Banks trying to promote their brand these days - especially outside of their primary markets - might do so by buying the naming rights to a local sports stadium or convention center.
Amcore Financial of Rockford, Ill., is counting on getting a bigger bang for its marketing dollar with a more old-fashioned approach: sponsoring local radio programming.
The $5.2 billion-asset company, which recently announced a retail expansion in Wisconsin, has bought the naming rights to the Clear Channel Communications Inc.'s network's Madison, Wis., newsrooms. Beginning Jan. 1 news updates from five Clear Channel-owned stations in Madison - three music channels and two talk stations - will originate from "the Amcore Bank News Center."
Katherine Taylor, Amcore's vice president of communications and investor relations, said its goal is to get its name out there repeatedly.
"Madison is a market where we are really growing, and it is one of the markets where we are expanding our branch network," Ms. Taylor said. She said the contract with Clear Channel will run for one year, though she would not disclose financial terms.
Amcore has opened four branches in Madison in the last four years and now has 22 of its 73 branches in Wisconsin. In October it announced it would beef up its retail network in Wisconsin by installing automated teller machines in 100 Walgreen Co. stores there.
Each channel runs news updates at least twice an hour. By sponsoring newscasts on stations with formats ranging from progressive talk to classic rock, Amcore aims to reach a wide range of listeners - from twenty-somethings to baby boomers.
It was not uncommon in the early days of radio and television for corporations to sponsor programming, but the practice faded years ago as companies opted for more conventional advertising.
But as the airwaves, print media, and the Internet become more cluttered with ads, companies are searching for ways to set themselves apart.
Alisha J.R. Johnson, the chairwoman of the American Bankers Association's school of bank marketing and management, said Amcore's method could work.
She said sponsorship of the news is probably less expensive than buying commercials because Amcore will be heard more frequently and consistently than if it bought individual spots.
"This makes sense, because their name gets mentioned every time the news comes on," said Ms. Johnson, who is also the director of marketing at the $435 million-asset Highland Bank in Saint Paul. "Tagging on to the news is much more affordable than doing an out-and-out commercial, especially in trying to build awareness."
Consumers are more apt to respond to names they recognize, Ms. Johnson said. Once Amcore builds that brand recognition, she said, it should follow up with more targeted marketing.
"That way," she said, "when people see a piece of direct mail or an ad campaign, they will say 'Oh, I know that name, let's see what they have to say.' Then they might go into a branch."
Another Wisconsin company, the $437 million-asset PyraMax Bank of Greenfield, has been using a similar strategy for two years, sponsoring radio news in Milwaukee.
Monica Baker, PyraMax's vice president of marketing, said that the sponsorship alone does not bring in business but is effective as part of a multimedia marketing effort.
Ms. Baker and Ms. Taylor said that their companies have no influence over the news and that they would not expect PyraMax and Amcore to get preferential treatment from the news organizations.
