April 15, 2024 • News

SAFE Credit Union Receives Prestigious Diamond Award for Creative Marketing Campaign

Folsom, Calif. -(April 4, 2024) - SAFE Credit Union received a prestigious Diamond Award - the America's Credit Unions (formerly CUNA) annual marketing excellence competition - for a marketing campaign connecting people to one of the credit union's newest money market accounts.

SAFE received the Digital Marketing award for its social media campaign for the Level Up Money Market account, a recently added product marketed toward younger generations to introduce them to the benefits of money market accounts. The campaign exceeded sales goals by 43%.

"SAFE is honored to receive this award and it validates our strategy and thought that went into this successful campaign," says SAFE Credit Union Vice President, Marketing, Amber DiBernardo. "The market for consumer deposits is fiercely competitive and we used it as an opportunity to find creative ways to grow and retain deposits among our current membership and reach new members, too."

The solution was a digital campaign that met the target audience - 18- to 40-year-olds living in the Greater Sacramento region - where they are, on social media. With a tight budget, SAFE's Marketing team relied on a creative but clear campaign that stressed the higher dividends and ease of use the Level Up Money Market account provides.

"We tailored our campaign to resonate with younger people through language and imagery" DiBernardo says. "We recognized the need to break from traditional banking stereotypes and terminologies that could be intimidating to the target audience. And it worked! This was a very effective campaign at reaching a different audience, building awareness, and building our money market portfolio."

SAFE was among 168 credit unions nationwide named as winners in the annual Diamond Awards, which recognizes the best marketing campaigns in the credit union industry from the past year. Credit unions, advertising agencies, and associations submitted a record 1,451 submissions for the awards. The America's Credit Unions, formerly known as the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), advocates for the country's more than 4,500 credit unions.

"We are absolutely delighted to honor SAFE Credit Union and the other 167 winners with this level of recognition," said Lesli Bishop, Diamond Awards chair and chief marketing officer at Family Savings Credit Union in Gadsden, Ala. "It's evident that these credit unions not only embody the spirit of the credit union movement but also propel it forward with their innovative approaches."

For more information about the Level Up Money Market campaign or to interview SAFE Credit Union Vice President, Marketing, Amber DiBernardo, please contact AVP, Communications and PR, Carole Ferguson at (916) 836-6318 or [email protected].

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About SAFE

SAFE Credit Union has made members an integral part of its vision since 1940. Over the years the credit union has kept the focus on what really matters, putting members first, a formula that has seen SAFE grow into a leading financial institution in Northern California with $4.7 billion in assets and about 236,000 members. SAFE crafts every cutting-edge product and sterling service with members' needs foremost in mind. In addition to banking services conveniently available through online, chat, mobile, or phone options, SAFE offers in-person services for members and small businesses at service centers across the Greater Sacramento region. SAFE is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union with membership open to businesses and individuals living or working in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Butte, Nevada, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Yuba, Amador, and Alameda counties. Insured by NCUA. www.safecu.org