Press
United Federal Credit Union receives Diamond Awards for outstanding marketing, business development achievements
ST. JOSEPH, MI (April 7, 2015) — United Federal Credit Union (UFCU) was recently honored with two Diamond Awards, which recognize outstanding marketing and business development achievements in the credit union industry.
The awards were presented by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Marketing & Business Development Council (MBDC), a national network comprised of over 1,200 credit union marketing and business development professionals. UFCU was entered in the class reserved for credit unions with assets greater than $1 billion. Awards were given in each of 29 categories ranging from advertising to community events and beyond.
UFCU won awards in the Digital Advertising and Television Advertising categories.
In the Digital Advertising category, the entry entitled “Online Banking – Mortgage Awareness” was designed to bring greater visibility to the credit union’s mortgage loan products by creating a dedicated logoff page with focused content. UFCU recognized that Members who bank online are concentrating on completing their business-at-hand and do not want to be interrupted by pop-up advertising. However, the marketing team identified an advertising opportunity after the transaction was complete, which UFCU took advantage of by presenting a Mortgage Awareness banner when the Member was ready to exit the site. The banner caught the attention of Members who were interested in mortgage products and redirected them to the Mortgage home page when they clicked on it. UFCU saw six times more traffic to its Mortgage site after adding the dedicated logoff page.
UFCU also won in the Television Advertising category for the entry titled “15-Minute Auto Loan Estimate” that featured actual UFCU Members talking specifically about the amount of money they saved by refinancing with UFCU. The Members spoke freely about how they used their extra funds allowing the audience to imagine how refinancing would affect their own household budgets. Messaging also communicated that viewers could learn how much their monthly payment could be lowered in just 15 minutes by picking up the telephone, visiting the UFCU website or stopping by a branch.
“I’m extremely proud that UFCU’s marketing team has been recognized by CUNA for their creativity and strategic approach,” said UFCU Vice President of Marketing Tim Bennett. “Our marketing team is always focused on finding the most engaging ways to tell our story about the great things going on at United.”
“The Diamond Award competition is the most prestigious competition for excellence in marketing and business development in the credit union industry,” said Michelle Hunter, Chair of the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council, and SVP of Marketing & Development at Credit Union of Southern California. “Credit unions that receive these awards should be extremely proud of their accomplishments and know that their work represents the very best examples of creativity, innovation, relevance, and execution. The Diamond Awards are not easily earned and the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council is proud to honor those who are deserving of this recognition.”
Award winners were recognized at the council’s 22nd annual conference held March 25-28 in Las Vegas, Nev. For more information on the Diamond Awards or to view the entire list of winners, go to www.cunamarketingcouncil.org.
About UFCU
United Federal Credit Union has served its Members since 1949 by helping them to build a sound financial future. UFCU consists of more than 130,000 Member/owners worldwide, and manages assets in excess of $1.83 billion. Its corporate offices and main branch are located in St. Joseph, Mich., with additional branches in Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, and Ohio.
About CUNA
The CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council is a member-led organization comprised of more than 1,200 credit union professionals from across the United States. The Council strives to provide superior educational and networking opportunities to help its members be recognized in the credit union industry as the premier experts in credit union marketing, business development, and related disciplines. The Marketing & Business Development Council is one of the six organizations that make up the CUNA Councils, a network of more than 6,400 credit union professionals. For more information, visit www.cunacouncils.org or www.cunamarketingcouncil.org.