River Valley Bank is a very successful, growing, community bank offering personal and business banking services in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Bank is owned by the Nicklaus family, one of the country’s largest growers and producers of snap beans. As a young farmer, Ron Nicklaus relied on his community bank for the financing he needed to grow his business. This sparked his interest in banking and lead him to acquire River Valley Bank.
2017 marks River Valley’s 50th year in business and the bank wanted to commemorate that milestone in a big way, complete with an anniversary marketing campaign that not only celebrated their mission and commitment to customer service but also paid homage to their heritage. River Valley came to Insight Creative to help make the most of their marketing efforts during their special year and to use the event as a way to bolster their community-focused brand with their customers and potential customers.
To create a campaign that celebrated the bank’s future, Insight Creative went back … back … back … waaaaaay back to River Valley’s agricultural beginnings. Insight created a thought-provoking and visually unique campaign that asked the question: What can you BUILD from a BEAN? The campaign, featuring a consistent large bean graphic under changing images, reinforced the idea that everything River Valley Bank does today is a product of their bean farming roots.
How did the client feel about the campaign? Just ask Ellen Rock-Reineck, marketing and public relations director at River Valley Bank, “We wanted a unique way to promote our 50th anniversary and show our commitment to the roots of our ownership—which is bean farming. The vibrant green bean imagery is eye catching and inspires curiosity on the part of the viewer. Employees and customers relate to our Beans to Banking story and have told us they love the way it is represented in this campaign!”
