Tuesday, June 16, 2009

TOP STORY >> Local bank honored for marketing skills

Roger Sundermeier, marketing director at First Arkansas Bank and Trust, has been named bank marketer of the year by the Arkansas Bank Marketing Association.

Larry T. Wilson, chairman, president and CEO of First Arkansas Bank and Trust, said that the bank has received several other awards and national recognition for its marketing creativity.

Since 2006, the bank has won 24 awards at the Arkansas Bank Marketing Awards Banquet, including the 2006 Best of Show Award, which was the first time an in-house design team won such an award.

First Arkansas Bank and Trust was featured in a full-page article in the June 2009 edition of U.S. Banker Magazine.

The article focused on the bank’s successful “Cash Club” savings program for children. The bank “adopted” a mixed-breed dog at the city’s animal shelter, named him Cash and made the dog the focus of the children’s savings program.

The bank has been profiled by Jeffrey Pilcher in Financial Brand, an online publication, which highlights the brightest and most creative bank advertising in the current marketplace.

First Arkansas Bank and Trust has been recognized nationally for its use of MySpace, Facebook and Twitter for growing the bank’s brand.

Pilcher recently named the FAB&T Twitter page as “one of, if not the coolest-looking Twitter page in the financial industry.”

In addition, the bank has been featured on the Internet in various blogs recently regarding its Cash Club Kids Savings Account program, including tie-ins with national businesses such as Petco, Radio Disney, Build-A-Bear Workshop and Sonic.

First Arkansas Bank and Trust is a family-owned and managed institution with headquarters in Jacksonville and has 28 locations in central and north-central Arkansas.

The bank has approximately $550 million in assets and employs over 220 people in serving its broad customer base.