Davis Advertising Team Wins 3 Awards at Spring 2024 NEFMA Conference
Davis Advertising attended the 2024 Spring New England Financial Marketing Association (NEFMA) Conference on May 6th and 7th. The agency was honored to receive three NEFFIE awards, including two Gold and one Bronze for our work on East Cambridge Savings Bank campaigns and a new Coastal Heritage Bank website.
Our team was represented by Natalie Bauer (Director of Account Services), and Madeline Sullivan (Assistant Account Manager).
Digital Marketing Award
In this category, Davis Advertising won Gold for a campaign designed for East Cambridge Savings Bank. The goal of this campaign was to bring in new deposit customers for the bank, specifically for the ages of kindergarten through college, due to the fact that most customers stick with their childhood bank long-term, therefore resulting in lifetime customers.
Our team promoted three accounts with different digital tactics for the campaign, including the iSave checking accounts (for ages newborn to 18), the Debit Card for Teens (ages 14-17), and the bank’s checking accounts (Kasasa® Rewards accounts and East Cambridge Checking). We met our different target audiences through various mediums, including emails and a Facebook ad (for parents and grandparents), and Snapchat (for teens).
In particular, the Snapchat campaign was a huge success, beating industry standard Swipe-Up Rates at 1.71% for the year. Additionally, the email marketing campaign had an average open rate of 20.4%, beating the industry standard of 10%. Overall, 242 new Teen Debit Cards were opened and East Cambridge Savings Bank received 200 new customers.
Print Marketing Award
For the Print Marketing category, Davis won Gold for East Cambridge Savings Bank’s 4-Month CD campaign. The goal of the campaign was to increase new deposit money through a limited 4-month certificate of deposit. Due to many similar CDs being offered by other banks around this time, Davis had to create a unique, inviting campaign that stood apart from the rest.
To do so, we crafted a seasonal campaign set around the Fourth of July to spark excitement among Boston Globe readers. The print advertisement performed very well, resulting in East Cambridge Savings Bank reaching its account goal by 674%.
Website Design Award
Davis Advertising was awarded Bronze for our design of Coastal Heritage Bank’s website. In 2023, the art and web departments worked to completely revamp the bank’s website by updating design features as well as user functionality. One of the main goals of the project was to include Coastal Heritage Bank’s branding in the design, including their beachy, friendly brand aesthetic with accompanying visuals of seashores, lighthouses, and an overall “coastal” feel.
During the strategic phase, we utilized the client’s research and our agency’s years of experience designing websites (both in the financial industry and outside of it) to identify the best practices for modern bank websites. It was imperative that the new website appeal to both current and potential customers, and that the new design be extremely intuitive with the most accessed features like login portal and rate information readily available.
Graphic designer and animator Nicole Green shared her approach to redesigning the website, “The one thing I knew right out of the gate was that I wanted to incorporate the logo as an artistic element in the design. I always try to think outside of the box, and my goal is always to design websites that have a fresh take and give users a more unique and memorable experience than your typical, average website.”
When it came time for our developers to program the new website, we implemented unique animations, the latest accessibility features, and improved the navigation for ease of use. Post-launch, we were pleased to hear very positive feedback from the bank’s staff and their customers. Our developers continue to improve the site to make it even easier to use.
Take a look at the website by visiting https://coastalheritagebank.com/.
