Arvest Tugs Customers? Heart Strings

A girls softball game and a father and son fixing a leaky sink are only two of the scenes depicted in Arvest Bank Group Inc.’s latest multimedia advertising campaign. The print, TV, radio and outdoor billboard advertisements ask potential customers, “What’s your priority?”

Kevin Sabin, Arvest’s Tulsa-based marketing officer, said the strategy is to tell people about the breadth of the organization’s services with messages that fit it’s corporate culture. Family and community “are Arvest values,” he said, so it made sense to mount a “slice of life” campaign using talent actually from markets in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

“We’re capturing those special moments that occur within the life of a family that aren’t pre-planned,” Sabin said. “They’re the poignant moments that are in all of our lives. We try to make banking as efficient and affective as possible so our customers can spend more time in those moments.”

Sabin said Arvest, which as of Dec. 31 reported $4.6 billion in assets, would not disclose the campaign’s budget. But given its ubiquity and slick look, area advertising professionals said, the tab is most likely in the six-figure range.

Sabin said the campaign was a collaborative effort with Sells/Clark Inc. of Little Rock, which he credited with doing “a phenomenal job.” Mike Sells, the ad firm’s CEO, said the softball spot in particular was intended to promote Arvest’s convenience.

“No one can touch them in terms of hours or bank and ATM locations,” Sells said. “What the message really says is, ‘We understand what’s important to you.”

Sells/Clark, which started doing work for Arvest in 1999, began production for the latest campaign in June and rolled it out in early fall. Waymack & Crew of Little Rock produced the song “The Sweetest Days” performed by Amy Garland for the TV and radio spots. The song, which recently won a district gold award from the American Advertising Federation, has apparently taken on a life of its own.

Lisa Ray, executive vice president and sales manager at Arvest Bank-Bentonville, said customers keep calling and wanting to buy the song on CD.

Ray said it’s too early to pinpoint new business derived from the campaign.