Los Angeles is a key growth market for Unify Financial Credit Union in Allen, Texas, which also happens to be the official credit union of the NFL's Rams.
So when its team qualified for this year's Super Bowl against the Cincinnati Bengals, Unify chose to buy its own ad spot during the game.
The 30-second commercial, titled “Unify’s Got You,” features Los Angeles Rams safety Terrell Burgess emphasizing the power of commitment and teamwork to achieve goals. The ad features montage shots of Burgess training, with the message that financial goals require the same hard work.
The credit union would not reveal the cost for running the ad, but Natasha Ranchigoda, Unify’s senior vice president of market development and digital marketing, said the credit union does not take spending its members' money lightly.
“It was a very good deal,” said Ranchigoda, who is also Unify's chief experience officer.
The $3.6 billion-asset credit union has branches nationwide and a regional office in Torrance, California.
Ranchigoda said that, while advertising during the Super Bowl broadcast is unusual for credit unions, the organization already had the 30-second spot in hand and felt it couldn't pass up the opportunity.
The spot is running only in the Los Angeles market, which made it less pricey, she said.
Unify spent roughly $4.4 million on advertising last year, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration.
Much of its advertising money is spent on digital marketing, with some outdoor ads mixed in. Ranchigoda called Los Angeles “one of the noisiest” and one of the most expensive media markets.
“We test something out and we see if it’s working,” she said. “And then we choose to pursue or we choose to disengage.”
No organization in the credit union industry spends more on advertising than Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Virginia.
The $153.4 billion-asset Navy Federal spent nearly $174 million on advertising in 2021, according to NCUA call report data.
But it has never run a spot in the Super Bowl and will not do so this year.
“As a member-owned and not-for-profit credit union, we evaluate advertising opportunities based on a variety of factors. This allows us to reach members and potential members on the right channels at the right time in an effective and efficient manner,” said Martin Miller, a spokesman for Navy Federal.
Unify tracks its brand equity in the market — awareness of the institution among members and nonmembers — and will use that to gauge whether or not the ad was successful, Ranchigoda said.
