Tinker Federal Credit Union The Evolution of A Brand
Establishing a Brand Platform
Third Degree and TFCU first partnered in 2004 to create a complete new brand look and feel for a credit union who already had a solid and widespread presence in the Oklahoma City market, but was looking to take their positioning to the next level. The “we get it” campaign was how we reintroduced the TFCU difference to people looking for a financial institution that really understood them, their motivations, how they felt about money, and what they wanted from life.
“Couch” :60 Television Spot
The couch became a symbol for all those things people want to be doing, and who they want to share it with when they are not worrying about their money. Making an emotional connection with potential new members and making sure we were reemphasizing how the employees and current members of TFCU already felt about the organization was a big part of this multi-faceted awareness campaign.
Bringing Product Into Positioning
While TFCU utilized elements of the “couch” campaign from internal collateral and signage to mixed targeted and mass media, the next creative and messaging iteration of the platform came around about 2006. We started to integrate lifestyle products like loans and checking into the television and other elements.
“Ducks In A Row” :30 Television Spot
While the feel of the spots stayed true to the brand, now we were getting down to people’s motivations when they were actively thinking about and working for the money they earn, and talking about the realizations that come with life triggers like a first job, being a parent, starting a future. “Now you get it” and “make it count” became key themelines for this campaign.
Getting Targeted
The next evolution of the brand in 2008 came on the heels of some post campaign awareness surveys, where we uncovered that one of the key messages that was resonating with audiences was the concept of “TFCU helps me keep more of what I earn.” This became a central theme in the new campaign, as we not only introduced a new younger generation into the mix of who we wanted to target, but really honed in with creative and media placement on all of our messaging to appeal to certain demographics.
“Keep More” :30 TV
While this spot was geared toward family and boomer audiences, other spots and advertising components targeted college age Gen Y, and young working professionals from late twenties into their thirties.
Sharing The Difference
As 2009 brought big changes in the economy and public perception of financial institutions, we felt it only fitting to shed some light on the TFCU difference as a credit union. Having always positioned TFCU as being a unique and relevant brand in it’s own right, we wanted to leverage the credit union philosophy a little more than we ever had in the past.
“Always Gotten It” :30 TV Spot
We used some of the most memorable scenes from the past 5 years of TFCU advertising and recreated a behind the scenes photo-animated set of spots that called out the credit union difference. We paired a :30 second brand spot, with two :15 second spots (often airing within the same television program), as an opportunity to really promote a product of distinction, TFCU’s high-yield Click Checking product.
Raising The Bar
2009 has been a year of record growth for Tinker Federal Credit Union as they reach a milestone $2 billion in assets. As TFCU and Third Degree plan for another “evolution” of their brand in 2010, we look forward to seeing how we can craft their story in a new way that continues to relate and resonate with the next wave of members.
