Reader's guide.

• Position: IDEA BANK - MutualOne Bank

The "Idea Bank" showcases outstanding examples of advertising and other marketing campaigns from financial institutions of all sizes and locations. The names of all advertising and communications agencies are included where appropriate.

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Name Change Promotion

Coming Soon!

Institution: MutualOne Bank, Framingham, Mass.

Asset size: $398 million

Agency: Sundin Associates Inc., Natick, Mass.

Earlier this year, a new entity, MutualOne Bank, was created by the merger of Framingham Co-operative Bank and Natick Savings Bank.

To promote the change, the new bank opted out of using traditional media and turned instead to some slightly unusual channels This approach was taken because of the small footprint of the market area (two neighboring towns).

Some of the nontypical channels included posters and banners at commuter rail stations (there are three Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rail stations in the two towns), taxi cab tops and a mobile billboard.

Name Recognition

That's Pronounced 'Fork'

Institution: Forcht Bank, Lexington, Ky.

Asset size: $992 million

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In 2007, 10 different community banks were merged and given the common name of Forcht Bank. Since then, the general public in Lexington and Louisville continued to struggle with how to say correctly the name of the bank (the right pronunciation is "fork").

A recent focus group of 15 Lexington residents revealed that only one knew how to pronounce "Forcht" correctly.

The bank decided that it needed something "outside the box" to get the point across. The bank's in-house marketing department met to brainstorm ideas, and someone suggested, "Why don't we put a giant fork in the front of the bank?"

With the help of a local sign company that specialized in custom fabrication, the bank placed 18-foot stainless steel...