OKLAHOMA CITY – A six-week first round, or "flight" in ad jargon, of television spots from the Oklahoma Credit Union League will wind down at the end of this month, marking the end of the first phase of what is the league's first major independent ad effort. The spots, produced by Third Degree Advertising in Oklahoma City, will run again from mid-October into the holiday season. In the past the league has used material from CUNA. One of the spots, featuring a young married couple, carries the theme "Who Cares About You Happily Ever After? Creditunionscare.com." Another spot, targeting an even younger audience, proclaims "Who Cares About Your Financial Firsts? Creditunionscare.com" Each ad drives consumers to a Web site, www.creditunionscare.com. Lara Denning, AVP of communications, notes that League CEO Lisa Finley served on the subcommittee that developed the current CUNA brand campaign, so "we've always been kind of a test base and on the forefront of any cooperative advertising CUNA has produced. This is the first time we've gone out and taken the lead on the creative and developed a campaign ourselves." Last year the OCUL was in a transition mode following the retirement of former CEO Bob Bianchini and Finley succeeding him. When money accumulated in the cooperative advertising fund, the league scheduled a meeting with Third Degree Advertising to develop a campaign. Twenty-seven of the state's 82 credit unions contributed funds. "Right out of the gate Third Degree came up with a great campaign," Denning says. "Everyone was pleased so we decided to run with it." Specific media buys focus on three areas of Oklahoma to make certain all the credit unions contributing to the campaign see spots airing in their market areas. Billboards supporting the campaign are already in place, and print ads are used in areas where the television market bleeds over too much into neighboring states. "We really wanted to find a unique, reusable campaign we could build on," Denning says. -

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