ABA Honors 6 Banks with National Bank Marketing Awards

The American Bankers Association recognized the nation’s best bank marketing initiatives today at the 2021 ABA Bank Marketing Conference. The 2021 ABA Brand Slam awards honored elite bank marketing strategies that stood out among hundreds of entries from banks of all sizes nationwide.

“Marketing serves a tremendously important role in articulating a company’s brand and purpose,” said Jim Edrington, ABA’s chief member engagement officer. “These award winners executed uplifting campaigns that resonated with their customers and communities during a challenging year.”

A volunteer panel of 73 Certified Financial Marketing Professional-credentialed experts judged the concept, strategy, creativity, execution and impact of entries in seven different categories: Crisis Communication, Integrated Marketing Campaign, Out of the Box Idea, Public Relations/Community Engagement Activity, Social Media Campaign, Video Campaign, and Website Redesign. A winner was selected for each category.

The 2021 Brand Slam award winners are:

Crisis Communications
A bank that excelled at supporting customers and the community during a challenging time by adapting, sharing valuable information and going above and beyond to connect with its people.

• Bank of Guam, headquartered in Hagatna, Guam, for its video campaign titled “Stop COVID, Spread LOVE.”

Stop COVID, Spread LOVE was born out of a desire to create a movement to support local, national and global efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in a way that would humanize Bank of Guam’s organization and give employees the opportunity to inspire action from behind their masks. The documentary-style videos featured real and raw perspectives from the bank’s frontline employees who are parents, caregivers, executive decision-makers, and even COVID-19 survivors. Each episode in the series closes with an enlightening slogan communicating support, unity and optimism – “We’re in this Together, Stronger than Ever.” With such profound insight, Stop COVID, Spread LOVE aimed to capture a stay-at-home audience using an integrated strategy that combined traditional media with social media along with out- of- home, to deliver these compelling stories of resilience, courage, and compassion.

Integrated Marketing Campaign
A bank that as launched a product, promoted a service or set out to market a particular line of business using multichannel tactics.

• Eastern Bank, headquartered in Boston, for its campaign titled “Join Us For Good.”

The objective of Eastern Bank’s 2021 Join Us For Good campaign is to show consistent advocacy for the causes Eastern believes in through a multi-faceted messaging approach focused on topical courageous advocacy and local community investment. The campaign launched in April 2021 via a cross-channel media buy spanning Linear TV, Connected TV, Online Video, Social, Out of Home and Print, and generated more than 10.5 million impressions. Many of the core campaign elements were produced in Spanish and served through targeted paid media to ensure Latinx customers and prospects within Eastern’s footprint were served messaging that directly resonated with them. Additionally, the inclusion of David Ortiz intended to captivate, engage and foster a connection with this audience. The campaign reflects the bank’s exemplary commitment to the community, giving $240 million to over 1,500 organizations since 1994, which directly pays off their mission of giving back to organizations focused on economic mobility and inclusion.

Out of the Box Idea
A bank strategy, campaign, promo item or another form of marketing genius that doesn’t fit in any other category.

• KeyBank, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, for its “KeyBank Assists” program.

KeyBank Assists was started to help support our communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal was to help ease people’s stress and foster happiness by partnering with local athletes, social media influencers, and chefs to surprise and support thousands of families, essential workers, first responders, nonprofits, and small businesses. During the two campaigns carried out in July 2020 and December 2020, KeyBank made $600,000 in community and charitable contributions to local small businesses, essential workforces, food banks, and regional nonprofits. More than 125 small businesses participated in the program, benefitting from KeyBank's purchase of gift cards.

Public Relations/Community Engagement Activity
A bank PR/Community Engagement initiative generating positive buzz and fostering goodwill in the community.

• Zions Bank, headquartered in Salt Lake City, for its “Utah Women 2020 Mural” initiative.

In 2020, Zions Bank commissioned a 5,000 square foot mural in downtown Salt Lake City in honor of important women’s suffrage milestones. Stretching six stories high, the buoyant “Utah Women 2020” mural brought color and hope to the bleak backdrop of downtown Salt Lake City during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a public relations event, Zions Bank hosted the unveiling of the art piece on Aug. 26, 2020, Women’s Equality Day, which marked the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote. At a time when people couldn’t physically gather, it brought together 200 diverse people from across the state to participate in its creation, with thousands more experiencing the powerful art piece through television, newspaper, social media or in person.

Social Media Campaign
A social media strategy that resulted in clicks, conversions, engagement, and impressions.

• Bank of Guam, headquartered in Hagatna, Guam, for its social media campaign titled “Stop COVID, Spread LOVE.”

Stop COVID, Spread LOVE was born out of a desire to create a movement to support local, national and global efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in a way that would humanize Bank of Guam’s organization and give employees the opportunity to inspire action from behind their masks. The documentary-style videos featured real and raw perspectives from the bank’s frontline employees who are parents, caregivers, executive decision-makers, and even COVID-19 survivors. Each episode in the series closes with an enlightening slogan communicating support, unity and optimism – “We’re in this Together, Stronger than Ever.” With such profound insight, Stop COVID, Spread LOVE aimed to capture a stay-at-home audience using an integrated strategy that combined traditional media with social media along with out- of- home, to deliver these compelling stories of resilience, courage, and compassion.

Video Campaign
A campaign that uses video, whether digital or television, to effectively tell your bank’s story

• First Security Bank & Trust, headquartered in Charles City, Iowa, for its video campaign titled “First Security is Your Change Bank.”

During the coin circulation issues that occurred in mid-2020, First Security Bank & Trust conceived and executed a creative and humorous video campaign to urge consumers to turn in their coins. The video earned thousands of views on social media platforms and generated an incredible rise in the amount of coin being brought into the bank – nearly double the typical amount prior to the video’s release.

Website Redesign
A website redesign that effectively employs concept, strategy, creativity and execution to achieve the bank’s desired results, whether it be to refresh the look or to enhance the efficiency of the user experience.

• Fortifi Bank, headquartered in Berlin, Wisc., for its redesign of Fortifibank.com.

Feeling dark, slow, text-heavy, and with too many buttons and menu options, Fortifibank.com needed to catch up with the evolution of the bright and clean Fortifi Bank brand. Improvements included more white space, simplified navigation, staggered callouts, inviting accent font, fewer product pages, a blog and resource library, and an interactive account quiz. The redesign improved and streamlined the user experience, resulting in a substantial increase in site speed and more users spending more time on top level product pages.

To view these award-winners, click here.