When the industry needs an opinion, they know who to ask.

The Super Bowl is a cultural touchstone that attracts millions of viewers, and there are ways to leverage the game for brand awareness without the high cost of a national ad.

Soccer’s popularity is growing, and bank marketers who strategize now about how to connect with these enthusiastic sports fans will be best positioned to capitalize when the 2026 World Cup is played in the United States.

A new ad campaign from SF Fire Credit Union is bound to shock many in banking. Not only does SF Fire call itself a bank, in effect, but it is now referring to itself specifically as a 'side bank' — a term with sexual undertones. What inspired this daring campaign? And, equally important, can it attract new members without turning off existing ones?

Americans spend heavily during the holidays. Banks and credit unions can get in on a bigger piece of the action by starting in the fall with promotional offers that meet consumers’ mood, likely to be conflicted in a year with economic news running negative.

Tapping marketing agencies should bring professional expertise and advice to understaffed bank and credit union marketing efforts. Too often the result is anything but successful as institutions and agencies struggle to simply communicate, let alone collaborate. But agency experts say this can be changed.

While hot topics like disruption, innovation and personalization dominate banking discussions, financial marketers say other critical issues that they should be talking about lurk beneath the surface, unmentioned. These matters rate serious discussions before they blossom into tomorrow's major challenges.