"Man, It Feels Good to be a Banker"
After all, more than 3,000 viewers can’t be wrong.
That’s how many viewers have watched Landmark’s first rap video, which was posted to YouTube on May 20, 2009.
Rhiannon Trask, vice president of marketing at Landmark, said the first rap video was an effort to help create a company culture to bring together the employees of the 36 locations in 25 communities brought under the umbrella of Landmark Bank on April 25, 2009. That’s the day when First National Bank & Trust in Columbia, First National Bank & Trust in Southern Missouri and Landmark Bank in Oklahoma and Texas were combined into Landmark.
Trask knew she wanted to create a common company culture, but she also wanted to have fun with the project and the name change. So the very scientific way she went about this, said Trask, tongue-in-cheek, was to look through the photos she had from when First National participated in Columbia’s Moo-Dah Parade. She came across a picture of four men who were acting, well, silly.
These four quickly became the band Money ‘N Tha Bank and turned out the first rap video in less than two hours. The videos all feature the four men, who are Landmark employees during working hours: Geoff Karr, “D.J. Jazzy G-Off,” branch manager at Rock Bridge; Joe Ritter, “J-Riddy,” branch manager at the Garth Street location; Aaron Armentrout, “Peanut M&M,” branch manager at 63 South; and Nate Cain, “Big Delicious,” teller supervisor at the Stadium Boulevard location.
Initially, the name-change rap was only going to be shown at employee functions, but when Trask and others saw it, she said, “We were blown away.”
The next step was to do a rap to introduce all the Landmark employees to the company’s real estate lenders. That one was posted to YouTube on July 24, 2009, and has since received more than 3,000 views.
Later, Landmark Bank was involved in welcoming new members to the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, and Trask and her team of rappers saw another opportunity to change what could be a boring event into something more memorable.
The fourth video, “Man, It Feels Good To Be A Banker,” was designed to help kick off the executive team’s strategic planning and budgeting event.
Apparently even rap can’t make some information interesting. Posted to YouTube on Sept. 28, 2009, it has received only 1,074 views. Yet this video shows Jeff MacLellan, then chairman and CEO, bobbing his head and participating, even saying in Spanish, “Landmark Bank, es el mejor” (translated in the video as, “Landmark Bank is the best”). MacLellan has since retired and is now vice chairman.
“We’ve always had fun,” said Trask, noting the company’s relaxed atmosphere. They wanted to have fun with the name change and other bank events, but the opportunities for the bank’s rap group have kept coming.
In December, when MacLellan retired, Money N’ Tha Bank created a rap for that, too. Posted on Dec. 18, 2009, it has garnered 316 views so far.
So what’s next?
More rap videos are in the works, and Trask said the ones posted to YouTube have taken on lives of their own, with word being spread about them through Facebook and Twitter. The bank also has a link to YouTube on its Web site.
She’s even heard the rap videos have been cited at presentations at various banking conventions including the New England Financial Marketing Association.
“We were thrilled,” Trask said.
Landmark Rap Links
Landmark4Life
www.youtube.com/user/LandmarkMoments#p/p/a/u/1/MkEiyDUCZN4
May 20, 2009
3,405 views
Real Estate Rap
www.youtube.com/profile?user=LandmarkMoments#p/u/2/hZqYyv1EngY
7/24/09
3,078 views
Man, It Feels Good To Be A Banker
www.youtube.com/profile?user=LandmarkMoments#p/u/1/MkEiyDUCZN4
9/28/2009
1,074 views
Chamber of Commerce Rap
www.youtube.com/profile?user=LandmarkMoments#p/u/3/3zZKZd9l8mA
July 29, 2009
3,186 views
Jeff MacLellan Retirement Rap
www.youtube.com/profile?user=LandmarkMoments#p/u/4/pi1Rg2AmJoo
Dec. 18, 2009
316 views