BECU Highlights Positive Social Media

BECU, the largest credit union in Washington State and one of the top five financial cooperatives in the country, has launched an engaging integrated ad campaign featuring more than 50 stories taken from actual social media interactions of BECU members.

 

The “SHARE” campaign, which includes three :30 TV spots as well as print ads, digital banners, radio ads and billboards, was created by ad agency DNA Seattle, Seattle, Wash., in conjunction with full-service production company The Famous Group, Culver City, Calif.

 

 

 

Headquartered just outside Seattle in Tukwila, Wash., BECU (https://www.becu.org/) is a not-for-profit credit union owned by its more than 800,000 members, and has over $11 billion in assets.  In recent years, BECU has ascended from being member-owned to being member-loved: since 2011, its membership has grown significantly -- more than 18% -- as a result of consumer outrage over large banks' excessive fees and the subsequent Occupy movement.  

 

The “SHARE” campaign expresses the thoughts and feelings of both new and longtime members about their ongoing relationship with BECU, featuring the actual words and authentic interactions taking place between the credit union and its members on a variety of social media platforms.

 

DNA spent many hours going over Facebook,Twitter, Yelp, Pinterest and other sites to find out what people were saying about BECU.  The agency then tracked down the commenters and asked if they would be willing to say their same comments on film as part of the campaign.  About 30 members agreed, and their comments and images became the centerpiece of the ads.  No scripting was involved.

 

The TV spots were shot by Brett Fallentine, part of the Famous Association of commercial directors whose experience includes work for IBM, Google, Pepsi, Microsoft, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others.  The Famous Group’s Michael Steinmann served as senior producer on the campaign.   

 

"The campaign is the BECU brand as voiced by our members," said Stephen Black, vice president of marketing.  "We love seeing the real thoughts and opinions of our members come through our social media interactions with them every day.  Their stories both inspire and move us, and we wanted to share them with the community."

 

David Kwan, managing director at The Famous Group (www.thefamousgroup.com), said his company was a good fit for the campaign because if its expertise in live action and motion graphics work.  “Both of those were key to work we’ve done for clients such as Google for the launch of Google Chrome,” he explained.  “This was a great opportunity to work with real people and help communicate their genuine, unscripted positive feelings about BECU.”

 

"This kind of member [customer] advocacy is nonexistent at the big banks, and is rare to find with any brand these days," added Alan Brown, principal and managing director, DNA Seattle (http://dnaseattle.com/).  “Our approach couldn't be more appropriate, because we're listening to what members are already saying, then putting it verbatim into the advertising.  There’s no spin here – it's just a reflection of the reality that’s happening."

 

“It's not every day that someone asks you to be in a television ad," said Zachary B., a BECU member. "I've had varying bank experiences and by far the best one that I've had is with BECU. It's a pleasure to return the favor."

 

Credits

 

Client: BECU, Tukwila, Wash.

Campaign: “SHARE”

 

Ad agency: DNA Seattle, Seattle, Wash.

Executive Creative Director: Dan Gross

Creative Directors: Patrick Mullins, Pete Hughes

Senior Copywriters: Shannon Burke

Senior Art Director: Jenny Lee

Producer: Sue Mowrer

Production Coordinator: Ben Krein

Project Manager: Katie Rosenthal

Design Director: Larry White

Designer: Max Churchill

Principal, Managing Director: Alan Brown

Account Manager: Erin Pettersen

 

Production/post-production: The Famous Group

Managing Director: David Kwan

Director: Brett Fallentine

Assistant Director: Marvin Williams

Director of Photography: Chris Saul

Senior Producer: Michael Steinmann

Producer: Nick Molo

Line Producer: Mark Campbell

Associate Creative Director: Hemu Karadkar

Editors: Jaron Halmy, Josh Sneider

Design: Tin Tran

Coordinator: Heather Tinnerstet

Media Manager, Second Assistant Camera: Steve Davis

Animators: Mike Fix, Mike Cahill, Dan Wiese, Rachel Arnold

Production Assistant: Eric Elliott

Sound Design: Pure Audio, Seattle, WA

Colorist: Dan Sumpter, Chapeaux FX and Jeff Tillotson, Lightpress