Meridian Credit Union’s new campaign says clients should be treated as more than just a number.

The financial services brand’s latest campaign, “More Than a Number,” aims to appeal to audiences who feel like they are not well-served by big banks.

“People want to be treated as more than a number,” Matthew Seagrim, chief digital and marketing officer at Meridian Credit Union, tells strategy. “We’re very clear about who we’re trying to draw into the organization and how we can deliver a distinct and differentiated message.”

Seagrim adds that messaging includes listening to customers’ past experiences and articulating what Meridian’s brand promise is. “We spend a lot of time speaking to people about what matters to them, and we heard loud and clear they were not being heard or understood by their financial institutions,” he says.

Meridian’s campaign includes conventional, CTV, digital and OOH, with new PR programs launching in September. According to Seagrim, the brand platform launch is a “significant” investment for Meridian, with Ontario offering “enormous” growth opportunities for the brand. “This is going to be a multi-pronged deployment over a number of months,” he says.

Meridian’s creative partnership was with Elemental, which was named creative AOR for Meridian this summer.

In terms of assets under management among credit unions, Meridian is second only to Vancity in markets outside of Quebec, according to the latest numbers from the Canadian Credit Union Association. It has approximately 391,000 members and operates 91 physical locations.