HARRISBURG, Pa. — Consumers driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike or listening to the state's Traffax reports on radio and television will soon be seeing or hearing ads about joining a credit union.
The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association has released the theme and artwork for the 2006 Statewide Network of Advertising in Pennsylvania (SNAP) awareness campaign and plans to begin blanketing the media throughout the state with the credit union message.
This marks the 33rd anniversary of the campaign, making it possibly the oldest continuous running credit union awareness campaign. What's more, it's still funded by voluntary contributions. To fund this year's campaign, voluntary contributions totaling nearly $160,000 were raised from 216 credit unions.
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The PCUA has used various themes over the years to convey its message–the theme for the first three years was "Credit Unions. It's Where You Belong."
The theme for this year is: "86 million members. Are you one?" using bright, colorful artwork. Viewers are directed to www.PaCreditUnions.com where they can access the online credit union locator, CU Match Up.
PCUA's Mike Wishnow, senior vice president communications and marketing, said this year's theme is intended to convey the message of inclusiveness.
"We would all agree credit unions are a better kept secret than most credit unions want them to be. We want people to know credit unions are not exclusive, they're an option available for all consumers," he said.
The 2006 SNAP campaign includes the use of about 215 billboards statewide. That includes four billboards on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, up from two billboards last year, which was the first time the association used that media vehicle.
Wishnow said the billboards are guaranteed to run for the entire month of October, but they could run longer depending on bonus advertising and billboard inventory.
Also renewed from last year is the PCUA's sponsorship of the home football games at Penn State University's Beaver Stadium. That includes 30-second statewide spots including in-game program ads and acknowledgment on the Penn State sports Web site. The advertising during the football games began in early September.
In addition, starting in October, the SNAP campaign ad will run on several hundred radio and TV "Traffax" traffic reports in the state's five major media markets.
Wishnow explained that all the media design is done in-house at the PCUA. The design process begins in the early summer when the design team comprised of marketing and communications staff begins discussing ideas for the theme. From there the team writes the creative and scripts. They work with an outside firm, Target Media, Carlisle, Pa., for the billboard printing and buying of media time and space.
PCUA President/CEO Jim McCormack said the association was extremely pleased at the level of voluntary financial support it receives from credit unions throughout the state every year.
"Credit unions are one of the best kept secrets, and we intend to tell consumers about them," he said. –[email protected]
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