ABA Honors 6 Banks with National Bank Marketing Awards

The American Bankers Association Foundation is urging banks across the country to participate in its upcoming 14th annual Lights, Camera, Save! video competition that runs from Oct.1 to Dec.1. Lights, Camera, Save! is a national contest that encourages teens to use video to communicate the value of sound money management. The competition is one of the ABA Foundation’s most popular financial education programs.

Through Lights, Camera, Save!, teen participants create a video up to 30 seconds long that demonstrates the importance of using money wisely and submit it to their local participating bank. The contest is open to teen filmmakers of all experience levels.

“The Lights, Camera, Save! video contest continues to be one of our most popular programs year after year,” said Lindsay Torrico, executive director, ABA Foundation. “It’s a great opportunity for banks to engage students throughout their community in an important dialogue around smart saving habits. We encourage banks across the country to join us in hosting this fun and educational competition.” 

Registered banks will host the first round of judging and select a winning student to compete on the national level for several awards, including a grand prize of $5,000, $2,500 for the second-place winner and $1,000 for the third-place winner. National contestants will then go head-to-head on ABA’s Instagram page to determine which videos advance to the final round of national judging. Last year, there were 350 participating banks in 47 states and Washington, D.C. as part of Lights, Camera, Save! [View the 2023-2024 winning videos]

The ABA Foundation provides registered banks with all contest materials, real-time customer support and promotional resources completely free of charge. Banks interested in participating in the contest can also sign up online at aba.com/lightscamerasave. Registered banks will be featured in the list of participating banks on the ABA Foundation website and in press materials.

In support of this year’s competition, the ABA Foundation is offering a Lights, Camera, Save! webinar for banks interested in participating today, Sept. 4 at 2 p.m. ET. To register for the webinar,

The American Bankers Association recognized the nation’s top bank marketing initiatives today at the 2024 ABA Bank Marketing Conference in Chicago. The 2024 ABA Brand Slam awards honor exceptional bank marketing strategies that stood out among hundreds of entries from banks of all sizes nationwide.

“Unique and impactful marketing initiatives help banks connect on a deeper level with their customers and communities,” said Russell Davis, ABA’s executive vice president of member experience. “This year’s Brand Slam winners all have demonstrated incredible creativity in finding new and different ways to engage with their customers.”

A volunteer panel of 93 Certified Financial Marketing Professional (CFMP)-credentialed bankers judged the concept, strategy, creativity, execution and impact of entries in six different categories: 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 2024 ABA Brand Slam award winners are:

Integrated Marketing Campaign

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

• Merchants Bank, Carmel, Ind. for its campaign titled “No gimmicks. No minimums. No hidden fees.”

Merchants Bank’s “No gimmicks. No minimums. No hidden fees” campaign emphasizes their transparent and honest relationship with customers. The bank utilized its media presence on popular networks during high-profile sporting events including the Indy 500, Super Bowl, and Olympic games in order to achieve its goal of promoting deposit accounts, attracting as many new customers as possible and raising awareness about its straightforward financial products. Merchants had three different commercial ads, all featuring the bank’s CEO, Mike Dunlap, and Hopper, the bank’s mascot. The ads, promoting similar but updated messages about the campaign, were also featured on digital and print spaces in addition to social media. Results from this campaign showed 4,242 Money Market and CD accounts being opened, and $272 million total deposited in the first five months. It also increased Merchant’s web traffic by 61%.

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.

• Fidelity Bank Co., Leominster, Mass., for its “Lemonade Learning Club” campaign.

Fidelity’s “Lemonade Learning Club” spurs summer fun while also increasing youth financial literacy and boosting savings account openings for parents, local community members and existing clients who don’t already have one. The bank’s campaign teaches children money management skills and a sense of entrepreneurship by giving each child who opens a Growth Savings Account a free lemonade stand starter kit. Through educational resources, promotional materials and community engagement, Fidelity was able to open over 400 new savings accounts within the first 2 months of the campaign. This also included 70 new Growth Savings Accounts and over $10 million in new balances. 

Public Relations/Community Engagement Activity

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

• Bank Five Nine, Oconomowoc, Wis., for its “Tim’s Treat” initiative.

Once a month, the new president and CEO of Bank Five Nine, Tim Schneider, participates in “Tim’s Treat” where he surprises a local business or non-profit organization in the community with a visit and treat. By meeting members of the community, Bank Five Nine has increased exposure, brand awareness, and social media engagement while showing their personality to customers. To drive excitement and anticipation, Bank Five Nine gives hints on social media about the location, community and type of treat. Schneider then meets and engages with the community members, business owners and non-profit leaders. The campaign has also created open and comfortable conversation between customers in the community and their banking preferences.

Social Media Campaign

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

• Bank Midwest, Spirit Lake, Iowa, for its social media campaign titled “Meet Your Video Teller”

Bank Midwest’s “Meet Your Video Teller” campaign introduced the faces ‘behind the screen’ of its Interactive Teller Machine service channels. Each video teller has a caricature that features special service characteristics about them. It also groups them together as a team detailing the service benefits of ITMs. The campaign focused on showcasing the easy use of the machines and overall service benefits of ITMs such as a personalized experience for customers. As a result, usage of the machines increased by 40% in the first three months of the campaign and by closing drive-ups on Saturdays, reduced staff hours by about 100 hours per month. 

Video Campaign

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

• MountainOne, Pittsfield, Mass., for its video campaign titled “Mo’s Storybook Video Campaign”

MountainOne’s “How to Climb a Mountain,” the first book in a larger series called “Mo’s Storybook,” helps increase financial literacy for younger audiences and explain financial concepts in a simple way. The storybook, following Mo, the MountainOne Spokesgoat, emphasizes positive life lessons, literacy, financial education, preparing for unexpected events and reaching one’s goals. Mo, who was created in 2020 as part of MountainOne’s brand awareness campaign, embodies a relatable character that teaches healthy financial habits to its readers. 

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.

• PeoplesBank, Holyoke, Mass., for its ZYNLO Bank web redesign and expansion.

ZYNLO Bank’s new landing pages, created by PeoplesBank, increased openings for checking, high-yield savings and money market accounts through brighter design, color, photography and hierarchy within the layout. By telling a visual story with the design elements, it engaged a younger audience and reinforced account opening messages and the ZYNG Round Up and Match program. Each landing page on the website features ZYNLO’s three main focuses; brand, product and performance. With revamped and expanded FAQs and interactive content, the web redesign educated and reinforced engagement with customers. As a result of PeoplesBanks work on ZYNLO’s webpage, total balances have increased 20% and total accounts have gone up by 1,085.

To view these award-winners, click here.

For additional questions about the contest or how to register, bankers can email ABA Foundation Senior Manager for Youth Financial Education Kelsey Havemann at [email protected].