Henry you must be mad to think of a peasant bank. It is impossible and has never worked anywhere in the world."

This was the reaction of the late Bruce Mackenzie, then Kenya's minister for agriculture, on plans to start a bank to serve the co-operative movement. The man he was talking to was Henry Kinyua, a founder director of what came to be called the Co-operative Bank.

Mr Kinyua confidently replied that he hoped the minister lived long enough to see just how big and successful the bank would become.

Some 40 years on, the "peasant bank" has become one of Kenya's top five banks in terms of profitability, asset base, lending and deposits. This year the bank, which is wholly owned by the co-operative movement, announced plans to list at the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

But it has not always not been smooth sailing. The bank suffered financial losses as a result of mismanagement in the late 1990s but has since recovered and consistently posted profits over the last six years.

Interestingly, that turnaround period coincided with the start of its current positioning strategy with advertisements revolving around the theme "We are you" which was adopted in 2002.

Mr Ngumo Kahiga, chief manager marketing and public relations, says the campaign was meant to reinforce the bank's roots and core business - the cooperative movement.

"By then we had moved into many other business areas such as real estate and wanted an advert that celebrates people in various economic activities creating their own thing while also emphasising the aspect of people coming together, the basic principle of the co-operative movement," he says.

The advertising campaign also sought to occupy a patriotic or nationalistic platform.

"At that time a lot of Kenyans were feeling like banks were foreign and Co-op was also facing increased competition having gone into other areas of business and the idea was to establish the bank's roots in the co-operative movement," says Mr Kilimo Mwangoji, creative director at AY&R group, which handles the bank's advertising.

The TV advertisement begins with a burly farmer in a rural area somewhere in Kenya admiring the beautiful home that he has built and the words... "I've always believed in people coming together..." the farmer than drives his pick-up through various scenes of Kenyan economic activity including coffee and tea plantations, dairy farms, and a fleet of matatus. The 75 second advertisement ends with a futuristic shot of Nairobi city with clouds racing across the sky and the bank's logo plastered at the top. He ends his narrative with the poignant words... "Everything is possible when we come together. You, I, We, the Co-operative Bank. We are You."

"The farmer is a typical Kenyan and this is also our typical customer. He has come from nothing to success. And this is illustrated throughout the advert. An empty spot becomes a coffee farm and one matatu grows to a fleet," says Mr Kahiga.

"The core message is - here is a bank which knows where you're coming from, shares your aspirations and understands you more than any other bank," says Mr Mwangoji.

The importance of the campaign to the bank's overall strategy is illustrated by the amount of money poured into it - Sh12 million just to develop the TV advertisement- way higher than the bank's normal spending on advertisements.

"They felt that the investment was worth it because the company was talking to its core market and had not done any communication specifically targeting this group for a while. It would also be a long term campaign," says Mr Mwangoji.

The advert has been running for over three years in a market where running a TVC for two years is probably pushing it. But the company has also spaced out when it is shown keeping consumers from getting bored with it. "It still has resonance and connected with many other people not in the co-operative movement," says Mwangoji.

Shot in Nairobi and its environs including Limuru and Kitengela, 60-70 people were hired for the shoot which lasted four days and a special 35mm top of the range camera worth one million dollars had to be brought in from India to do the work. "This is the type of camera used in Hollywood and it came with three people to take care of it," says Mr Mwangoji.

A local firm, Level 1 and an Indian firm collaborated on the project which involved heavy use of graphics and digital effects. "In terms of the cost and digital effects, this advert is only comparable to adverts for Tusker," he says.