The Client

First Business Bank is a publicly traded financial institution (NASDAQ: FBIZ) with assets of $1.2 billion and locations in Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh, WI. The bank only has 2,000 customers and prides itself in providing more than banking solutions to its clients. First Business Bank is regularly named one of Wisconsin’s most admired banks.  

The Project

Existing creative, by the bank’s own admission, wasn’t as effective as it could have been. In the last 12 months, First Business had changed their graphical identity so they didn’t want to undergo another change. Their advertising, and more specifically, their messaging, needed to be flexible to work in markets that had little commonality. Like many in the banking industry, First Business wanted to dispel the bad publicity associated with bankers in general. TMA+Peritus developed new creative and messaging for the bank that appeared in magazine advertising throughout Wisconsin, in direct mail an on outdoor.