Now that it has wrapped up its corporate restructuring, First Financial Bancorp in Hamilton, Ohio, is turning its attention to building its retail business.
The $3.5 billion-asset company has rebranded its three banks under the name First Financial Bank and launched a large-scale media campaign positioning First Financial as a "money coach" to its customers.
Its president and chief executive, Claude E. Davis, would not say what First Financial is spending on the campaign, which kicked off in late August. But he said it has "significantly expanded" its television advertising and is buying ads in regional editions of national magazines for the first time.
"We did not have a clear brand message in the market," Mr. Davis said. "We needed to redefine who we were and what we would deliver to our clients."
First Financial, which has 87 branches in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, has focused primarily on cutting overhead and improving efficiency in recent years. In 2002, under a different president and CEO, it consolidated 14 charters into five and standardized its products.
That initiative did not achieve the desired results, however, and when Mr. Davis took the helm in late 2004, he implemented more cost-cutting measures. They included eliminating about 200 jobs, selling underperforming branches, centralizing back-office functions, and selling First Financial's manufactured housing portfolio.
He also decided to consolidate the remaining charters into one, yet still operate under three names: First Financial, Community First Bank and Trust, and San Ridge. But a consulting firm it hired last year recommended using one brand, and in August, Community First and San Ridge were renamed First Financial.
At about the same time, it began airing its new television commercials and running magazine and billboard ads.
Powers Agency in Cincinnati developed the campaign. Lori Graf, the agency's creative director, said First Financial changed its advertising approach by emphasizing a brand message rather than offerings such as low-rate mortgages or free checking.
"They wanted to say, 'We are the place that people go to who have goals in mind,' " Ms. Graf said.
The campaign's motif is firsts - first home, first child going to college, first day of an entrepreneur's new business.
One commercial shows a man playing with his kids on the front lawn of the family's new home, another shows a woman at a desk talking on a phone and directing movers with a voice-over about the first day running her own business, and a third shows an older woman in a swimming pool enjoying her first day of retirement. The print ads have same themes.
Ms. Graf and Mr. Davis said the campaign has had positive feedback. First Financial plans to do research in early 2007 to gauge the increase in brand awareness.
It is not counting on marketing alone to attract more customers. First Financial is also adding sales staff, has added new treasury management products, and is using credit scoring for smaller commercial loans to speed up response time.
"Over time, if you do all of those, you should begin to see a lift in your sales numbers," Mr. Davis said.
