Mikah Loomis, Member Experience Manager, accepts the awards on behalf of Alaska Air Group Credit Union.
On Tuesday, March 26th, Alaska Air Group Credit Union was among 180 credit unions nationwide named as winners of the prestigious Diamond Award – the Marketing, PR & Development Council’s annual competition for marketing excellence.
This year, a record 1,400 entries were submitted to the Diamond Awards. This recognition is a true honor and proves the value of all our team’s hard work.
Alaska Air Group Credit Union received the following recognition:
- Category’s Best for the Station Sticker Facebook Campaign
- Diamond Award for Brand Identity Evolution
Read more about each entry below.
Station Sticker Facebook Campaign.
Example of a sticker guessing game post.
If you follow Alaska Air Group Credit Union on Facebook, you may have seen the guessing games for each new sticker release. This has been a fun way to increase our Facebook following and engagement, and an amazing opportunity to connect with our members.
The sticker campaign was launched in January of 2024, with SEA and ANC as the first two stickers. This began simply as a fun new swag item for our members and a way to connect more with the stations. The initial reception was amazing, and we kept the project going with PDX and PHX as the next two, and has since grown to over 20 sticker designs. We want our members across the country to be able to participate in this fun project and have the opportunity to receive the stickers if they are not close to an AAGCU branch. The Facebook campaign was born out of this desire to share the project, allowing members to use the hint posts to guess the upcoming sticker for a chance to be sent the collection for free.
Example of sticker announcement post.
We chose to submit this Facebook campaign for a Diamond Award in the category of Social Media. This project not only had amazing metrics in follower and engagements, but it has grown to become something that our members truly look forward to and drives excitement for our new stickers.
Read an excerpt from our submission.
“This project has exceeded our objectives in many ways. Beginning as a fun new swag item for our members, this project has developed into a well-known and well-loved campaign with members and non-members alike. This sticker campaign has led to record Facebook engagement/interactions, follower growth, and a sense of excitement and pride in our members.”
We are so proud of not only winning a Diamond Award, but winning Category’s Best for our asset group. This reinforces the creativity, intentionality, and connection to our members that we strive to achieve in everything we do.
Brand Identity Evolution.
In 2016 we underwent a major rebrand, including changing our name from Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air Employees Federal Credit Union to Alaska Air Group Credit Union. This rebrand focused primarily on the brand’s outward expression, such as logo, colors, and font. With our recent brand refresh project, we wanted to reach the identity aspect of the rebrand such as brand values, voice, and mission. We decided that we needed to define the deeper aspects of who Alaska Air Group Credit Union is as a brand. Especially after Alaska Airlines’ Care initiative, we recognized that we needed to show up for our members in the same way that they show up for their guests.
New branch business card – one of the updated branding items.
We conducted branding exercises with all AAGCU staff and our Board of Directors, getting a pulse check on how we believe we show up as a brand. We then surveyed members, asking similar questions to gauge if our members perceived Alaska Air Group Credit Union in the same way that we viewed ourselves. We were excited to learn that the work that we are doing carried through, and our members perceived in a very similar way we identified ourselves. A few of the key words and themes that carried through these exercises were friendly, feels like family, safe and secure, caring, helpful, and great people. We used the exact words and motifs from our internal exercises and external surveys to define a new Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Brand Values, and Brand Voice.
The marketing team then put together new marketing collateral including a new brand guide, business cards, email signatures, and other internal materials.
View excerpt from this submission below.
“The objectives of this brand refresh were to create a unified goal and message amongst staff and the board that was memorable, resonated with all, and encapsulated who we are and who we want to be. We also wanted to create continuity between touchpoints, so that regardless of which channel members interact with us, they would receive the same excellent level of service.”
We could not be more proud to bring home these awards. It is truly an honor to be celebrated and recognized amongst the best of the best in credit union marketing.
“We are truly thrilled to celebrate Alaska Air Group Credit Union and the other Diamond Award winners with such a prestigious recognition,” said Lesli Bishop, Co-Chair of the Diamond Awards and Chief Marketing Officer at Family Savings Credit Union in Gadsden, Ala. “These credit unions not only reflect the core values of the credit union movement, but they exemplify the forward-thinking and innovative strategies within our industry.”
For more than 30 years, the Diamond Awards have celebrated the excellence in credit union marketing. This is the first year that Alaska Air Group Credit Union has submitted projects to the Diamond Awards. We look forward to this being the first of many wins in the future. 