The new CU Difference campaign will focus on real people telling their real stories about how their credit unions have helped them with their lives. The underlying message will be one of trust, strength and value. With that unifying message as the foundation, the campaign will have the ability to be very flexible so that it can use current events (e.g. the 2008 Financial Crisis) as appropriate to emphasize what matters most to consumers and how credit unions can help them.
The campaign will make heavy use of radio, Web and collateral materials to get the message out, breaking away from the more traditional TV approach to cooperative advertising. This distribution strategy will help us reach more people, more often and in more ways. It will also help the campaign maintain the level of flexibility it needs to stay current and fresh.
In addition, the campaign will have a viral aspect in two key ways. First, much of the creative will be freely available for credits unions and their trade associations to use in their own advertising efforts. Second, real members will be able to tell their stories by posting their videos, blogs, etc. to the Web site. These efforts will benefit the credit union industry overall by providing free, turnkey resources that can be used to promote credit unions. In addition, it will strengthen the traction and reach of the campaign by broadening its audience and encouraging active participation from it.
The campaign will be driven by the main theme of:
In addition, there will be a sub-theme of "My Life, My Story, My Credit Union" that will be used to build the ongoing storyline in the campaign of the positve impact credit unions have their members.
The creative concept is that built on a foundation of trust, credit unions make a real and meaningful impact on the lives of their members. That impact is best told through the voices of members, their personal stories and why they “love” their credit unions.
Trust will be defined first in terms of safety and soundness (e.g. federally insured, responsible lending practices, etc.). As the campaign progresses, the message of trust will broaden to include impact on life events (“I trust my credit union to give me fair rate when I…”) and credit unions doing the right thing for the people they serve and their communities.
The tone will be leading edge to position credit unions in a progressive light that will be appealing to all age demographics, with a slight bias towards younger generations.
While a key objective of the CU Difference Campaign will be to drive membership growth, improving perception of and knowledge about (e.g.. member owned, financially insured) credit unions will be just as important. As a result, it will be made to appeal and have relevance to potential and existing members alike. The goals of the campaign are to:
- Increase credit union membership growth
- Improve awareness and perception of credit unions among consumers and lawmakers
- Improve awareness of special credit union programs, especially those developed for people of modest means
- Improve consumer knowledge regarding personal finances
- Position credit unions as progressive and solid
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Regulatory Affairs
