One image from Eastern Bank’s True Blue ad campaign is that of Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie celebrating his famed “Hail Mary” pass against the University of Miami in 1984.

Eastern Bank is trying something new, something companies that are big – or want to be – focus on like a laser: creating a brand.

The bank’s emotion-laden ad campaign, True Blue, took off Feb. 4 with three 60-second spots aired in eastern Massachusetts during the Super Bowl on CBS.

“This is about a long-range plan of positioning Eastern in the marketplace,” explained Grant Pace, a partner and executive creative director at Conover Tuttle Pace, the Boston ad agency that produced the campaign. “I would venture to say it’s the first large-scale branding effort they’ve done.”

“True Blue, in my mind, stands for integrity, honesty, dependability. We hope that message gets to the public,” noted Eastern Bank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Holbrook.

Television, with its capacity for the moving image, sound effects and storytelling, is a big help in getting an emotional “brand” message across, Pace added.

As the True Blue ad opens, a girl in a blue dress skips into view.

“It’s the color of the cobblestone streets of Newburyport,” an announcer’s voice intones. “The color of the golden dunes of the Cape. It’s the color of cranberry bogs in Middleborough and blueberry pancakes in Jamaica Plain.”

Images of those dunes, bogs and friends enjoying a pancake breakfast flash onscreen. Music plays. Massachusetts’ favorite scenes, seasons and icons, including Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie celebrating his famed “Hail Mary” pass against the University of Miami in 1984, fade in and out as the voice talks about local color.

In the end, they’re connected. “It’s the color of a bank that since 1818 has dedicated itself to making a difference – and honored a commitment to give back,” says the voice, as a banker helps a customer at her desk. “At Eastern Bank, it’s a color we call True Blue.”

A corresponding print, online and radio campaign advertises the co-released True Blue Premier Checking account with the numbers. Eastern spokesman Joe Bartolotta said the campaign’s success will be judged “on the bottom line” – in other words, on how many people sign up for that account (or actually, a customer’s choice of any number and kind of accounts at the bank, which are eligible for perks if the customer maintains a combined balance of $25,000).

But Eastern, Massachusetts’ fifth-largest bank – which has 72 branches in the eastern part of the state – also did a study to determine its market position prior to the ad’s release.

The bank will ask consumers their thoughts about Eastern again, after the campaign is complete.

‘A Tough Business’
Holbrook, who just took on the CEO role in January, had a hand in the True Blue campaign last summer – before Eastern even knew what its message would be. The bank first invited six ad agencies in for a visit in July, to let them hear the same message about its hope to nail down a strong marketplace position.

Holbrook described the bank’s four-point “relationship strategy” to the agencies as he did to a reporter last week: Everyone needs a bank that can process basic transactions, provide credit, offer investment opportunities and help protect them.

He said the print and online ads are to sell the products associated with that strategy, and the television ad is about creating the “brand” the bank hopes customers will come to associate with it and them.

“There isn’t a lot you can get at Eastern that you can’t get anywhere else,” Holbrook acknowledged. “It’s the same for Bank of America Â… this is a tough business, so we have to distinguish ourselves.”

Holbrook virtually bursts with pride when talking about the True Blue campaign. He even stars in an internal, companion “Blue Monday” video that’s been making the rounds at Eastern Bank branches.

To the tune of Eiffel 65’s electronica song “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” the video features Holbrook “awakening” in his blue bedroom, putting on his blue tie and suit, and proceeding to Eastern’s Boston headquarters on Franklin Street, where he and his executive team – all dressed in blue – ride the elevator to the second floor.

A man in a gray suit and red tie pushes his way off ahead of them, and they smirk, “Nice outfit.” Then, Holbrook’s alarm clock goes off for real.

Boston-area marketing communication specialists who have seen Eastern’s ad remember it for different reasons.

“The thing that struck me was the music and the visual appeal. It really made me stop and watch,” said Elizabeth Wilson, an associate professor and chairwoman of Suffolk University’s Marketing and Communications Department.

“I think they’ve got it quite well thought-out in regards to the trust,” she added, referring to the message of integrity that True Blue is supposed to convey. “Especially with all the identity-theft stories out there.”

Even a regional ad buy during the Super Bowl – which cost national advertisers $2.6 million for a 30-second spot – is risky, Wilson said. “But it was probably a good strategy because that event is so watched. Going forward, they probably want to take a more targeted approach.”

Senior Research Analyst Peter Kim of Cambridge-based Forrester Research, a marketing and technology consulting company, recalled the Eastern Bank ad first for the fact that “True Blue” is the same name JetBlue Airways uses for its frequent flyer program.

Advertising campaigns that appeal to the emotional and rational sides of consumers, and are aired through multiple channels, have a greater chance of success, he indicated.

“Think of all the different media channels you’ve interacted with today,” he suggested. “You should put [ad campaigns] on as many of them as possible.”

A good way to measure an ad’s effectiveness is to browse consumer-generated media, such as YouTube and individual blogs, to see if people bring up the campaign independently, Kim said. There’s also the more complicated-sounding “left-brain marketing” models that actually can demonstrate whether running the ad made a bottom-line difference, and which channels were the most effective.

By the measure of independent recall and discussion, Eastern Bank’s efforts do seem to be having an effect – at least in its competitor community.

“Have you seen that new Super Bowl ad Eastern did?” one bank executive asked Banker & Tradesman, unprompted. “It’s a great ad,” said another, who did not want his name used.

That would probably be music to Holbrook’s ears.

He already knows Eastern’s market position, and he’s ambitious: “We’re the state’s fifth-largest bank [in terms of assets], but we’re a lot smaller than the fourth.”