This Is the Official Credit Card of the Cardinal

Stanford Federal Credit Union

An in-house marketing team looked for outside help that could develop a new approach to building brand awareness. It sought fresh strategies to drive existing and prospective Stanford Federal Credit Union members to apply for the Sanford Alumni Rewards Visa card.

Goal

Our agency was asked to help the credit union’s marketing staff complete multiple advertising campaigns that would attract new customers and, at the same time, project a revitalized image. The client wanted a more visually interesting brand personality than what had been produced through the years. Our challenge was to create multiple creative campaigns (online, print, out-of-home, paid social, radio, and transit) to empower the credit union to stand out from the landscape of dull financial institutions—to come up with creative themes that were intelligent, informative, and entertaining. And accomplish the objective within each marketing touchpoint we produced.

Outcome

Our approach didn’t follow bank advertising formulas. We couldn’t. We avoided the use of typical financial speak. Instead, we applied the language of the savvy Stanford (and Silicon Valley) audience and featured photography, illustration, and humor that demanded attention. Tactics included digital, out-of-home, print, and radio campaigns. The client refers to our participation as, “an amazing partnership.”