Redstone Federal Credit Union Incentivise Checking Account Holders by Offering Magic Dollars

The US’s largest psychology-driven marketing and advertising firm Intermark Group has created 'Magic Deposits,' a new ad campaign for Redstone Federal Credit Union. The agency won the assignment in June.

The objective of the 'Magic Deposits' work is to attract new customers to open checking accounts through a geographically targeted promotion that offers participants a $500 incentive to do so. Driven by psychology principles, the ads show ways members can spend that $500 while reminding them how easy it is to obtain.  

Portrayed by each character’s surprise by gifts they can purchase with a Redstone promotion bonus, the campaign playfully leverages cognitive disruption and the novelty principle – disrupting schemas (or expectations) consumers commonly have around banking and account balances. Social proof and the reciprocity principle are also utilised through repeated public discoveries and the enticement of a reward for initiating a Redstone checking account.

Three 30-second ads and two cutdowns (a :15 and a :06) will run on TV in July and throughout August. Intermark also created a :30 radio spot, social media and email assets, and a direct mail postcard.

A couple is checking their phones while sitting in a café in one of the 30-second spots. Within seconds, they’re startled to discover they are the recipients of items that they have been desiring to purchase.

“There are box seats for Saturday’s game in my checking account!” the man says excitedly. "There's a river-side spa package in mine!” the woman replies. As they receive these revelations, a guy at a table in the background can be seen gasping and flipping his chair over. After the narrator details the RFCU offer, the guy, a stranger, is sitting with the couple - he’s crashed their table. Nearly hyperventilating, he tells them he just received a full set of vintage, hand-crocheted car cushions. Each ad has a slightly different ending with the car-cushion guy providing comedic relief. 

Redstone Federal Credit Union has been an Intermark client since 2018, a partnership fuelled by the agency’s specialisation in behavioural science. 

“Intermark is once again thrilled to work with Redstone Federal Credit Union on their summer checking promotion. The use of humour and psychological principles like fear of missing out and scarcity make the spots compelling and relevant to the target audience.”