Umpqua Bank
In 2003 Umpqua Bank was a small, regional bank looking to change an industry. In order to succeed it needed to build national awareness, differentiate itself in an increasingly competitive market and drive deposits.
LANE PR was added to the team and charged with creating buzz through grassroots social marketing and public relations campaigns. LANE PR’s efforts emphasize Umpqua’s innovation and utilize public and community relations strategies that go beyond traditional financial services public relations.
In July 2007, as the economy began to falter, Umpqua Bank determined that small business owners were an untapped and important audience. Umpqua created an innovative marketing campaign dubbed “The Lemonaire” and targeted small business banking customers with the smallest, most entrepreneurial business of all: the lemonade stand. LANE PR developed a strategy to carry Umpqua’s messaging across the nation. The agency produced creative mailers to introduce the Lemonaire campaign to targeted media. The make-your-own desktop lemonade stand mailers were a huge hit, making subsequent pitch efforts much easier – and were even included in local broadcast coverage.
The result? LANE PR has been instrumental in communicating Umpqua’s industry-changing strategy of retail banking both nationally, to build awareness, and regionally, to drive deposits in a competitive banking environment. The Lemonaire campaign resulted in countless mentions in blogs nationally and internationally – as far away as Rome, Italy - and drove $113 million in new deposits for the bank. In 2007 and 2008, Umpqua Bank received over 1,471 placements for an estimated ad value of over $2.3 million.