The initiative that started about seven years ago has evolved from telling a good story associated with the Heartland Credit Union brand to sharing that good story and tying it to the value the credit union has delivered through various products, services or employees.

For example, when two members came to Heartland Credit Union for help in making their dream of adopting a child a reality, Assistant Branch Manager Emily Silvers got creative. The couple, the Grotelueschens, needed $30,000 to $40,000 in liquid cash on-hand to pay their adoption agency at the very moment the opportunity presented itself. Silvers worked with the couple, and within weeks, they had a home equity line of credit ready while they waited for the phone call informing them they would become parents. Several months later, the wait was over, and the couple welcomed their daughter Ivy home.

"When we were shooting the video with the new parents, another member walked in and asked what it was about," Marohn said. "We explained it, and she looked over and said, 'Is there anything Heartland won't do?'" He joked that it would have been great to get that line on camera.

Over the past five years, a shift has taken place in marketing, he said – now, 65% of advertising and marketing takes place on social media, with radio, print, direct mail, television and some digital channels playing supporting roles.

"The analytics associated with Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are way more accurate than on mainstream media," he said. "For us, it's easier to qualify and quantify that we spent this much and got this much in return on a post, compared to radio ads that we ran, where we had no idea of the actual reach."

He said Heartland Credit Union's social media success boils down to telling a compelling story.

"Social media allows us to share those stories that resonate well with locals, but also internally with our employees," he said. "When they see their peers featured, the flood gates open across the organization and they'll share all kinds of good stories."

The reach on the Grotelueschen family's story alone is something Marohn said he has never seen before, from multiple shares to an increase in traffic on the Heartland Credit Union website. It's evident that storytelling, along with finding meaningful ways to be a part of the community and members' lives has worked for Heartland Credit Union – as of December 31, 2014, the NCUA Financial Performance Report Ratio Analysis revealed the credit union's market share growth was 6.25, while the peer average was 3.88.

"Traditional media advertising can't touch what and who we are reaching through our social media channels," Marohn said, admitting that the "go local" focus and the credit union's location in a college town with a younger demographic has made the shift easier.

Mazuma Credit Union also knows something about the benefits of going local. The $493 million credit union in Overland Park, Kan. has built quite the reputation for having fun while showing love for Kansas City. A rebrand that took place about a year ago helped the credit union further align its strategic moves with its cultural vision of helping locals to simply "bank happy." From having a spokesman, Mazuma Mike; to launching a MazumafyKC.com blog filled with fun, irreverent posts; to its bid to make Kansas City a happier place to live and work with 40 Hours for Good, where team members are given 40 hours of paid time toward volunteer efforts, Mazuma Credit Union takes its role of delivering happiness and unique experiences seriously.

"For us, the more our culture, identity and brand are aligned, the better we feel," Chief Culture and Brand Officer Matt Monge said. "There has to be a congruence between what we sell and the experience, so whether someone comes into the branch or works here, we're just as offbeat."

According to Andy Dickhut, brand manager, having that clear focus of "culture first" makes it easy to dig into and play up the quirkiness that is Kansas City.

"We pay attention to what's going on in the city, what's trending, news, events and who is coming to town," Dickhut said. "Part of it is just listening to what's going on and then jumping into having human conversations."

In addition to holding a monthly meeting with its agency of record, BYM Agency, the marketing team meets weekly to chat over upcoming posts and how previous posts have done. While a general calendar for MazumafyKC.com is planned a month in advance, adjustments are made constantly as things come up, such as when the Kansas City Royals baseball team made their post-season run last October.

"I think we tossed 50% of the calendar for the month so we could talk about the Royals with everyone else in town," Kim Funari, brand and social specialist, said. "And it paid off: Three of our top-performing posts of all time come from that run, including our 'Meet the Cast of the KC Royals Hollywood Movie' post, which got 87,663 views, including 47,325 in one day – our servers crashed from the load. Twice. It was pretty spectacular."

She added that a lot of collaboration goes into each post to ensure only the best, funniest content gets shared.

Most recently, a blog post featuring an open letter to MTV that it is past time for Kansas City to host "The Real World" garnered 16,264 views and 16 comments in just four days. In the same time period on Facebook, it reached 119,168 people, and resulted in 272 comments, 294 shares and 1,686 likes.

"We're not interested in doing the same old boring thing," Dickhut said. "If banks are doing it, we'll be doing the opposite, because we're not the typical financial institution. Part of why we have Mazuma Mike as our spokesperson is because that doesn't exist in our area."

So what has it meant for Mazuma Credit Union's bottom line? According to the NCUA Financial Performance Report Ratio Analysis, as of December 31, 2014, the credit union's net worth growth was 14.06 compared to the peer average of 6.50, membership growth was 3.62 versus the peer average of 1.64, and asset growth was 4.80 versus the 4.58 peer average.

Mazuma Credit Union has managed to further infuse itself into the Kansas City community through a five-year sponsorship deal with the local major league soccer team, Sporting Kansas City, which includes a Sporting-branded rewards credit card, the Sporting Blue Card, and a custom-built, branded corner of the stadium called the Mazuma Mezzanine.

The Sporting Blue Card features rewards such as Sporting Style gear and items from the club's branded clothing line, as well as experiences such as dinner with Sporting players and all-expense-paid trips to out-of-town matches. The card offers five points per dollar spent on Sporting-related purchases, making it easy for fans to accumulate points quickly.

"Soccer is huge here, so the partnership was a great fit for us," Dickhut said. "We wanted to create a destination in the stadium that was well-branded and represented the uniqueness of our culture rather than have a stand there."

Efforts to help fans have fun the Mazuma way before games at the stadium include a Soccer Shootout, where kids can test their soccer skills against a Mazuma Mike goalie graphic, and Animation Station, an interactive photo kiosk where fans choose a background, take a series of pictures against it, and have them emailed or posted directly to their social media accounts. In addition, the Mazuma Mezzanine features a full bar and seating for up to 60 people. Plans are underway for Mazuma Credit Union to host a title night on May 29 with giveaways and a halftime special.