San-Francisco-based agency Heat recently featured Bank of the West customer Oral Lee Brown, a uniquely dedicated role model, in the latest spot in their ongoing "Go West" advertising campaign. The campaign celebrates real bank customers by sharing their stories of pursuing their passions and their entrepreneurial drive and, in the process, demonstrates how Bank of the West's relationship-based approach to banking and diverse industry expertise have played a part. Take a look at the new TV spot and longer documentary here:
http://sfheat.com/business/BOTW_PR/OLB/
When Oakland real estate agent and Bank of the West customer Oral Lee Brown saw the deterioration of her Oakland community, she took it as a personal call to action. "Oakland was deteriorating," Ms. Brown explains, "Kids were dropping out of school. It certainly had an effect on the community; something had to be done."
In 1987, she walked into a first grade classroom in her Oakland neighborhood and said to the twenty-three students: "Stay in school, do the best you can, and I will send you to college." She kept her promise, and over the following years put aside money to send nearly every one of the original twenty-three students to college. Since then, her efforts have grown, and the Oral Lee Brown Foundation was born. As of today,136 students have benefited from her decision to make a difference.
"I'm not a hero," says Ms. Brown, "when I make a promise, I'm going to keep it. Bank of the West helped me keep that promise."
Following Heat's selection as Bank of the West's agency of record, the agency hooked up with a documentary film crew, rented a van, and took a road trip throughout the West to film breathtaking scenery and interview a cast of bank customers, including Oral Lee Brown.
From a biodynamic winery in Oregon to the largest airline painting company in the world to a handcrafted salami company that's been around for over 100 years, these stories of real Bank of the West customers show that "Go West" is more than just the left side of the map- it's also an optimistic spirit and state of mind. The 30 second spot featuring Oral Lee Brown is the most recent iteration of the campaign. It begins airing on May 4 in key markets across the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States. Watch all of the long-format customer documentaries on the Stories of the West microsite:
https://www.bankofthewest.com/gowest.html
As agency of record for Bank of the West (and a longtime bank customer itself), Heat is driving the bank's creative work, including sponsorships and online, print, broadcast, out-of-home and experiential advertising. Heat has also collaborated on the development of key social media activities included in the advertising effort.
Credits:
Title:"Oral Lee Brown"
Client: Bank of the West
Agency: Heat
Chairman / Creative Director: Steve Stone
ACD / Art Director: Mark Lawson
ACD / Copywriter: Jeff Guenther
Copywriter: James Duffy
Art Director: Nichole Berger
Executive Content Producer: Brian Coate
Content Producer: Jonathan Matthews
Group Account Director: Teri Fildey
Account Director: Mike McGarry
Account Manager: Megan Robershotte
Production Company: The Academy, Seattle
Executive Producer: Harry Calbom
Creative Director: David Holm
Director / Editor: Austin Wilson
Director of Photography: Justin Henning
After Effects Artists: Austin Wilson, Mike Holm, Justin Henning
Logo Treatment: Michael Holm
Music: Pico Sound, Seattle
Composer: Ellis Hawes
Recording Studio: One Union Recording
Engineer: Joaby Deal