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 less than $250 million | SeaTac, WA
Alaska Air Group Credit Union staff started their engines for Formula MDT: Core Conversion Circuit. This internal core conversion theme prioritized teamwork, speed, and precision, keeping energy levels high, and creating an internal comradery with cross-department collaboration. The staff was celebrated with themed gift bags, prizes and incentives, decorations, snacks and meals. Communication was kept light and engaging with the use of unique email signatures, utilizing Formula 1 track maps to demonstrate the different conversion objectives, and fun Formula 1 style videos. This immersive theme allowed the conversion to feel like an engaging team-building experience, and allowed the staff to remain energized, motivated, and well-informed through the core conversion process.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Corning, NY
Our internal team had a fun time utilizing the "Friends" theme for a friendly competition with our Refer a Friend program.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Jackson, TN
Rock n’ Roll Out the New Core kicked off at our annual all-employee Champion Summit event and turned a major system conversion into a year-long experience employees actually followed. Creative, consistent updates cut through the noise, built confidence, and kept teams in rhythm—so when conversion weekend hit, employees were ready to perform.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Riverdale, UT
America First Credit Union's (AFCU's) Care-a-Lot program was established in 1998 to enable employees to help other AFCU employees experiencing catastrophic life events by donating money and unused paid time off. However, after 25 years, participation in the program began to decline. As part of encouraging participation in Care-a-Lot again, this video featuring actual employee stories was created and promoted internally.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Farmington Hills, MI
This campaign proved that the most powerful way to amplify a brand is to first energize the people behind it. By utilizing a high-energy "Carpool Karaoke" format, we moved beyond standard corporate messaging to create a shared cultural experience that resonated across our diverse branch network. We learned that this particular medium—focused on authentic, unscripted joy—is an unparalleled tool for humanizing leadership and breaking down silos in a way that traditional internal communications cannot.
The initiative exceeded our objectives by transforming a simple team day into a celebration of our unique organizational identity, achieving 100% staff engagement and fostering a renewed sense of unity. For marketers, the takeaway is that when you prioritize internal culture as your primary audience, that authentic enthusiasm naturally translates into a more powerful and consistent member experience.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Gadsden, AL
This campaign transformed deposit growth from an operational priority into a cultural movement. By empowering peer-selected Deposit Champions and anchoring the initiative in Colorado’s iconic 14er theme, Elevations created a relatable and motivating framework that resonated across the organization.
The campaign demonstrated that when culture and business goals align, engagement becomes a powerful driver of results. Grassroots influence—particularly from individual contributors—sparked deeper behavioral change than top-down directives alone. Through gamification, storytelling, and peer-led education, employees embraced deposit awareness as part of their daily roles.
Most importantly, the campaign exceeded expectations. It shifted mindsets, built product confidence, and united teams around a strategic goal that had not historically been emphasized. By year-end, employees didn’t just meet the $14MM deposit target—they surpassed it, achieving $77MM and demonstrating the extraordinary impact of internal advocacy and alignment on organizational success.
The Billion Dollar Bash redefined internal recognition by turning a milestone into a shared celebration of people, not numbers. This all-inclusive incentive experience rewarded employees with a night of entertainment, connection, and thoughtful details, from teaser videos and luxury invitations to transportation, live music, keepsakes, and surprise moments. Every element reinforced appreciation, pride, and teamwork across all 17 branches.
The biggest takeaway is that meaningful recognition does not need to be competitive to be impactful; it must be genuine. By investing in an experience that honored every contribution, we strengthened our culture, boosted morale, and reminded employees that their dedication drives organizational success. The program proved that when employees feel truly valued, the credit union spirit shines.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Romulus, MI
This campaign demonstrated that humor is a powerful catalyst for organizational change. By using a self-deprecating, mockumentary-style format to address our legacy brand’s challenges, we lowered internal defenses and replaced "rebrand fatigue" with genuine enthusiasm. The cinematic, all-staff premiere transformed a corporate announcement into a shared cultural milestone, proving that high-stakes identity shifts are best navigated through human connection and vulnerability.
We learned that when you invite employees to laugh at the past, they are far more likely to take ownership of the future. The project exceeded our objectives by achieving 100% staff alignment and creating a lasting internal vocabulary for our new brand values. For other marketers, the takeaway is clear: authenticity and relatability outperform polish every time. This initiative didn’t just launch a new look; it unified our culture and solidified our position as a human-centric alternative in a crowded financial marketplace.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Romulus, MI
This campaign demonstrated that change management can be engaging, human, and even fun when approached through storytelling instead of formal announcements. By using a documentary-style video with humor and self-awareness, we created a safe, approachable way to introduce a future logo evolution without immediately unveiling it. The format allowed staff to see leadership experience the same realization and emotions they would feel themselves, which built trust and alignment before change occurred.
We learned that humor can lower resistance and invite curiosity, especially around topics that are often sensitive in long tenured organizations. Treating the announcement as a narrative rather than a directive increased engagement and conversation across teams. The campaign exceeded its objective by not only generating excitement internally, but also creating a reusable foundation that can be expanded into episodic content for a future member-facing rollout.
Assets greater than $1 billion | Tacoma, WA
About the Marketing Ambassador Team: At Sound, we formed a dedicated team with representatives from each branch and department to support and amplify the efforts of the Marketing Department. As a united group, they ensure their teams understand new products, services, and campaigns, identify opportunities to strengthen marketing initiatives, and help maintain accuracy and compliance. They also support branch merchandising, communicate marketing messages and promotions, serve as the primary marketing contact for promotion rollouts, assist with new product and promotion testing, and contribute ideas for future campaigns.
In addition to learning more about Marketing, Ambassadors also gain leadership experience, build their professional network by connecting with other Ambassadors and teams within the organization, receive special recognition for their contribution to the program, and develop a strong understanding of Marketing, branding, advertising, and regulatory requirements.
Assets $250 million – $1 billion | Knoxville, TN
A leadership transition is a pivotal period for any organization. Brand perception, audience attitudes, reputation risk, engagement...so many risk factors flow throughout the onboarding process, all of which could ultimately impact our members. As champions of our brand, Marketing took the lead in onboarding our CEO, with this Listening Tour being the largest aspect of that charge. This was an incredibly strategic internal marketing campaign with several components and robust reporting. I'm very proud of my team and our CEO for this incredibly successful campaign.
