The longest-running advertising campaign in Hawaii passes the 55-year mark this year. I sat down with Walter Dods Jr., who created the campaign as the new director of advertising and public relations at First Hawaiian Bank in 1969. I asked him about how he came to work there and how the campaign unfolded.
Hot-rodder
Walter Dods Sr. was a policeman, and his son graduated from Saint Louis School. “I was always broke and needed gas money for my hot rod, a 1949 two-door Ford sedan,” Walter Dods Jr. told me. “I had put in a stick shift and a V8 engine.”
“When I was 18, in 1959, I got a job at First Insurance on Ward Avenue. I was paid $195 a month — not even $1.25 an hour — to be a dead-files clerk. I filed expired insurance policies away in the attic. Every day I’d go up to there, file the old policies away and then take a nap. Nobody could see me.
“For extra cash I took a second job washing the building’s windows. On the fourth floor was Milici Valenti, an advertising agency. As I washed the windows, I saw their lights on and the staff working late.”
Dods joined the Jaycees and learned about community relations and communications. He also joined the Hawaii Army National Guard in the public information detachment and learned how to write news releases. That led to a job with the Dillingham Corp. in public relations.
“At some point I realized Dillingham was run by engineers, and I didn’t see a long-term future for myself. Pat Patterson, a legendary advertising guy in Hawaii, told me a marketing job at (what today is called) First Hawaiian Bank was open.
“I asked my friends, and they all thought that First Hawaiian was a stodgy, old, conservative, white-run bank.”
Interview
“I applied and went in for an interview with John Bellinger, who wasn’t CEO yet, but he was effectively running the bank. He asked, ‘What do you think of the bank?’ I said, ‘Do you really want to know?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’
“I didn’t know how powerful Bellinger was. I was young, naive and stupid.
“I think your bank stinks,” Dods told him. “Your managers are snobs. You don’t even talk to the press. You have a bad reputation with the media. It’s a disaster.
“I could see him turning a little red.”
“What would you do about it?” Bellinger asked.
“The first day, I’d fire the advertising agency and I’d reorganize the whole department. I’d get your managers out from behind their big fat desks and out into the community.”
Many executives might be offended by this. Bellinger was impressed that Dods had the temerity to speak his mind.
“He asked me, ‘How much do you want?’ I was making $600 a month at Dillingham. So, I decided, I’m going put it all out there — 800 bucks a month.
“OK,” he said. “When can you start?”
Off to a fast start
“That’s how I was hired at First Hawaiian Bank,” Dods said. “As promised, I fired their old advertising agency and selected Milici Valenti, based only on having watched them through the windows I was washing. Their work ethic impressed me.
“The second thing I did was research what the community really thought about the bank. The public thought our attitude was, ‘Prove to me you don’t need a loan, then maybe we’ll give you one.’
“Our managers never called on customers. They were seen as aloof and uncaring.
“Even though First Hawaiian was by far the older bank, Bank of Hawaii had passed First Hawaiian Bank as the state’s biggest bank, in terms of assets. When I got there, we were less than half the size of Bank of Hawaii. We had to change.”
Change in culture
“I wanted to transform more than the bank’s image and attitude,” Dods continued. “I wanted to change the entire culture of First Hawaiian.”
Dods told Milici Valenti the new advertising campaign needed to break the bank out of its unexciting past. “I wanted to make us approachable. I wanted to humanize us. I wanted to adopt an extremely positive attitude.
“Copywriter Tom Baird said, ‘Well, you know, if that’s what you really want, what is the most powerful word in the English language? That word is ‘yes.’
Dods agreed. “The two of us in that room came out, and that was it. First Hawaiian would be the ‘bank that says yes.’”
Fire that guy!
The idea ran into plenty of resistance. “When I introduced it to the bank,” Dods recalled, “the lending guys immediately got together and went to see the boss. They told Bellinger to fire me.
“John Bellinger was a part-Hawaiian Roosevelt High School graduate. He didn’t really know marketing, but he knew there was something wrong with the bank,” even though it had grown 10-fold since he became president.
“Bellinger backed me up all the way,” Dods said, “and backed down the lending guys. He gave me a chance. He was gutsy.
“Once they knew that Bellinger wasn’t going to walk away from it, one by one, they started to come into line. But, if he had faltered, the campaign would’ve gone down the tubes.
“Getting the bank’s internal culture to accept it was the harder job,” Dods said. “I’d go to branch managers’ meetings and present the entire campaign. When we finished, the managers would be silent. I was crushed.
“It was hard slugging in the early days, but as the ads started catching on, the staff started warming up to it.”
The bank that says yes
First Hawaiian Bank began promoting its new campaign in December 1969 — 55 years ago. Their first newspaper ad said:
“We live by a word. And the word is yes.
“You only go to a bank for one reason. You need something positive. An easier loan. A handier credit card. A faster way to save. Or simply advice.
“What you don’t need is maybe. Or, we’ll see. Or, we’ve never done that before.
“Next time you have any need that a bank might serve, bring it to the people at First Hawaiian. If it’s humanly possible, we’ll find a way to say yes.
“That’s the word we live by.”
It was signed, “John D. Bellinger
“President First Hawaiian Bank
“The bank that says yes”
Paradigm shift
John Hoag worked for First Hawaiian Bank for over half a century, retiring as president in 1995.
“Walter’s innovative and rather unorthodox ‘Yes’ campaign not only broke down the public image of the dull, negative old banker, but it also released all our employees to feel a greater sense of empowerment,” he said.
“Other new services created by Dods, such as the annual car show, a dealer center, centralized loan processing, etc., led to increased growth of our loan portfolio.
“Dods’ ‘Yes’ campaign opened the way for Hawaii’s oldest bank to once again become the state’s largest and most profitable bank. It was a privilege to be a part of this paradigm shift.”
First request
“Around 1972, when I began college, my parents wished to have my name added to their joint First Hawaiian Bank checking account and have checks printed bearing our three names,” Dennis Long wrote.
“The bank teller we asked told us that this request could not be accommodated.
“My dad became annoyed and said, ‘For years we’ve been loyal bank clients. Your slogan is ‘The bank that says yes!’ Well, the very first request I make, the answer is no! I’m thinking of moving my money to another bank in town!’
“The teller rushed to see the manager. She returned smiling and completed our request for checks printed with all three names! So, the bank did ultimately come through with a ‘Yes!’
“We couldn’t always say yes to every customer request,” Dods said, “but we tried.”
Promotions
Dods had joined the bank at the age of 27. Two years later, in 1970, as the “Yes” campaign gained traction, he was promoted to vice president. In 1984 he was promoted again, to president of the bank.
John Bellinger died in 1989 at 66 years of age. Walter Dods was picked as the bank’s new CEO. He was 48.
Over the years, First Hawaiian Bank has varied the theme’s wording. Some of the variations have included:
“Yes we can.”
“The power of Yes.”
“We say yes to you.”
“The answer is yes.”
“Yes, we care.”
The “Yes” campaign is probably the longest and most successful advertising campaign ever in Hawaii.
Dods retired as CEO in 2004. The bank has changed owners and CEOs several times, but the “Yes” campaign continues to this day, 55 years since its inception.
Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.
