All Diamond Award winners in this category are listed below.
Category’s Best winners—marked with a 💎—earned the highest score within their asset grouping.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Birmingham, AL
This campaign showed the value of meeting students, fans, and alumni where their school pride is strongest. By tying our brand to Jax State Athletics—through stadium naming, a partnership with Coach Kelly, and targeted campus activities—we built genuine excitement and recognition for AmFirst, even though we were new to the market.
We learned that collaboration with trusted campus leaders, authentic engagement at events, and creative use of gameday experiences truly resonate with our audience. The campaign drove a measurable increase in account sign-ups among student-athletes and raised AmFirst’s profile ahead of our branch opening. Most importantly, it demonstrated that strategic local partnerships and a community-centered approach can accelerate brand connection and create a lasting impact in a competitive landscape.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Martinsville, WV
The campaign reinforced that a bold, playful creative approach paired with clear financial incentives can turn auto loan refinancing from a passive consideration into an immediate, action-driven decision. The postcard medium proved highly effective at cutting through digital clutter, delivering a clear value proposition at a glance and driving qualified traffic to both digital and in-branch application channels.
Bayer Heritage FCU learned that direct mail remains a powerful conversion tool for complex financial products when supported by strong design, concise messaging, and integrated digital follow-up. By combining eye-catching creative with friction-reducing incentives, the campaign exceeded refinancing volume and engagement goals, outperforming expectations during a traditionally slower summer lending period, and validating Bayer Heritage FCU’s belief that fun, confident creative can deliver serious results.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Liberty Lake, WA
At a time when teachers regularly spend $500-$1,000 of their own money on classroom supplies, STCU is showing gratitude by offering classroom supply grants. Over 15 years, we’ve awarded more than 1,900 grants totaling more than $300,000 to teachers selected by random drawing. Classroom supply grants impact teachers, spark joy in students, and help meet essential instructional needs. Each year at back-to-school events, the STCU table is always swarming with teachers expressing their gratitude and love for STCU.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Atlanta, GA
This campaign illustrates how audience-specific marketing and strong brand alignment can elevate a traditional product promotion. By tying a Certificate of Deposit offer to Delta Air Lines’ 100th anniversary, we created a timely, relevant, and emotionally resonant reason for Delta Air Lines employees to engage. A key takeaway was that long-term savings products can generate strong participation when paired with meaningful storytelling rather than rate-only messaging.
The sweepstakes and targeted incentives added excitement and urgency while still supporting disciplined savings behavior and long-term relationship growth. Using targeted digital communications, SEG-focused messaging, and Delta-centric branch visibility allowed us to reach employees through trusted, familiar channels.
This approach reinforced credibility, reduced barriers for non-members, and strengthened loyalty among existing members. The campaign met and exceeded its objectives by increasing certificate openings, deepening engagement, and reinforcing Delta Community Credit Union’s position as a trusted financial partner to Delta Air Lines employees.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Altadena, CA
The LAGMC We Care Activation initiatives demonstrated that, during a period of budget cuts, staffing transitions, and healthcare uncertainty, having a stable, trusted financial partner became essential for employees seeking clarity and control. By consistently offering flexible financial wellness workshops, shift-friendly sessions, and year-round engagement, First City provided a steady anchor when much of the staff felt unpredictable. Through practical tools like budgeting guidance, credit support, retirement planning, and homebuying education, we helped employees regain confidence amid instability.
This initiative proved that in times of organizational and economic stress, reliable guidance and authentic presence strengthen trust, deepen loyalty, and reinforce the value of a credit union that truly cares. Not only did we show up for our members and non-members during a challenging year, but we also grew new members from the hospital at a record pace!
Assets greater than $1 billion | Tustin, CA
Our University Awareness campaign combined Connected TV ads with digital display retargeting to create a powerful, multi-touch experience for college faculty and staff. Our messaging and imagery were intentionally designed to resonate with higher education professionals, highlighting our exclusive products and services designed to meet their needs. By pairing premium, non-skippable streaming ads with follow-up display ads, we kept our message top of mind to drive measurable engagement. This innovative approach exceeded expectations by expanding our reach and reinforcing our commitment to meeting college faculty and staff where they are — on the platforms they use most.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Tustin, CA
The key to this campaign was personalization; every aspect of this campaign was in support of this. We utilized specific audience targeting to ensure our message only reached the right Members, crafted a message that we believed would best resonate with this audience, and used an omnichannel approach to meet these Members in the digital spaces they were engaging in throughout their day. The result was a noticeable year-over-year increase in auto loan participation among Members within this age group.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Bellingham, WA
Today's kids are the future of banking. It's important to understand their needs and build trust with the entire family. WECU has built top-of-market products, services, and learning opportunities to help them grow on their important financial journey. We continue to optimize our marketing efforts to build trust and value with parents and their children. We take a data-driven approach to refine the positioning, relevancy, and appeal. In our latest optimization, we have focused the positioning on the independence, security, and parental oversight of our youth debit and credit card. Early results show growing success.
