Meridian
The Story
Since its founding, Meridian Credit Union has had a greater purpose to help their members achieve better lives. Building on this overall commitment to member well-being, Meridian underwent an internal strategic planning process to define how this commitment could be strengthened and differentiated in the marketplace. The result was to take a holistic approach to member well-being through a focussed commitment to building long-term financial, mental and physical resilience. Borealis was invited to play a key role in the planning and launch of a national awareness campaign across various target audience groups.
Deliverables
Strategic development including persona profiling
Creative platform development
Messaging matrix with alignment to all lines of business and audiences
Brand & campaign guidelines
Media planning with partner media agency
Television commercial & video development
OOH advertising
Digital advertising
Social assets
In-branch promotions and collateral
Experiential and community activations
Strategic Approach
Brainstorming sessions with key stakeholders determined what Building Resilience meant to Meridian and how it could be “defined” in the context of both the Meridian brand and Meridian as a financial institution offering a range of products and services not dissimilar to other financial institutions in the marketplace. The result produced the concept of “real life” and the need for stronger perspective, planning, and preparation to realize greater personal resilience.
A positioning statement was crafted and ideation around a ‘Big Idea’ followed to drive an awareness campaign. The ‘Big Idea’ had to be sustainable and speak to Meridian’s desire to connect with its members beyond just financial concerns acknowledging life as real, complex, and interconnected, often requiring personalized solutions. The campaign had to communicate Meridian’s support for its Members across all aspects of their lives recognizing life as sometimes challenging and unexpected.
Get Ready for “What if ?”
Borealis worked closely with the Meridian marketing team to brainstorm ideas and key messages to bring Building Resilience to life generating the ‘Big Idea’ which drove the creative expression, launch strategy, media plan, and detailed execution plan. All channels were considered for their tactical relevance and reach. The campaign launched under the banner of ‘What if?’—the idea that building resilience starts by talking openly and honestly about life’s real ‘What Ifs?’—whether they be joyful, overwhelming, or unpredictable. ‘What if ?’ became the vehicle and device for Meridian to start open honest conversations about what matters and how Meridian can help Members plan, prepare and gain perspective when managing life’s unexpected moments. A range of intriguing and sometimes powerful ‘What if ?’ questions were developed to lead the campaign and force audiences to stop and emotionally engage with the brand. A manifesto was written which became the foundation for all key communications.
The campaign consisted of 30-, 15-, and 10-second television spots running in the Ontario, Toronto, and Ottawa markets with the videos also streaming on digital and social channels. In addition, extensive OOH advertising ran in Toronto consisting of full-page insertions in the G&M, National Post, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and St. Catherine Standard. Billboards, TSAs, Bike Shares, and other large format digital media integrations featured the same heroes from the commercial video to give the new entire campaign a sense of cohesion and unity. Programmatic digital buys ensured th right audiences were being reached.
The media plan was jointly produced with media agency twenty6two International to prioritize maximum GRPs and impressions with tracking and brand awareness measurement provided by partner research agency Maru using dedicated audience panels. Preliminary results are forthcoming and will determine any campaign optimization steps necessary. Detailed personas based on demographics and lines of business were defined as the key audiences to reach during this first launch phase with the next phase planning to focus on reaching additionally defined and important personas and stakeholders, the intention of which to grow existing and new audiences. A call-to-action URL, GetReadyForWhatIf.ca, pushed audiences to a custom landing page to learn more about Meridian’s promise and discover how Meridian is helping to build personal and communal resilience.
Connecting to Retail and Driving Traffic
Next-phase implementation plan tactics include in-branch launch kits with posters, pop-ups, employee ‘Ask me What if ?’ buttons, a ‘What if ?” wall, and other community experiential activation events designed to engage audiences and communicate Meridian’s strengthened brand promise.
