Please note, our office will be closing at noon on Friday, December 11th, so our staff can gather for our annual holiday lunch. We will also be closing at 2 pm on Thursday, December 24th and Thursday, December 31st.

Roger channeled his inner private eye with the Mattel Tommy Burst Gun
Bob rocked out to Elvis records on his single-record turntable
Kristin dreamed of owning the Barbie Dream House
Carol's favorite gift wasn't a toy at all - it was a beautiful Scottish Terrier puppy named Bonnie Lassie
"Danger Bill Orsini Danger" is what the robot from Lost in Space should have said
Dave sought to amaze with REMCO's "Sneaky Pete's" Magic Show
Ed swears all the cool kids wanted his purple GT Performer Bicycle
Lisa looked forward to packing her snacks in a new plaid lunchbox
Kim welcomed her first Cabbage Patch Kid
Andy drove his Hot Wheels until their wheels fell off!
While "Tressy" was the hot toy, Debbie wanted a Baby Dear doll from the Sears toy catalog. Her mother thought, with its soft cloth body and bald, rubbery head, that Baby Dear was the ugliest doll she had ever seen, and called it "Mugsie" once the doll had come to live with them.

Sundin has been busy supporting United Bank of West Springfield as it prepares for its entrée into Worcester County with the acquisition of Commonwealth National Bank (CNB). Plans for announcing United’s presence in this new marketplace include newspaper advertising, radio and television spots, and billboards – all coming soon.

Bob, Bill and Carol recently joined eight CNB branch managers (soon-to-be United Personal Bankers) for a busy, daylong combination photo and filming session in Shrewsbury. The new TV spots will begin airing in the Worcester market next month, with billboards and other media to follow.

Recently Kristin had the pleasure of participating in a pre-conference panel at the M2Moms Conference in Chicago.

The session, Brands & Blogs: What's Working? What's Next?" was organized by Laura Tomasetti from 360 Public Relations, and included Marcia Hansen, Allstate Insurance Company; Liz Gumbinner, Cool Mom Picks; Beth Blecherman, Silicon Valley Moms Group; Lesley Hettinger, Chevrolet/GM, and Jeannine Harvey, PBS.

Session description:
Without a doubt, one of the hottest topics garnering headlines this year is mom blogs and how brands and bloggers work together.

Join us for a special, pre-conference workshop with a stellar panel of bloggers and brand representatives who have successfully forged relationships with each other and are frequently called upon by media and others for expert insight.

The two-hour workshop will tackle the issue of both brands’ and bloggers’ obligations when working together. Panelists will share case studies, tips and guidelines related to the following:

• Readying Your Brand for a Blogger Campaign
• Setting Goals, Benchmarks & Measurement Criteria
• Identifying Influential Bloggers
• What Bloggers Want from Brands
• Working with Blog Networks
• A Protocol for Engaging in Discussions on Blogs
• Beyond the Blog: Interacting with Bloggers on Twitter
• Integrating Online & Offline Communications

Couldn't make it to Chicago? Click here to listen, or download, the MP3.

Framingham Co-operative Bank and its advertising agency, Sundin Associates of Natick, together have received one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for financial marketing by winning an American Bankers Association (ABA) 2009 Financial Marketing Award.

The Bank’s recent Checking for Charity campaign was the second-place winner among institutions of similar size in the Impact category of the ABA competition. Financial service marketers and advertising professionals across the country judged each entry based on execution of the communication strategy, message and positioning, and the campaign’s overall results. Entrants included banks, savings and loans, insurance companies, brokerage firms, investment firms, and credit companies.

“Winning this recognition is a wonderful honor,” said Steven Sousa, senior vice president of Framingham Co-operative Bank. “We are thrilled to be recognized for the creativity and ingenuity that went into this campaign, and with our customers’ response to it.”

Each new checking account opened at Framingham Co-operative Bank during the Checking for Charity campaign netted a $10 donation to the American Cancer Society. In addition, all Bank locations displayed and distributed informative cancer prevention, treatment, and research information to the public.

