So, when Credit Unions of Alberta – CUOA – approached WJ and asked for help in building public awareness of their organization, we couldn’t help but think about this one simple fact. After all, we’ve been burned by the endless fees and opaque dealings of bank back rooms before, and we know how frustrating it is to watch your money trickle away and fund some Nameless Executive’s new boat (probably).

From this, we knew we wanted to highlight the difference between a locally owned and operated credit union, and just another local branch of an enormous conglomerate bank. If both were your neighbours, which would be friendlier? Which would be more likely to give, rather than take? Well, we don’t have to spell it out. But we did get an excellent idea for a campaign about who you’d rather have living next door.

Giving the good neighbour treatment

This one was fun because we got to do it all – the concept, scripts, art direction, production, and casting. We brought in a crew to help film on location (which was the home of one of our own staff members, naturally). We set out to capture a particular look and feel that would speak to the older Gen Z/millennial/young Gen X demographic. And of course, we assisted in the launch across social media platforms, and built the landing page that funneled them all to action.

You could say it really takes a village to support a good neighbour. But in a pinch, a company like WJ will do just fine.