Farmers ad puts focus on Main Street

May 27, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

CANFIELD

Those who watched the “American Idol” season finale may have noticed a local advertisement for Farmers National Banc Corp.

Local commercials during national telecasts are common, but this particular ad, which featured Farmers CEO John Gulas, was partially filmed on a prominent American street: Wall Street.

Farmers, along with its ad agency, Prodigal, spent many weeks preparing the commercial, which aims to remind customers that community banks tend to serve their customers better.

“Wall Street: Where banking changed for many people, and not necessarily for the better,” said Gulas, walking down Wall Street. “Customers of big banks are paying the consequences.”

The New York footage took one day to shoot.

Gulas then appears walking outside of Farmers’ Canfield offices, representing “the Valley’s Main Street,” pitching “service you can only get from a community bank.”

Vince Bevacqua, vice president of media and public relations for Prodigal, said the commercial was intended to be “professional and look nice” but not an “overblown production.”

The 30-second spot will run for 12 weeks on Valley television stations, said Amber Wallace, senior vice president of marketing.

“Community banks are different than the big national banks,” she said. “A lot of the time in the media, banks are all portrayed the same. Community banks are based on service and relationships.”