By reframing one of the least fashionable words in marketing, Old National Bank has built one of the more distinctive campaigns in US banking.
Now in its fifth year, the bank is extending its Get Old initiative with three new TV spots reinforcing a simple message: experience matters.
For Jim Stadler, chief marketing officer at Old National Bank, the campaign was born from necessity following the merger between Old National and First Midwest Bank in 2022.
Rather than create a new name, it doubled down on the Old National brand and decided to differentiate itself in a crowded marketplace by tackling its most obvious challenge head-on.
“In the banking world, we felt old could actually be beneficial,” Stadler told Financial Promoter. “Old National Bank has been around for over 190 years and is the sixth largest bank in the Midwest. If you’re looking for a bank, whether it’s commercial, wealth or retail, you want strength, stability, longevity and comfort that they know what they’re doing.”
“We also felt we could use it with a bit of a wink and a smile. Yes, you have to be diligent and careful. But the campaign was a call to action,” Stadler adds. “It gave us a platform to define what it means to have a relationship with Old National Bank.”
Standing out in a crowded market
The latest creative continues that positioning over three short and witty videos, showing how our banking needs evolve through life, from first opening accounts to fraud protection and support for growing businesses, focusing on every stage of a customer’s financial journey.
Allocating resources smartly is a key part of the campaign’s success.
“Most of our media has migrated to connected online video, CTV, streaming audio, and digital across a five-mile radius of each branch in key Midwestern markets. That allows us to optimise our spend better than buying linear television, which covers the whole market,” Stadler says.
“Our lower-funnel activation – programmatic, search, social, direct mail, and email- is a call-to-action, while upper funnel is more brand focused. So it gives us a lot of flexibility.”
Adapting to evolving life stages
Stadler says that this framing – with its catchphrase “Just another reason to get old” – is a key part of why the campaign has endured, drawing a parallel between aging while building this long-term relationship with their bank.
“You may open your first checking account at 18,” he says. “As you mature and get older, your product needs evolve and change. You might get married, buy a home and use more credit and wealth management products – which means more advice, support and help.”
A core part of Stadler’s role is keeping such a long-running campaign fresh while maintaining its core identity. How does he do this?
“Don’t be afraid to make subtle changes,” he explains. “We’ll continue to evolve our products and services. We’re still only in the third or fourth inning in defining what it means to get old, and we still have a good runway. That’s what keeps it fresh and unique.”
Balancing humour with gravitas
Maintaining humour in banking is, unsurprisingly, a delicate balancing act.
“Our agency partner Schafer Condon Carter has worked with us a long time and understands our voice, tone and personality,” he says.
“We start with the core message of trust and the product itself, and then carefully layer in a little wink and smile.”
That balance seems to be working.
“I’ve gotten nothing but positive reactions over the last five years,” Stadler says. “From a communications perspective, my number one job is making sure people pay attention, and we accomplished that with Get Old. Whether customers liked it or not, they paid attention. It created awareness and consideration.”
In a category Stadler describes as a “sea of sameness” and a “fog of familiarity,” that may well be the campaign’s biggest achievement.