On the Beat

As an admitted grammar geek, I truly appreciate word play. However, a billboard in Sioux Falls, S.D., recently caught my eye; I was surprised to see a community bank using the phrase "too big to fail" in its advertising..The context of the marketing was that my dreams were too big to fail and that First Dakota National Bank had an account to help me out. So I went to the website listed on the billboard: www.AccountForYourDreams.com..On that website were videos of seven different business owners who had achieved their dreams. The videos I watched didn't mention the bank or how First Dakota had helped finance them; the owners just talked about how their businesses had come about, how their dreams had been realized and where they hoped to go in the future..Mike Ness, First Dakota president and market manager for Sioux Falls, was happy to explain the bank's rationale in taking what might seem like a risk in its desire to uniquely position itself in its market..Although the bank, headquartered in Yankton, S.D., has been "highly successful" since it moved into the Sioux Falls market in 2003, Ness said they were looking for ways to differentiate themselves from the competition.."Entering into the Sioux Falls market, we had to look at an overall marketing plan," Ness began. "We decided to hire a new ad agency. We wanted someone local. We wanted someone creative." The bank didn't necessarily want an ad agency that had worked with banks before. "We could teach them [about banking], but you can't really teach them to be creative.".The bank decided on Fresh Produce, an ad agency out of nearby Brandon, S.D. "They don't think like bankers," Ness said. "We decided to take a little bit of a leap of faith with someone who didn't know the industry and not necessarily throw the same bank ads and words in commercials that said, 'Trust us with your money' and stuff like that.".Fresh Produce was asked what they thought banking was about. They began asking questions like, "What's a teller? Why do you call them tellers?" said Fran Rietveld, First Dakota vice president of marketing. "They came up with the line about 'banks employ tellers; what you need is good listeners.' There is a lot of play on words [in the advertising]; you have to think about it a little bit. That was what was great about it. Training these ad agency people about banking—you had to think about it from a new perspective.".The bank chose to use the phrase "too big to fail" because it seemed like people felt they were being left out, like they weren't important enough. First Dakota wanted to show individuals that "their dreams are too big to fail, and we were going to help keep them accountable" with whatever that dream might be, Ness said. "We like to think that all of our bankers—personal, ag or commercial bankers—treat every customer the same way… You don't need to be in the private banking division to have a private banker. Our bankers are going to spend the time to help you plan; whether it's things for your business or your child's business, you're going to have a personal banker.".The campaign began March 1 and is focused on Sioux Falls, although a lot of the coverage touches the bank's other areas. The campaign is a three-to-five year plan that begins generally and gets more product-specific after about 12 to 18 months. Some of the unique features of the overall image-building campaign include the special "microsite," the small business videos, and a pre-campaign education of the bank staff so they knew what was coming..The bank also has signed on to be a presenting sponsor for one charity gala event and is helping inaugurate the Pro-Am Jam with First Tee of South Dakota. "The big part of the event is the Saturday night concert that we'll be holding [featuring] Huey Lewis and the News and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. We decided to host this type of event to get our image out there, do something a little different than what we've done in the past," Ness said..The budget for the campaign is a work in progress. "Initially, because this is new for us, we aren't really sure where to start and stop with the dollars," Ness said. "The first year, we budgeted about $1 million. I think that number might be a little higher when we get a feel for what this type of marketing will cost us. It will probably be in the $1 million-plus for each year for the next three-to-five years."."I think time will tell if it's been successful," Ness said. "It doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me if a report says when we started, 'You were the fifth-most recognized bank, and now you're the first.' Does it equate to more business? Being recognized is one thing, but does it translate to the bottom line?".The bottom line has been good for First Dakota. At year-end 2010, the bank had $787 million in assets; at year-end 2011, the bank reported $846 million in assets, although some fluctuation has occurred since then. "Most was in loan and deposit growth. It pretty much came organically. We saw a nice increase in commercial and ag loans and a pretty healthy increase in deposits as well," Ness said. "Our economy seems to be somewhat shielded from the national economy, and I think the general feeling and consensus in the South Dakota market is that things are getting better and we're starting to see more activity bank-wide."