DUBLIN, Ireland–Ireland’s credit unions have launched a new series of multi-media advertising around a theme of “The Credit ReUnion.”
The ads, created by the agency Target McConnells, use humor to raise awareness of the credit union brand ads running across digital, radio and social media.
“The brief was to position the credit union as the number one provider of personal loans, increasing loan enquiries and subsequent loans granted,” explained says Enda Kelly, Target McConnell’s group business director, in a statement to the media. “Ireland has one of the highest levels of credit union membership worldwide with 3.5 million members. For many, joining the credit union is a rite of passage. It’s the most trusted brand in Ireland. CXi Ireland has ranked credit unions number one in the country for customer experience for three consecutive years now. So, with this campaign we want to remind members who haven’t engaged with the credit union recently, of the range of loan options available to them, and to convert the widespread positive sentiment towards credit unions into engaged and activated members.”
The “Credit ReUnion” theme is an open invitation to anyone with a credit union account to return and reconnect with their CU, primarily by applying for a loan.
Kelly said another objective is to “remind all members why the credit union is more relevant now than it’s ever been.”
The creative approach in the advertising opts not to go after all inactive members in Ireland, but instead to target one fictional inactive member, named “Dan Byrne.”
“We started the search for this fictional inactive member in social media, with Pat Higgins, Head of the Department of Credit ReUnions, reaching out to Dan,” according to the agency’s Emmet Oliver. “We had posters in credit union offices across the country leading to a hotline you could call with any information on Dan’s whereabouts.
“Credit unions are very different to other financial institutions, in that we are not-for-profit, member-owned organizations, and are deeply embedded in the local communities we serve,” Oliver continued. “We’re the original peer-to-peer lender. It was important for us to reflect these unique attributes by doing something different to other financial institutions. Humor and honesty were key factors in creating the campaign as well as maintaining a personal tone, speaking directly to our members.”
The ads can be found at the links below: