Posted on: Friday, March 7, 2003
HAWAIIAN STYLE
Bank chief is just plain Mike, thanks to folksy ads
Whether he likes it or not, Bank of Hawaii's "Tell Mike" ad campaign has firmly entrenched unwitting TV "star" and bank chief executive Mike O'Neill in local lore, joining a list of recognizable island ad characters from Hot Dog Annie and Lippy Espinda to that other pair of Bank of Hawaii celebrities: Harry and Myra.
The well-received commercials' popular line "Pick it up, Mike!" is becoming as much a part of local TV lingo as "Go NOW Hawai'i, why pay more?" and Didi Ah Yo's "And away we go!"
All this, much to the chagrin of his family. And to O'Neill's modest surprise.
Mike — the commercial has cemented a first-name identity — came to Bank of Hawaii in 2000 when bank fees were up, profits down and local loyalty to the island institution falling. "THE Bank of Hawaii" was seen as the bank of everywhere, he said.
"We were disappointing a lot of people. We knew we had to fix problems, but first we had to fix the (public) perception — that image of being distant ... 'Big Business' ... that we cared more about money than the customer."
"We had lost touch with the local market," said O'Neill. "Essentially, the question was, 'How do we get to these people?' "
Everyone agreed they had to get the message across "without being slick," and in a way that was friendly, personable — and local.
"Why not just tell 'em?" said Lori McCarney, a marketing department executive vice president. And she wanted O'Neill to do the telling.
Everyone agreed — except O'Neill.
Already in the short time he'd been in the bank's top position, financial performance had improved, along with morale. "Hey, Mike!" employees would greet the head guy in hallways and elevators. Already his local-style friendliness was trickling down from the top floor. Bank marketing folks knew they had their man.
So the guy who had never had an acting lesson agreed to do ONE commercial and let the "experts" decide — read that, focus groups and polling statistics.
The series was an immediate hit — and so was O'Neill, whose friendly filmed demeanor from the golf course, elevator or jogging path reached almost cult popularity. Bank board member and state Office of Hawaiian Affairs chairwoman Haunani Apoliona frequently borrows one popular line. "Pick it up, Mike!" she chides the affable bank head.
The "I BankOhana you very much" is another customer favorite.
Soon O'Neill found he could go almost nowhere without recognition; even in laid-back Pahoa, fans called out, "Hey, it's Mike!"
Students at his kids' school flock to the instant celebrity.
"Awwww, Dad!" his kids kibitz in embarrassment.
"The purpose of the commercials was not to mortify my family — but I DID accomplish that objective!" he jokes.
Jaunts through the main branch's lobby now require a certain amount of prerequisite handshaking and "talk-story."
He finds the celebrity a bit unnerving. "My range of acceptable (public) behavior has narrowed," he joked.
Ninety-nine percent of public reaction to the ads — and O'Neill — has been good. One customer's "Ahhh, bring back Harry and Myra" was an exception. And the accusation — just once — of his being "the biggest egomaniac."
Then there is his son's favorite story:
Responding to an emergency last year in which a disgruntled bank customer set his car on fire outside the main branch, then proceeded into the bank to discharge a fire extinguisher in protest, O'Neill found the hapless fellow handcuffed and sitting on a wall, down but not out. "Hey, Mike!" the guy called out in instant recognition.
