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Season of Thanks

Sharing traditions, giving to others, and indulging in special treats are a few themes recognizable to all during the holiday season. But how do you evoke this through a marketing campaign?

Bayer Heritage FCU, headquartered in Proctor, WV with locations in five states, has had great success with their unique “Season of Thanks” campaign. Originally a “Week of Thanks,” this campaign now begins each November and focuses on the spirit of the holiday season, from Thanksgiving through the New Year.

The Promotion

“We offer special promos on loans, like 0% loans,” shared Debbie Herrick, Digital Media Coordinator for Bayer Heritage FCU. “We used to call them ‘Santa Helper Loans,’ now they’re ‘Holiday Helper Loans’ because we extended it. We offer special rates on our share certificates, but the fun things that we rolled into it, along with that thankfulness, is we encourage our members to submit things that they are thankful for on our Facebook page, then we have a drawing from that for donations to their charity of choice. So it’s not necessarily even them getting something personally, but it’s that spirit of thankfulness, their sharing what they’re thankful for, and a charity benefits from that.”

During the campaign period, Bayer Heritage FCU also offers promotions such as the Generous ATMs that replace some $20 bills with $50 bills, 2% Share Certificates, and a $500 drawing on Black Friday.

Crafting the Message

It is not a small task to create a campaign that, design-wise, encompasses fall imagery through the festiveness of holidays in December. Collaborating with Synergent’s award-winning Direct Marketing Services division, the Bayer Heritage FCU marketing team and the Synergent creative team was able to create just the right campaign to fit the credit union’s unique needs.

“We wanted to incorporate a look that reminded you of Thanksgiving, but also took you into the holiday season,” stated Herrick. “That’s not easy to find. That was probably the longest process between the two teams, trying to figure out just that perfect image that we wanted to convey. We’re also thinking in terms of what’s it going to look like as a billboard? What’s it going to look like as a flyer? A poster? An email? All those things come into play.”

Create a Feeling

Sharing, helping, and cooperating are a few of the themes that shine through the emails, postcards, billboard ads, and web banner ads that members of the Bayer Heritage FCU and Synergent marketing teams collaborated on to create not only advertising, but a feeling that transcends traditional credit union marketing campaigns.

Do you want to get into the holiday spirit too? Now is the time to start planning your campaign in time for the holiday season! Contact marketingservice@synergentcorp.com to get started on your own seasonal campaign today!