Q: How did the pandemic affect the campaign?

A: The pandemic presented an opportunity to pause and reflect on how our digital advertising was perceived in the uncertain economic environment. We used this time to retool and reimagine some of our creative assets to take this new climate into account.

Our digital-first strategy proved to be a big asset for credit unions during the pandemic, as everyone was forced to stay home and much of our lives were centered around digital consumption. We were fortunate to see an increase in consumers interacting with the campaign's digital advertisements throughout Q3 and Q4 of 2020.

This momentum has propelled our campaign into an extremely successful Q1 2021.

Q: What is the biggest misconception about the campaign?

A: The most familiar and common marketing in our industry is direct response—promotions for auto loans, mortgages, or membership with a focus on a return on investment. The Open Your Eyes campaign is not designed to be direct response, but instead a cost-efficient, long-term, large-scale approach to building the credit union brand using targeted paid digital advertising.

By raising brand awareness, the campaign is increasing the effectiveness of individual credit unions’ marketing efforts while grabbing the attention of the 56% of consumers in the U.S. who don’t have a credit union relationship. There will be an industry return on investment over a period of years as we increase top-of-mind consideration for credit unions.

Q: What is new about the campaign?

A: As the campaign grows and evolves, we continue to develop new opportunities to enhance both strategy and credit union utilization. Many of these new concepts are brought to life by our current contributors.

Here’s what’s new:

• Partnerships for mid-size and smaller credit unions to offer a cost-effective, easy-to-implement digital account opening and loan application solution as a campaign benefit.
• Expansion of customizable Spanish translated marketing assets and expert guidance for reaching the Latinx community.
• Audience sharing and traffic tracking via our self-service portal on YourMoneyFurther.com.
• Partnerships with social media influencers to expand the campaign’s reach and impact.
• Launching our 25th state—Montana.
• Organic social media customizable assets available for contributors to use.

Q: How will you know the campaign is moving more consumers to consider credit unions?

A: The ultimate barometer of campaign success is seeing an increase in credit union market share. However, this is a long-term goal.

In the near-term, we strive to increase consideration for the credit union brand, which we measure annually in launched markets. According to our research, we have already seen the needle begin to move in states and regions where the campaign has been live the longest and the media budgets robust.

Q: What can we expect to see in 2021 and beyond?

A: In 2021, you can expect to see more credit union participation, state launches, more partnerships with social media influencers, and additional strategic offerings from service providers to help our contributors maximize their utilization with the campaign.

Knowing that awareness campaigns are a long-term strategy, we expect to continue seeing increases in awareness and consideration in states and regions that participate fully in the campaign.