Sousa reported that nearly 500 new accounts were opened during the Checking for Charity campaign. The Bank directed its $5,000 Checking for Charity donation to the local office of the American Cancer Society and to the Natick-based Ovations for a Cure, to benefit ovarian cancer research and that organization’s community-based awareness events and programs.

The Sundin Associates/Framingham Co-operative Bank Checking for Charity campaign was the runner up (capturing the second spot among all entries in the class) in the Impact category of the American Bankers Association’s 2009 Financial Marketing Awards competition.

Each checking account opened at the Bank during the campaign netted a $10 donation to the American Cancer Society, and all Bank offices displayed and distributed informative cancer prevention, treatment, and research information to the public

2nd Consecutive Banker & Tradesman Win

For the second consecutive year, Sundin Associates was the first choice of readers of Banker & Tradesman and has been named Gold Award Banking - Advertising/Marketing Agency for 2009.

Representatives of the Natick-based agency accepted the Award at a special reception hosted by Banker and Tradesman , a weekly industry publication for banking and real estate professionals, at the Marliave Restaurant in Boston on July 27. Sundin Associates also earned the Gold Award recognition from the publication’s readers in 2008.

Roger Sundin, president, and Kristin Sundin Brandt, vice president, were recently featured on the cover of Banker & Tradesman’s new publication, Massachusetts Family Business. The two were highlighted in an article focused on father-daughter teams and handing over the reins of a family business.

The agency also recently received national recognition for its work. Kristin Brandt captured top honors in the Awards for Publications Excellence (APEX) competition for a two-part series on social media she authored for the Bank Marketing magazine published by the American Bankers Association (ABA) for banking professionals nationwide. 

Kristin Sundin Brandt captured top honors in the national Awards for Publications Excellence (APEX) competition with a two-part series of articles written for the American Bankers Association’s Bank Marketing magazine.

The APEX competition is sponsored by Communications Concepts, Inc., publishers of Writing That Works: The Business Communications Report and www.writingthatworks.com, a Web site for business writers and communicators. There were 3,785 award entries overall in this year’s competition, which recognizes excellence in publications work by professional communicators.

Entered by the ABA Bank Marketing magazine in the category of “How-To Series,” Brandt’s articles focus on new media and its future impact on bank marketing. The challenge for banks, she noted, is how — and whether — to leverage new technologies such as blogs, podcasts, video podcasts and viral video, consumer-generated content, digital networks and virtual worlds.

Brandt is a frequent guest speaker on the topic of social media, and has helped a number of Sundin’s financial services clients establish a presence in the new world of Web 2.0. She is also the executive editor and co-host of “Manic Mommies,” a popular weekly podcast for moms (and dads) trying to balance work and family life that has drawn the attention of national sponsors including General Motors, Mead and Microsoft. Additional information is available at ManicMommies.com.

Click below to download the articles:

• New Media Whitepaper - Part 1 (pdf)
  
• New Media Whitepaper - Part 2 (pdf)
  

Readers of this week's Banker & Tradesman received a copy of the new publication, Massachusetts Family Business. A joint publication of The Warren Group and the Family Business Association, the magazine will provide readers "with a spotlight into certain family businesses, advice from experts, practical guidance, interesting stories about situations to which all family businesses can relate, and much more."

Many of our clients (regular readers of Banker & Tradesman) were surprised to see two familiar faces on the cover of the new publication – our own Roger Sundin and Kristin Brandt, who were profiled in the article "Generation XX: Handing the family business to a daughter's leadership." Speaking with reporter Scott Van Voorhis, Roger and Kristin shared their experiences working together over the past 13 years.

We are honored to be part of this new publication with other father-daughter teams, and well-known family businesses such as Boch Automotive and Bernie & Phil's furniture. And you can be sure we had to get several copies for family members!

Missed the issue? Click here to download (.pdf)
Check out pictures from the photo shoot.