Bank First National receives marketing award

The best bank advertising and marketing campaigns from across the U.S. were recognized in San Antonio, Texas, at the American Bankers Association’s 2009 Financial Marketing Awards ceremony. Established in 1972, the ABA Financial Marketing Awards recognize bank marketing professionals and their agencies for creative excellence based on bank asset size. A panel of financial services marketers and advertising professionals around the country judged entries based on execution of the communications strategy, message and positioning, as well as the campaign's overall results. Entries were divided into six categories including annual report, brand, customer acquisition and retention, financial education, humor, and impact. Each category was judged in four asset levels: under $500 million, $500 million-$1 billion, $1 billion-$5 billion and more than $5 billion. Financial institutions including banks, savings and loans, insurance companies, brokerage firms, investment firms, credit card companies and their advertising agencies submitted entries. Bank First National won an award for their 2008 Annual Report. The report was a special tribute which featured nautical creativity and rhetoric to salute Thomas J. Bare, former president of the bank. Bare’s genuine passion for sailing the Great Lakes was the whimsy that buoyed the “Ship’s Log” design. The financial graphs reflected a captain’s chart of the ship’s journey over time. The bank is likened to a ship and each year of operation is likened to another voyage. The cover’s weathered appearance represents the strength and longevity of the organization. Leafing through the “Ship’s Log,” the content, both strategic and financial, promises that the bank’s rich and enduring history will continue after Bare “handed over the helm” to the bank’s new president, David J. Diedrich, and new CEO, Michael Molepske. Bank First National partnered with Hoppmann Group, a full-service marketing and communications firm based in Wauwatosa, for the creative, design and printing of the annual report. First Manitowoc Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: FMWC.OB), provides financial services through its sole subsidiary, Bank First National, a national banking association incorporated in 1894. The Bank is an independent community bank with 15 banking locations in Manitowoc, Brown, Calumet, and Sheboygan counties. The Bank has grown through both acquisitions and de novo branch expansion. The Bank offers loan, deposit, investment advisory and trust products at each of its banking offices. Insurance products are available through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Vincent Group and asset management services are available through its wholly owned subsidiary, The George V. Reis Investment Group, Inc. The Bank employs approximately 254 full time equivalent staff and has assets of $783 million as of August 31, 2009. For more information on Bank First National, visit www.BankFirstNational.com.