The new CU Difference campaign focuses on real people telling their real stories about how their credit unions have helped them.  The underlying message is one of trust, strength and value.  With that unifying message as the foundation, the campaign has 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 makes heavy use of TV, radio and Web to get the message out.  This distribution strategy helps us reach more people, more often and in more ways.  It also helps the campaign maintain the level of flexibility it needs to stay current and fresh.

In addition, the campaign has a viral aspect in two key ways.  First, much of the creative is freely available for credits unions and their trade associations to use in their own advertising efforts.  Second, real members are able to tell their stories by posting their videos, blogs, etc. to the Web site.  These efforts benefit the credit union industry overall by providing free, turnkey resources that can be used to promote credit unions.  In addition, it strengthens the traction and reach of the campaign by broadening its audience and encouraging active participation from it.

Creative Concept and Theme

The campaign is driven by the main theme of:

The 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 is defined first in terms of safety and soundness (e.g. federally insured, responsible lending practices, etc.).  The message of trust is broader, too, to include impact on life events ("I trust my credit union to give me a fair rate when I...") and credit unions doing the right thing for the people and communities they serve.

Goals

While a key objective of the CU Difference Campaign is to drive membership growth, improving perception of and knowledge about (e.g.. member owned, financially insured) credit unions is just as important.  As a result, the campaign appeals to and has relevance for potential and existing members alike. The goals of the campaign are:

• 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
• Position credit unions as progressive and solid