• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, November 8, 2010

FirstBank, Colorado's largest locally owned bank, is known for its ad campaigns providing services to make life easier.

In 2008, the bank offered frugal holiday shoppers the chance to print out a free piece of "art" to frame and pass off as a legit gift. 

This past August brought airport ads aimed at tiring small children so they'll sleep on the plane. Firstbank's revolving signboard offered a place for kids to place their hands and start running in circles, readying them for naptime.

FirstBank's latest campaign at the Denver International Airport consists of signboards with a handful of QR, or quick-response, codes attached. Anyone with a smartphone can take a picture of the QR codes to unlock free goodies, like e-books, crosswords and sudoku puzzles.

Travelers without a smartphone can download content by visiting a FirstBank microsite. Online downloads take less than 30 seconds, time most people can spare at an airport.

The campaign is the latest brainchild of FirstBank's creative and media agency, TDA Advertising & Design, Boulder. BKWLD of Seattle was in charge of the back end Web development.

FirstBank estimates that 7000 books and puzzles will be downloaded throughout the five-month campaign.

To date, a whopping 91% of downloads have come from the microsite and the remaining 9% from QR codes.

"The core of the idea was the bank's tagline, 'we're here to help you save.' But instead of just writing headlines about FirstBank, we wanted to actually help people save," said Ryan Dean Waite, senior copywriter at TDA.

"We've all been in an airport and forgotten to bring something to read, so if we could help consumers save the $5 or $10 they might spend on a magazine or book, people ought to appreciate that -- especially since this is going up around holiday time. Holiday travel is expensive enough."

The 12 books available for download are: "The Art of War," "Treasure Island," "Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin," "The Call of the Wild," "The Last of the Mohicans," "Dracula," "Moby Dick," "Walden," "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," "War of the Worlds," "Emma" and "Don Quixote."

FirstBank paid only for the airport ads. Thanks to copyright expirations and digital downloads, the books cost FirstBank nothing. Saving consumers money without spending much. Well-played, FirstBank.