Great Lakes Bancorp has a hit on its hands. A television advertising campaign that it ran in 1993 brought in 2,500 new mortgages in its first eight weeks.
Now, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based bank is offering its series of three commercials to other banks. The ads are easily modified to include a new name, Great Lakes says.
"One of the ads is very specific, talking about biweekly mortgages, so it's only useful to somebody that Offers the product," said Dan Sygar, advertising manager. "But there are three others that are image-oriented and don't refer to specific products."
One of them shows a young man listening to a stuffy-looking loan officer who is giving him an esoteric talk about mortgages, Mr. Sygar said. The young man then pictures himself in a wrestling ring with a headlock on the loan officer.
"The three spots are just saying that, if you're being intimidated by lenders and their pomposity, you should come to us instead because we're not that way," said Mr. Sygar.
The commercials' timing was good because interest rates were favorable at the time. The combination of advertising and the rate environment did the trick, he said.
AdVantEdge, a New York company, is marketing the commercials for Great Lakes. Mr. Sygar said showings had stimulated some indications of interest but no sales so far. "A few things are in the works," he said.
The campaign won a marketing award from the Financial Institutions Marketing Association.
