Tradition Bank, a Bellaire-based bank with locations throughout the Houston area, was looking to push a product that was lacking momentum: Commercial Lending. After a successful new branding campaign, Tradition was proud of the relationships established with each of their lending customers. Looking forward to new growth, the bank sought to highlight the advantage of knowing one’s lender. With this goal in mind, and utilizing RMH’s Full Circle Branding process, RMH set forth to raise awareness of Tradition Bank’s unique lending products.
The Commercial Lending campaign needed to be focused on both welcoming new clients to try Tradition’s services, as well as growing accounts with pre-existing commercial clients. RMH would need to work with the bank’s lending staff to fully understand the customer profile. Through conversations and meetings with bank leaders, employee feedback, and competitor research, RMH was able to create a solution that would meet each of these goals.
RMH found that a product branding campaign for commercial lending should bring the offerings and unique characteristics of Tradition’s lending options to the forefront of bank customer’s minds. Once there, the emphasis on knowing one’s lender, the company’s competitive rates, and the ease of which a customer could communicate with their lender would be highlighted across various forms of media.
RMH crafted copy to highlight Tradition Bank’s lending practices as transparent and familial, perfectly fitting into the bank’s established overall brand. With each ad placed into publication, the area branches’ Chief Lending Officer was featured with a recent commercial lending customer. This allowed potential customers to put a face to the name of who would be making their loan; a unique advantage Tradition held over numerous national competitors.
To showcase Tradition Bank’s commercial lending offerings, a targeted publication media campaign was launched, lasting four months in numerous outlets in the Houston area. Each publication was selected for its community outreach potential in areas that Tradition Bank calls home. Corresponding web banners were also created, to marry the print campaign to the lending options available on Tradition’s website.
The campaign brought in over $10 million in new commercial loans, from both preexisting and new Tradition Bank customers, in just 6 months. On all accounts, a smashing success!
With the momentum from the new campaign, Tradition wanted to see where Commercial Lending could go next. Many customers, especially new ones who fall more in line with the Millennial demographic read less print media. To reach these customers, RMH plans to bring the campaign to light in new ways, advertising on the bank’s mobile and online banking platforms, and bringing signage into the lobby of each of their locations.