Helping RMCU Capture a Growing Demographic
Rocky Mountain Credit Union (RMCU) has served Montanans for over 80 years. It was first charted in 1956 as the State Capital Employees Credit Union. The credit union serves members in nine counties in Montana, with six branch locations in Helena, Butte, Belgrade, and Bozeman.
What We’ve Accomplished
YEARS YOUNGER
lowered average member age from 59 to 43 within two years
INCREASE
in assets from $170M in 2014 to $400M in 2024
GROWTH
in membership from 14,000 in 2014 to 25,000 in 2024
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Kelly Fleiner
Director of Business Development
Rocky Mountain Credit Union
The Challenge
In 2014, RMCU became somewhat stagnant with member growth and faced difficulties attracting a younger demographic. The credit union hoped to fuel membership growth by engaging a younger audience, but its existing marketing lacked a local feel, utilized out-of-touch messaging, and focused on the wrong marketing channels for the desired audience.
The Solution
RMCU has a branch in the same town as Montana’s largest university (Montana State University). We prioritized that audience by helping the credit union rethink existing products and how they could benefit young adults. Once we updated our tone and pitches to be relevant to young adults, we updated all advertising creative.
We used the following tactics to share our new messaging:
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Initiated a partnership with the university through its athletic department to increase brand placement on campus.
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Shifted advertising budgets away from traditional placements including newspaper, print, direct mailers, and radio to more relevant media – such as Instagram and email – that were far more successful in engaging a younger audience.
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Directed RMCU’s Business Development Team to attend events on campus to connect with students and help them navigate relevant financial challenges.
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Developed a series of financial education blogs to help answer questions or pain points young adults face, such as student loan payoff or budgeting for their first job out of college."
The Results
From 2014 to 2016, RMCU lowered its average member age by 16 years, positioning the credit union to increase its assets by 135% and membership by 79% within 10 years.
PRIME’s marketing strategy played a huge role in reaching the right audience with the right message at the right time. The long-term strategic partnership PRIME developed with RMCU has helped the credit union evolve and grow effectively.