How we created a challenger brand

An industry with some serious image problems

The banking industry has been much maligned of late – and for good reason. There is evidence of widespread malfeasance by some of the biggest brands in banking. This has lead to deep consumer mistrust in the banking industry. In fact, according to the 2010 Edelmen Trust Barometer, 50% of national bank customers trust their bank less than they did a year ago.

Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union wears a
white hat

But there are some financial institutions that are truly different. Affinity Plus is one of those institutions. They are a not-for-profit credit union that actually puts the needs of members before their own profitability. They back that up with a powerful set of pro-consumer policies and practices.

Creating a challenger brand

Risdall created a brand positioning strategy for Affinity Plus that fundamentally challenges the premise that banking is all about making money and suggests that banking is really about people. We created a new tagline to punctuate that thought, “Not for Profit. For People.”

Spreading the good news

This is a motivating story, but we needed to get the word out. Many Minnesotans don’t even know Affinity Plus exists, despite a relatively strong Minnesota footprint. So we created a humorous and disarming big-idea campaign and strong tactical plan to raise brand awareness.

ditch-your-bank.net

At the heart of the campaign is a call-to-action to visit
ditch-your-bank.net. All advertising vehicles help drive traffic to the splash page in order to further the sales cycle.

Making waves

We have definitely caught the attention of consumers and the industry. The campaign has been featured in a number of high profile publications, including: Twin Cities Business, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal and Finance and Commerce.

And of course, what’s really important is business impact: membership has increased by over 19% vs. the comparable time period from a year ago. Oh, and, well, let’s just say some of our friends who work for the big banks aren’t too happy.