City CU offers a campaign that's heavy on the toppings

DALLAS -City Credit Union is serving up a checking account that requires no delivery. “We knew we had to build our checking portfolio,” said CCU Marketing Assistant Vice President Rick Stokes. “This has been an awesome campaign and so many members have commented that they just get hungrier while waiting to cash a check.” Such comments come as no surprise since the checking campaign plays off the image of a pizza fully loaded with the works. According to Stokes, the pizza concept was the result of contacting Texas Credit Union League Marketing Specialist Lisa Nance and brainstorming for a few hours. The initial challenge was finding a pizza image Nance liked. Not wanting to limit her choices Nance decided to stop by the California Pizza Kitchen restaurant and after explaining to the chef what she was looking for, he allowed her to create her own signature pizza, take pictures of it and then eat it. Stokes says it’s no wonder members start salivating when they look at the 22×28 lobby posters in all nine branches. “From there it was easy,” said Stokes. “From single topping to the works- it just fit perfectly with our intention to re-introduce members to all of our checking accounts especially the GEM account.” The CCU checking account menu offers such no-fee delicacies as “basic”, “supreme” for members ages 18-25, and “lighter appetites” for those members age 13-17. Those who don’t mind paying a $5 monthly fee, can dip into “the works” also known as the GEM, which has such extras as free travelers checks, 175 free personal checks, free Internet access, loan discounts and discounts on car rentals and hotels. Combined with the photo, almost every word in the promotional pieces drips with some play on food such as “a slice above the competition” and “sprinkled with savings” while encouraging members to “take a bite out of our other checking accounts.” Launched only in July, the promotion has so far generated an average of 20-25 new GEM accounts per month, which Stokes finds amazing since the $160 million credit union started with only 72 free checking accounts. At a $6,500 price tag, TCUL Marketing handled the campaign, which includes all promotional materials such as statement stuffers, brochures, branch posters and 5,000 direct mail pieces. CCU serves 30,501 members.