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Advance Financial

From Print to Performance

How We Modernized AFFCU’s Marketing Strategy

overview

Advance Logo

Advance Financial Credit Union (AFFCU) is a long-standing financial institution with two branches deeply embedded in its community. Established in 1937 by eight steelworkers, AFFCU has maintained its commitment to the credit union philosophy of “People Helping People.” However, in recent years, AFFCU has faced challenges with dwindling membership, an aging customer base, and no digital marketing efforts. To address these challenges, our agency partnered with AFFCU to develop its marketing strategies, enhance brand awareness, and drive engagement with a younger demographic.

objectives/ GOALS

  • Increase brand awareness and recognition in the local community
  • Modernize brand identity to appeal to Gen X and Millennials
  • Improve customer engagement and retention
  • Shift marketing strategy from rigid quarterly scheduling to seasonal trends
  • Implement digital marketing initiatives, including social media, email marketing, digital radio, and outdoor advertising
  • Strengthen internal branding and employee engagement to improve customer experience

services

Market Research

BRAND AWARENESS SURVEY:
Conducted in Lake and Porter Indiana counties to measure AFFCU’s visibility.

  • 148 qualified responders (aged 25+)
  • AFFCU did not rank in the top 5 most recognized financial institutions
  • 66% of respondents had not heard of AFFCU
  • Primary awareness sources: word of mouth and social media
  • Key finding: While respondents were satisfied with their current banks, AFFCU’s product offerings
    and rates had strong potential to drive new memberships
  • Recommendation: Prioritize increasing brand awareness through strategic marketing

INTERNAL EMPLOYEE SURVEY:
Aimed at assessing brand alignment and service perception.

  • 23 respondents across all positions and branches
  • Identified a gap in delivering the tagline “Always Ahead”
  • 78% felt AFFCU needed to improve technology and customer experience to remain competitive
  • Led to internal participation campaigns (decorating contests, dressing up, review requests) to strengthen engagement and workplace pride
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branding

  • Updated creative direction to reflect a modern, clean, and younger appeal
  • Designed and incorporated specific content and design elements such as bold taglines, dynamic layouts, vibrant imagery, and modern typography.
  • Rebranded content to resonate with Gen X and Millennials
  • Employee engagement campaign:
    Designed custom t-shirts for internal marketing initiatives to promote team spirit and brand advocacy
t-shirt-img

marketing strategy

  • Transitioned from quarterly ad placements to a seasonal trend-based approach
  • Targeted marketing times to preempt major financial decisions (HELOCs (home equity line of credit), auto loans, travel expenses, and holiday shopping)
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Outdoor Advertising (Billboards)

  • Launched billboard campaigns to increase brand awareness and new member sign-ups
  • 1.38 million impressions over two quarters
  • Q2 Adventure Cash: 123,490 impressions
  • Q3 Auto Loan & Holiday Cash: 1,014,484
    impressions
AFCU_Billboard_Mock u_NoBackground

Digital radio marketing

  • Introduced digital radio advertising to expand reach
    • Developed five unique 30-second commercials
    • 566,000 total ad plays with 74,000 unique listens
    • 1,122 direct clicks to the website
Click Me

AFFCU Radio-Q3-HELOC

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heloc case study

Multi-channel campaign featuring:

Drive-up banners and lobby posters to initiate in-branch conversations

multi-channel
multi-channel-1

commercial

impressions

Outbound Clicks

CPC

%

CTR

ad plays

unique listens

Link clicks

impressions

Clicks

%

CTR

branch visits

%

Complete Rate

Impressions

CTR

Branch Visits

With The Barbauld Agency’s marketing strategy, Advance Financial doubled the number of HELOCs they closed on in 2024 compared to 2022 and 2023 combined.

results

  • Strengthened brand identity with a modernized look and messaging
  • Significantly increased brand awareness across multiple channels
  • Improved customer retention with targeted email campaigns
  • Higher employee engagement, leading to a better customer experience
  • Effective seasonal marketing campaigns that aligned with member needs
  • Over 1 million impressions on billboards, reinforcing brand recognition
  • Successful HELOC campaign driving engagement through digital and traditional advertising

Key Takeaways & Lessons Learned

Brand Awareness Takes Time –

The market research confirmed that a strong, sustained presence is necessary to shift consumer perception.

Employee Buy-in is Critical –

Internal branding efforts enhanced employee engagement, improving overall customer service and brand consistency.

Retention Strategies Work –

Small tweaks, like targeting inactive accounts, led to measurable improvements in member retention.

Seasonal Strategies Outperform Quarterly Marketing –

Aligning ad campaigns with consumer financial behavior increased efficiency and engagement.

Diversification Matters –

Moving beyond traditional print ads to digital radio, email, and outdoor media expanded reach and improved ROI.

conclusion

Our partnership with Advance Financial Credit Union helped transform their marketing strategy, modernize their branding, and improve customer engagement. By leveraging research-backed insights, digital-first campaigns, and internal engagement initiatives, AFFCU is now positioned to grow its membership and enhance brand recognition in the coming years.