Credit union’s love of BACON spawns bank spanking campaign

Unity One Credit Union woos consumers who are sick of excessive fees and high-pressure sales tactics with an outrageous fanny-slapping campaign.

by. Bryan Ochalla

Last fall, One Nevada Credit Union made a stink with BACON, a checking acquisition campaign built around a racy acronym: “Bad Ass Checking (from) One Nevada.” Some people loved BACON, while others called it a marketing foul. But when the folks at Unity One Credit Union caught wind of BACON, they were inspired to cook something up themselves.

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Unity One worked with BlueSpire Strategic Marketing and local agency Glint Advertising to conjure up the a new campaign that spanks banks. While nowhere near as shocking as One Nevada’s BACON, the new campaign still has an edge. Artwork anchoring the campaign, which launched in Q1 this year, uses images of handprints superimposed over denim-covered backsides. “Don’t Get Spanked By Banks,” the cheeky tagline reads.

All About Cutting Through the Clutter

What prompted Unity One down this particular path? According to President/CEO Gary Williams, the main push came from the CU needing to break through the clutter in highly competitive markets surrounded by banks. Williams says awareness of the credit union in its Dallas- Fort Worth market was low.

“Almost nobody had heard of us, despite the fact that we had branches in prominent locations and often advertised in local newspapers,” Williams explains.

Williams concedes that the lack of brand recognition stems in part from “falling into the trap over the years of just advertising products and not really promoting how we’re different and better than the big banks.”

“Our marketing pieces often looked like all of our competitors,” he admits.

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