(clockwise from top left) are local bank advertisements and marketing tools recently honored by the American Bankers Association: Wainwright Bank’s newsletter, a “Creative Economy Letter of Socially Responsible Banking”; a newspaper ad for the Institution for Savings created by McDougall & Duval; Commonwealth National Bank’s direct-mail postcard to small-business owners; and Salem Five’s “Locations” newspaper ad.

Dressed in a dark suit, Charles Valade, president and chief executive officer of Worcester-based Commonwealth National Bank, is seated with an oversized dog in his lap. Meanwhile, ice cream from a double-scoop cone is dripping down the hand of Carl Bindoo, vice president and commercial loan officer at Commonwealth National. These aren’t images that most customers expect to see of bank executives, but as advertising material, it works.

Commonwealth National and five other Massachusetts institutions were recently honored by the American Bankers Association for their innovative marketing strategies and eye-catching ads.

As part of a direct-mail campaign, Commonwealth National sent postcards to small businesses in the bank’s market footprint. The postcards were intended to showcase the bank’s commercial lending capabilities. Lisa McCarthy, agency partner at Commonwealth Creative Associations in Framingham, the marketing agency that works with Commonwealth National Bank, said the ads used real-life subjects and stories and emphasized the bank’s business focus. For instance, Bindoo appears with the owner of West End Creamery, Greg VandenAkker. On the back of the postcard, the bank explains its history of working with VandenAkker and why commercial lending is the bank’s specialty.

“We wanted to develop a realistic branding approach while projecting a positive alternative to larger banks,” said McCarthy.

The overall theme knitting the individual postcards into a coherent marketing campaign was “Have You Heard?” with phrases such as “Have you heard the one about the banker going to the dogs?” accompanying the mailing of Valade and his canine companion. The dog is one of the patients of the Boston Road Animal Hospital, a bank customer.

Part of the strategy with the postcards was to reach out to businesses in an area where the bank was building a new branch.

“We wanted other businesses in the area to know we had existing relationships with some of their peers,” said Andrea White, senior vice president and chief retail officer at Commonwealth National.

White said the direct-mail campaign, which won a certificate of excellence, has helped the bank’s new Northbridge branch grow, White said.

“We’ve really gained some headway,” she said.

Other ABA ad winners included the Newburyport-based Institution for Savings and its marketing agency, McDougall & Duval Advertising in Amesbury. Dan Duval, chief executive officer and creative director at McDougall & Duval, said the goal of the award-winning print ad campaign was to reshape the bank’s branding position. Because it is one of the oldest banks in the area, Duval said people had a perception that the Institution for Savings was “stodgy.” For the bank to grow, he said, it was important to reach out to a younger audience.

The newspaper ad, which ran in full color and won a certificate of excellence, shows a young father throwing his daughter into the air with the headline “Trust doesn’t happen overnight Â… it happens over generations.”

“It’s a nice simple message and had a lot of meaning to the bank,” Duval said. “We wanted people to know it is an old established bank but the emotion of the ad is geared towards a younger audience.”

Part of reaching out to a younger audience involves putting a new spin on long-established bank products, Duval said.

“[Institution for Savings] is really opening up to try new and interesting products that keep pace and lead the way,” Duval said.

Salem Five also received a certificate of excellence from the ABA for its multimedia campaign, “Free ATMs Worldwide.” The campaign promotes the bank’s Gold Star checking account, which allows customers to be reimbursed up to $25 a month for fees incurred by using other banks’ ATMs.

“It’s the positioning of a product that promotes Salem Five’s convenience,” said Pat Pollard, director of marketing at Salem Five.

The ads featured headlines such as “New Hampshire or New Guinea” to explain that customers can use ATMs anywhere in the world and not be charged. Another ad promoting the same service featured photos of well-known world locations such as the Great Pyramids in Egypt and the Eiffel Tower in France. Pollard reported the bank has experienced a “phenomenal surge” in Gold Star checking activity since the ads ran.

“The creative element of it was very strong, very powerful,” Pollard said, adding the ad immediately conveys that customers can use any ATM with this particular account.

Salem Five, which works with Providence-based marketing agency Duffy & Shanley, ran print ads in local weekly newspapers, trade publications and the Boston Sunday Globe.

“We understand in order to have aggressive growth in place Â… we need to have our message consistent in the marketplace,” Pollard said. “We make sure we have good solid coverage in the retail banking footprint.”

The bank and ad agency work on developing a message based an annual strategic plan that is developed in the fall of each year and looks forward for 12 months. Each quarter, the staff reviews how much funding will be allocated to print, television and radio ads. At the same time, the bank will devise a new creative marketing plan for each quarter.

‘Daring’ Work

Natick-based Middlesex Savings Bank took home an ABA “Best of the Best” award for its TV spot “Colors” in which it focused on Freedom Gold Checking, which provides customers with rebates for ATM fees levied by other banks. Jim Briand, director of marketing, said the ad played off the idea of corporate colors. When customers don’t pay a fee because of Middlesex’s rebate program, every bank’s corporate colors become Middlesex’s colors – blue, Briand said. The ABA cited the bank’s research and the results from the ad as reasons for the award. Briand said the ads have brought in $60 million in bank balances.

The bank has been working closely with Waltham-based marketing agency Boathouse Group since 2004.

“They have helped us develop an integrated brand, look and voice,” Briand said.

After finding out that most people liked Middlesex Savings but couldn’t define exactly what the bank stood for, the bank started to “turn up the voice” last fall, Briand said.

“We set out to clearly communicate our value proposition,” he said.

Boston-based Wainwright Bank also was awarded a certificate of excellence for its “Creative Economy Letter of Socially Responsible Banking.” Steve Young, spokesman for the bank, said each issue of the newsletter has a theme. The newsletter is filled with short articles and printed in vibrant colors. The winning issue focused on environmental initiatives, which Young said reflects concerns and interests in the communities that the bank serves.

“We’ve always felt [newsletter] design matters,” Young said.

The bank works with an independent editor, Maria Valenti, and Stephen Burdick Design to create the newsletters. Young said each edition covers a global issue, like homelessness or AIDS, and incorporates news about what is being done locally.

Young said Wainwright’s marketing materials stand out because the bank doesn’t utilize stock images and a lot of white space is used.

“It’s very clear with bright bursts of color,” Young said.

North Middlesex Savings Bank in Ayer was awarded a “Best of the Best” award for its “Read the Green” multimedia campaign. But unlike many of the other banks, the institution creates its marketing materials in-house. Patricia Thorpe, vice president of marketing at the bank, said the campaign was a “box mailer” to non-customers. The box, which carried a label encouraging recipients to “Read the Green,” opened from the top and a golf ball was embedded in the insert. The brochure was intended to look like a golf scorecard. The bank supplemented the mailing with three-dimensional posters and in-branch signage. Because the mailer was designed to showcase a high-yield NOW account and the bank was targeting high-income clients, Thorpe said a golf theme made sense.

The campaign was intended to bring in $10 million in deposits, but instead brought in $22 million.

Although only a handful of Massachusetts banks won advertising awards, most area banks are using advertising more than ever before to tout innovative products, Duval said.

“Advertising is less focused on humor,” said Duval. “It’s more product-oriented.”

He added that banks have become more interested in branding and marketing, which is a sign of confidence in the marketplace.

“It indicates [banks] are feeling comfortable with the economy,” Duval said.

In order to have a strong marketing campaign, Briand suggests maintaining a good relationship with an ad agency. Customers are beginning to see “interesting” and “daring” things in bank advertising, he said.

“The overall quality of advertisements has increased steadily,” Briand said. “Banks have learned from the retail world.”