Mark DeBauge thinks community bankers are ready for a new hero.
His choice? Will Rogers.
Mr. DeBauge, president of Mark Time Advertising, Indian Hills, Colo., has built an advertising campaign around the enduring words of the well-known humorist from Oklahoma.
And community bankers love the idea. About 100 banks in 22 states will begin using the Will Rogers campaign by the end of the year, Mr. DeBauge estimated. A number will start the campaign next week.
"Everybody in the U.S. knows Will Rogers," said Larry O'Neal, president and chief executive of First National Bank and Trust Co., Weatherford, Okla., who has signed up to run the ads.
Why did Mr. DeBauge select Will Rogers, who died in 19357
"We don't have great heroes in the 1990s," said Mr. DeBauge, who plans to expand the campaign to a series of "great American heroes."
Banks that contract with Mr. DeBauge sign up to run the ads for an entire year. The package comes with 52 camera-ready slicks that banks can personalize. Rates vary by the size and circulation of the newspaper used, starting at $25 a week.
Ads include photos and vignettes about Mr. Rogers and his own words of wisdom, such as: "There ought to be a law against anybody going to Europe until they have seen the things we have in this country.".Then, comes the bank plug: Look right here at home for the best in banking! A locally owned independent bank serves the customer even better."
Mr. DeBauge, who sells only to one bank in a market area, believes the ads will make a bank stand out from the pack.
"Ninety percent of bank ads are stuffy," he said.
William Dickerson, chairman and president of $27 million-asset First National Bank, Pawhuska, Okla., said that's why he's signed up for the campaign.
Ads Stand Out from Crowd
"Really, one ad isn't different from anyone else's," Mr. Dickerson said of standard bank ads. "It's my experience in 43 years in this business, if you want people to read what you're putting in the paper, you've got to be different."
Plus, the campaign has added appeal in his territory. "Since Will Rogers was born in Oklahoma, it has a little more significance to us," he said.
