tarrant County.

The new ads also have served as

a way to grab the attention of

customers who may not have ever paid attention to bank marketing before, Stevens said. 

“Up until the past three or four months, people were not as cognizant of bank advertising,” Stevens said. “Now, because of the turmoil in our industry, they have become much more aware and they have a lot of questions that they never have perhaps asked in the past. We have a lot of customers that ask us if we participated in the TARP program, and we tell them no we did not.”

To deliver that message to a wider audience, First Financial has put out ads in various formats, including billboards, lobby posters, print ads and banners, to say that the bank did not take federal help, is stable and is lending, Stevens said.

“One of the ads that we run about not participating in TARP, one of the reasons that was so very important was that we wanted to communicate again that we do have money to lend, and we again are safe and strong and we wanted to make sure our customers knew that,” Stevens said. “There is some misconception out in the general public in terms of this idea that banks won’t lend money and they don’t have money to lend. That’s something we want to clear up.”

Fort Worth-based Worthington National Bank also has released several ads with the same aim.

“Don’t feed the animals. Big banks,” “Just say no to Bailout Banks. Bank responsibly,” and “Did your bank take a bailout? We

didn’t,” are some of Worthington National’s current advertising

slogans.

“We’re tired of being associated with the TARP recipients and our big competitors engulfed in the battle, we’re trying to figure out how to disassociate ourselves from them,” said Greg Morse, CEO of Worthington National. “Those big banks act like a bunch of kids, and if they were my kids I’d have them in time out. We’re here to make the community, not milk it, and for us to get our name out that we’re not a part of all of that, that’s important.”

Customers have responded well, Morse said.

“Almost 100 percent of the new accounts we’ve opened since the billboards went up, people say ‘I saw your billboard’ when we ask how they heard about us,” he said. “We’ve advertised in newspapers and magazines and all, but we haven’t had the response that we’ve had with the billboards. Every day we’ve got people walking in asking about them.”

Banks across the United States also are changing their advertising strategies, and the American Bankers Association in Washington, D.C., is helping with marketing ideas and talking points for new ads.

“There’s a lot of confusion in the public about the difference, or that there even is a difference, between your neighborhood bank where you do your checking and savings accounts and the big Wall Street firms, the ones that took these huge risks over the past few years and that have put us in the position we’re in today” said Carol Kaplan, spokeswoman for the American Bankers Association. “Commercial retail banks are really going to need to focus on rebuilding their reputation as what they truly are, which is traditional deposit banks that are just in the business of lending and accepting deposits and not playing around with complicated financial instruments.”

Explaining the difference in neighborhood banks and Wall Street investment firms will be a key part of bank advertising in the near future, Kaplan said.

Maggie Kelly, vice president of marketing and professional development for the ABA, agreed, adding that in the future, banks will probably base advertising on what their businesses stand for and how they impact their communities.

“When I was younger if you wanted to advertise you had two options: newspaper or radio,” Stevens said. “ThatÂ’s all changed. There are so many different avenues and mediums we can draw upon to advertise, and IÂ’ll tell you that I believe itÂ’s more important today to spend the ad dollars than ever before, and again thatÂ’s because there are misconceptions out there about banks.”