Suncoast Credit Union

Suncoast Credit Union

Client: Suncoast Credit Union
Industry: Banking/Brokerage/Insurance

Challenge:

Suncoast Credit Union’s marketing department sought out consulting support in the preparation of their budget planning. The credit union desired recommendations concerning spending allocations by various paid and earned media platforms.

Solution:

HCP Associates developed a survey to gauge current brand and advertising awareness levels to draw correlations between marketing spend and recognition by market.

Suncoast Credit Union is a 720,000-member organization with a presence in 17 counties throughout the state of Florida. Originally a credit union for educators, Suncoast modified its charter and, since that time, opened up its membership criteria to all.

Suncoast Credit Union initiated a baseline brand awareness study with HCP Associates in the markets where the credit union had the strongest presence. Leveraging an online survey methodology, HCP Associates developed an easily repeatable study for the credit union to pinpoint brand awareness in its largest member markets, advertising recall levels, and top-of-mind perceptions of the credit union.

HCP Associates designed the questionnaire, facilitated participation using set quotas for completes, and analyzed results to share with organization leadership. Respondents were full-time residents of one of the designated counties and had to at minimum share, if not fully, make financial institutions selection decisions for their household.

Questions in this baseline study captured current financial affiliation, preferred firm characteristics, charitable affiliations of organizations the respondents prefer to do business with, and perceptions of Suncoast along with a number of the credit union’s primary competitors—inclusive of both banks and credit unions.

Responses gave Suncoast Credit Union a guide for adjusting spending levels and indicators of the best-performing mediums. Top-of-mind feedback helped leadership craft messaging that clarified areas of confusion and highlighted the lesser recognized benefits of engaging with a credit union.