Des Moines Register
07-17-07
ISU fans will flip over bank's coin honoring coach
An Ankeny institution launches the $15 tokens for ISU's incoming football leader;
his performance will dictate any value fluctuations.
By DAVID ELBERT
REGISTER BUSINESS EDITOR
At first glance, the idea seems a bit odd: Create and sell a commemorative coin
for Iowa State University's new football coach before he has even coached
his first game.
Community State Bank in Ankeny began selling Gene Chizik commemorative
coins Saturday for $15 apiece. Whether the tokens ever have resale value as
sport memorabilia depends on how the ISU football teams perform under Chizik,
a former assistant at the University of Texas who will coach his first game in
Ames on Aug. 30.
As a marketing tool for the 10-branch bank, though, the coins are already a
winner, according to one bank marketing expert.
The Chizik coin "sounds like a smart business decision for the bank," said Tracy
Mills of the American Bankers Association, because they create a unique bond
between the bank and the broader community of ISU alumni who live in the
metro area.
"Big banks sponsor stadiums and major events, while community banks need to
be more creative" in fostering ties with local icons, such as universities or sports
teams, Mills said.
Community State Bank President Mark Degner admitted that the concept of
creating a commemorative coin for a coach who has yet to do anything to
commemorate sounded a little unusual when his marketing officer, Jacquie
Holm-Smith, mentioned the idea.
But, Degner said, he trusts Holm-Smith's judgment, and if collectors think of the
coins as a sort of rookie card for a rookie coach, it begins to make sense.
The idea for the coins came from Cyclone Sports Properties, a division of
Learfield Communications, the national company that has marketing contracts
with ISU and 34 other major universities.
Cyclone Sports' General Manager Ryan Grant said one of his assistants was
brainstorming ideas on ways that the Ankeny bank could become more involved
with ISU athletics when he hit on the idea of a commemorative coin.
Community State Bank will market the coins and be the official on-air sponsor of
home-game coin tosses, under the deal worked out between Learfield and the
bank.
The Chizik coin, which has the coach's face on one side and a Cyclone on the
other, won't actually be used during the pregame coin toss because Big 12
Conference rules control the actual toss. But Community State Bank will be
identified in advertising and game-day commercials as the sponsor of the coin
toss, Grant said.
Iowa City-based Bank Advertising Co. was hired to produce the coins. The 111year-old company makes promotional products for banks and other businesses.
"We do a lot of commemorative coins and other promotional items," said Sherri
Lennarson, a promotional consultant for Bank Advertising Co.
The company produced a deck of playing cards for a bowl-bound ISU football
team several years ago.
But a commemorative coin for a coach who has yet to set foot on a game field is
a first, Lennarson said.
Mills, of the American Bankers Association, also said she has never heard of a
marketing program quite like the Chizik coin effort.
"Banks have moved away from cookie-cutter premium giveaways, like toasters,"
Mills said. "They now customize their services to appeal to target audiences."
As part of that effort, she said, financial institutions try to brand and co-brand
their products by aligning themselves with local institutions with strong brands. A
university has a strong image with alumni, so the effort by Community State Bank
to identify with ISU is a natural, Mills said.
The bank sold about 125 Chizik coins at an event connected with Ankeny's
annual SummerFest program.
Officials aren't saying yet how many of the coins will be made, but "it will be a
limited edition," Holm-Smith said.
The bank views the coins as a marketing expense, not a profit center. The $15
price covers the cost of the coins but will not make money for the bank, Degner
said.
ISU fans should not expect any kind of immediate windfall from the coins, even if
the coach succeeds, said Terry Holdridge, who operates Iowa Stamp and Coin.
Among collectors, Holdridge said, the Chizik pieces are considered tokens, not
coins. As tokens, they may be unusual, even unique, assuming no one else has
created a similar commemorative item for an incoming college football coach.
But the value of most tokens is limited, Holdridge said. For example, he said,
commercial tokens that were issued by businesses to act as a form of change
during the mid-to-late 1800s now sell for $25 to $50.
Given the slow appreciation in value for such items, it might be the children or
grandchildren of Chizik coin buyers who benefit monetarily from an increase in
value.
If Chizik succeeds, ISU fans can cherish the coins and display them proudly
while they wait for the resale market to develop. In the meantime, the bank will
have formed a lasting bond with ISU fans, Degner said.
Branches selling Chizik coin
Gene Chizik commemorative coins can be purchased for $15 from these
branches of Community State Bank:
ANKENY: 817 N. Ankeny Blvd.; 1640 S.W. White Birch Circle; 902 S.E. Oralabor
Rd.
ALTOONA: 200 Eighth St.
DES MOINES: 1401 E. Euclid Ave., 3540 E. 33rd St., 4811 S.E. 14th St.
JOHNSTON: 6175 Merle Hay Rd.
PLEASANT HILL: 1025 N. Hickory Blvd.
WAUKEE: 460 E. University Ave.
Business Editor David Elbert can be reached at (515) 284-8533 or
delbert@dmreg.com