Lately, I love signing in to my online banking account with Florence Bank. As I type in my password on the bank’s Home page, I see the face of my colleague Lauren Zuber on the left-hand side of the screen. She is screaming as she falls from the sky, wearing goggles and a parachute.

I have been partnering with Lauren, the marketing communications manager at the bank, for a year now. We meet monthly to talk about events, news, and other goings-on at the bank. I help raise awareness about them by writing and distributing press releases or penning blogs.

I know Lauren professionally. So, of course it is super fun to see the bank’s video vignette of her—roughly 10 years younger—feeling terrified as she skydives. The clip is one of many currently on view on the Florence Bank website; they are part of the bank’s new “Moments from the Valley” ad campaign, which spotlights poignant snippets in the lives of people who live and work in Western Mass.

Since it rebranded in 2014, after Monica Curhan, senior vice president / marketing director, came on board, Florence Bank has been known as hipper, more innovative. It has inspired Pioneer Valley residents to dance and sing along to its distinctive “Always” song. It all makes me proud that Florence Bank is my bank, and that Lauren and Monica are my clients.

I had little to do with the planning or launch of the ad campaign. That was overseen by staff working collaboratively with Sean Tracey, president of Sean Tracey Associates, and his team; the agency has produced the bank’s award-winning ad campaigns since the re-brand.

The campaign that’s being unveiled now features a television commercial capturing Lauren and: an Easthampton girl playing T-ball, a veteran from the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke with a dog from Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, a farm owner from Florence, an accomplished flutist from Worthington, a Longmeadow toddler taking his first steps, a Springfield couple getting engaged, a young woman from Hatfield graduating from high school and a Belchertown couple getting married.

Each time I watch it, I laugh. I smile. The scenes with the veterans and the therapy dogs make me misty eyed. The ad, and the billboards that will come as an offshoot, are alive, clever, real and human.

“We’re switching things up a bit and remaining authentic by telling true, local stories,” says Monica.  “We’re proud of the evolution of our brand and look forward to people checking out all the great content we’ve created for the campaign.”

If you want to see the full-length video stories of many of those captured in the tv ad, visit the campaign webpage on the bank’s site at www.florencebank.com/moments. You don’t have to be a customer to check it out.

You’ll even find photos and personal accounts from Florence Bank employees, who share their own treasured moments.

Also this fall, the bank has launched The Valley Beat blog, in which it highlights businesspeople, nonprofits in the region, and banking services.

Initial blogs feature Jeff Igneri, the owner of Local Burger, with locations in Northampton, Williamsburg, Haydenville and Keene, New Hampshire; Nate Frigard, co-owner of Crimson & Clover, an organic farm in Florence; and Sam Ostroff, the founder of Salmon Studios in Florence, which produces high-end architectural millwork and furniture, kinetic sculptures, public art, and fine art.

I was pleased to have the privilege of interviewing Jeff, Nate, and Sam and writing the blogs. Lauren has also written and interviewed many people for posts, including those whose stories are told in the video clips.

Spend some time exploring The Valley Beat blog and watching Florence Bank’s moving ads. All of the innovative content is sure to entertain.

The post Florence Bank Launches Poignant Ad Campaign appeared first on Beetle Press.

The bank shows its softer side in new campaign featuring milestone moments experienced by residents of the Valley

FLORENCE—Florence Bank has inspired Pioneer Valley residents to dance and sing along to its distinctive “Always” song since it rebranded in 2014. This fall, the bank will showcase its “Always” promise with an advertising campaign called “Moments from the Valley,” in which it spotlights poignant moments in the lives of people who live and work in Western Mass.

The television commercial features a Westfield woman skydiving, an Easthampton girl playing T-ball, a veteran from the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke with a dog from Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, a farm owner from Florence, an accomplished flutist from Worthington, a Longmeadow toddler taking his first steps, a Springfield couple getting engaged, a young woman from Hatfield graduating from high school and a Belchertown couple getting married.

“We’re switching things up a bit and remaining authentic by telling true, local stories,” said Monica Curhan, senior vice president and director of marketing at Florence Bank. “We’re proud of the evolution of our brand and look forward to people checking out all the great content we’ve created for the campaign.”

Sean Tracey, president of Sean Tracey Associates, the advertising agency that has produced the bank’s award-winning ad campaigns since the 2014 re-brand said, “Our intention for this campaign was to create inspiring video storytelling that was reminiscent of the Florence Bank ads you’ve come to know and love.

“Like the Florence Bank campaigns we’ve done in the past, these feature local residents,” Tracey added. “Their moments are all wildly different, yet the bank’s illustrious “Always” song connects them to one another and to Florence Bank.”

The bank will feature the full-length video stories of many of these people on the campaign webpage at www.florencebank.com/moments.

The web page will also include photos and personal accounts from Florence Bank employees. Florence Bank customers can also take a chance at being featured in a future advertising campaign by visiting any of the bank’s 10 branches and filling out a “Moments” postcard and sharing their photos with the bank’s marketing team at marketing@florencebank.com.

To learn more about the local people featured in the “Moments from the Valley” commercial, visit the bank’s newly launched blog on its website: www.florencebank.com/the-valley-beat.

About Florence Bank

Florence Bank is a mutually-owned savings bank chartered in 1873. Currently, the bank serves the Pioneer Valley through nine full-service branch locations in Florence, Northampton, Easthampton, Williamsburg, Amherst, Hadley, Belchertown and Granby as well as through 27 ATMs and a new full-service Banking Center in West Springfield.  Florence Bank offers a wide range of financial services including investment management through FSB Financial Group (FSBFG) to consumers and businesses.  Florence Bank is consistently voted best local bank by the readers of the Valley Advocate and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.  John F. Heaps Jr. is the Bank’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Main headquarters are at 85 Main St. Florence, MA 01062. For additional information about the Bank or its services please visit www.florencebank.com or call 413.586.1300.

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