Boosting Brand Visibility for a Top 10 Credit Union
One of the nation’s largest credit unions, Alliant Credit Union has a strong consumer brand, and needed an agency with deep commercial real estate (CRE) expertise to help build its reputation as a leading provider of commercial mortgages. Alliant began partnering with Akrete in early 2019 to raise visibility for its commercial lending team through a national public relations (PR) campaign targeting commercial mortgage brokers, property owners and investors. Since then, the partnership has expanded to include a PR program for its loan trading desk.
Strategy
Akrete worked with Alliant’s communications team to develop a PR program focused on demonstrating Alliant’s industry expertise and building visibility for the team’s successful transactions. We work with our media contacts to place bylined articles in prominent industry publications, as well as secure interviews for the commercial lending and loan trading desk teams with target journalists. To demonstrate Alliant’s success in the market, we write and pitch press releases highlighting commercial loan closings and loan trading transactions. We also secure speaking opportunities at industry events and prepare industry award submissions.
Since our partnership began, the program mandate has expanded to include developing more direct content for core audiences. In 2021, we launched a “Behind the Deal” video series, where we produce videos in partnership with commercial mortgage brokers to highlight successful loan closings. Additionally, our team helps amplify all media placements with LinkedIn posts and targeted email newsletters.
Results
The media coverage we garner for Alliant has had a significant business impact, resulting in inbound calls and meeting requests from mortgage brokers and loan trading partners. Sample media placements include:
- Forbes, “Credit Union And Fintech Partnerships Bring Innovation Out Of The Shadows”
- U.S. News & World Report, “How to Invest in Self-Storage Real Estate”
- American Banker, “Credit unions team with fintechs to power solar lending”
- MBA Newslink, “Dealmaker: Alliant Credit Union Lends $91M on Multifamily Properties”
- Credit Union Times, “Strong Loan Trading Continues Into Q1 at Alliant”
- CMBA Connect, “Episode 50 | Peter Margolin, Commercial Loan Originator, Alliant Credit Union”
- Commercial Property Executive, “How Credit Unions Are Boosting CRE’s Capital Supply: Q&A”