First Bank
First Bank, a 113-year-old regional consumer bank headquartered in North Texas, is one of the most financially successful community banks in the United States. When we engaged with the bank, they were in the middle of a growth streak that was almost entirely driven by referrals and word of mouth, in large part due to stellar service and customer experience.
Historically, the bank had invested very little in marketing which resulted in lack of internal expertise and misplaced spend. An outdated website and brand, inconsistent messaging, and very limited in-branch collateral represented untapped potential on the consumer and business sides. In this engagement, my team worked to unearth what was unique about the bank and the customer experience they provide, and to convey that in innovative ways.
Business Cards
Brochure System
Brand & Marketing Strategy
To begin the process, we conducted a research and discovery phase that consisted of on-site internal workshops, questionnaires and employee and customer interviews. This research helped us to understand First Bank’s unique and successful approach to customer experience, to develop a full understanding of the values that drive how the bank does business, and to map out a complete picture of their strategic goals. After our synthesis, we shared key findings with the core stakeholder group – which included the CEO, CFO and Marketing Director – and created a set of customer personas to ensure decision making mapped back to customer needs.
Following this core research and strategy work, we developed clear, straightforward top-level and secondary messaging that aimed to meet people where they are in life, and align First Bank with their goals and dreams. The voice and tone of this writing would serve as the foundation for complete copywriting for the website and marketing collateral in subsequent phases.
In-Branch Hanging Banners
Stand-Up Signage
Identity & experience: Digital, In-Branch & Collateral
Since the inception of the project, the CEO had the vision that the new website would be the bank’s “online branch.” We agreed with this thrust, as it drove one of the core parts of our strategy – to make sure that the website was a true extension of the customer-first approach that was key to the bank’s past, current and future success. In our UX and UI processes for the new site, we sought to design and build a friendly, easy-to-use experience for potential and existing customers that would also provide unique, forward-looking and innovative. We rounded out the site experience by directing a photo shoot for key assets and filling in with high-quality stock images where needed, as well as working through full messaging and copywriting for all areas of the site.
View the website here.
The website process was a significant driver in our updates to the bank’s visual identity. The executive team was set on keeping the current logo and core brand green, so we worked to round out and modernize the overall identity. We selected a friendly, bold type-face for headlines, supported by a sans-serif type system throughout, and developed secondary brand colors that complemented the green and provided necessary hierarchy and differentiation in print and digital applications. We created a clear visual distinction between the bank’s personal and business offerings by using the brand green as the dominant color for personal, while business was defined by a new dominant blue. We also developed a complete icon set to help identify key concepts and products, as well as larger illustrations to demonstrate features such as online bill pay and their online switch kit.
We extended the updated identity to in-branch placements such as signage and banners, and redesigned all core collateral within the new visual identity standards, including a complete re-working of their print brochure system. Finally, we created a Brand Style guide document where we codified all of the identity standards for use by internal and external teams when applying the brand.
Results
We delivered an end-to-end experience for First Bank’s customers that was miles from where we started, while staying true to the bank’s core values and previous drivers of success. Our work has supported the bank’s continued growth, as they opened two new branches in the past year in a further expansion across North Texas, and significantly extended their business lending portfolio. Since the conclusion of our initial engagement over three years ago, my team has continued to support the bank’s digital, design and marketing needs on a monthly retainer basis.
