Green means go. And stay. And grow.

Ten years is a long time in advertising. Clients come and go. Relationships drift. Markets shift. Eventually, the work gets comfortable, which is another way of saying it gets worse.

That’s not what’s happened with Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) and its advertising partner.

What happened instead is rare: a decade-long partnership that’s kept getting better over time. ICCU is now ranked among the top three credit unions in the country by J.D. Power. That kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because both organizations kept showing up and pushing each other to be better.

Here are ten things we’ve learned along the way.

Lesson 1: Know when to evolve, know when to hold

Green isn’t just a color for ICCU. It’s recognition. It’s familiarity. It’s the thing a member sees on a billboard at 65mph and immediately knows.

Over the past 10 years, we’ve refined how that green shows up. Where it lives, how it’s used, how it stands out across channels. But we’ve never walked away from it.

Sacred brand assets aren’t limitations. They’re competitive advantages that took years to build and would take years to rebuild if lost. Know which elements of your brand are load-bearing. Evolve everything else freely. Treat those core elements with care.

“With a brand that has been trusted since 1940 yet continually evolves its tools and conveniences, we have an opportunity to reinforce that balance in every piece of creative. Familiar colors and a consistent kind, personal tone build on that trust, while subtle updates in type, texture, and a touch of optimism demonstrate modernity. The combination creates a brand that honors its roots while welcoming new members alike.”

— Kelsie Clegg, Creative Director, Drake Cooper

Lesson 2: Become the extension, not the vendor

There are two kinds of agency-client relationships. In the first, the agency shows up to take a brief, disappears, and delivers. Repeat. In the second, the agency becomes so embedded in the client’s business that the org chart starts to blur a little.

Over time, that’s what this became. Not because we pushed our way in, but because ICCU invited us in. We have annual strategy planning. We stay close to the business year-round. And just as importantly, their team brings us into the conversations that shape where things are going next.

That kind of relationship only works when both sides are invested. We’ve learned their products, their members, and how they operate. And they’ve trusted us enough to be part of the process, not just the output.

The work that comes out of that looks different. It’s more specific, more confident, more true. Because it’s not built from a brief alone. It’s built on shared understanding.

“I’ve always told the members of our marketing department here at ICCU that our ad agency is an extension of our team. The idea is to work closely with them and align on all things we’re doing. It’s not a competition. They’re not just a vendor we work with. For them to have the same values we do as an organization is important.”

— Samantha Novosel, Marketing Brand Director, ICCU

Lesson 3: Invest in data like it’s creative

The best creative in the world underperforms if it’s aimed at the wrong person, delivered at the wrong time, or measuring the wrong thing. Data isn’t the opposite of creative. It’s the foundation creative gets to stand on.

ICCU invested early and consistently in understanding their members: who they are, where they are in their financial lives, and what they need next. That investment made every campaign smarter. It turned good instincts into informed decisions. It gave us permission to swing bigger because we knew where to aim.

Data and creative aren’t in competition. They’re co-conspirators. Fund both, as it matters.

Lesson 4: Consistency is a competitive advantage

Credit unions score +17 on trust compared to large national banks. That doesn’t come from a single great campaign. It comes from years of showing up the same way, with the same values, the same voice, and the same commitment to members, until people know exactly what to expect.

Inconsistency is expensive. Every time a brand drifts, it chips away at trust that took years to build. ICCU has been disciplined about that. The brand you see today is clearly the same one from a decade ago, just sharper and more refined.

Consistency gets a bad rap. But in this category, it’s one of the most effective strategies there is.

“In an industry where trust is the product, consistency signals reliability. Over time, our steady brand voice, look, and experience have created familiarity with our membership and our communities. A familiarity that has yielded confidence. Our ad agency has understood our brand at a deep level; with that, we’ve been able to move faster, stay cohesive across touchpoints, and make smart changes without losing who we are. That continuity, year after year, has helped us stand out not by chasing trends, but by delivering a recognizable, dependable experience that our members can count on.”

— Wes Bell, Vice President of Marketing, ICCU

Lesson 5: Local isn’t a limitation. It’s a superpower.

Big banks have more branches, more ATMs, and bigger ad budgets. What they don’t have is community. They don’t have the grain elevators, the high school football games, or the neighborhoods where ICCU has been a genuine neighbor for decades.

We leaned into that. Not as a defensive move against national banks, but as a real point of strength. Local knowledge, local presence, local trust. In a category where members already see credit unions as more connected to their communities, that advantage is real, and it’s winnable. We just had to be willing to show up in a way that proved it.

When ICCU expanded into Washington and Arizona, that same approach carried over. Because this isn’t just a regional tactic. It’s how the brand shows up. And it works anywhere people want a financial institution that actually knows them.

Lesson 6: Let member stories guide the strategy

The most effective advertising ICCU runs isn’t built from rates or product details. It’s built from member truth. The financial moments that define people’s lives: buying a first home, starting a business, and finally getting ahead of debt. Those are the stories we mine for insight.

We let their experiences shape the strategy, inform the brief, and define what the work needs to feel like. The result is creative that connects, because it reflects something real, not because it looks like a bank commercial.

When the strategy is grounded in member experience, the production can go in unexpected directions. You can elevate the craft, push the format, invest the budget differently, because you know exactly what emotional truth you’re building toward.

When the strategy is grounded in member experience, the production can go in unexpected directions.

Lesson 7: The team behind the work is the advantage

Creative gets the attention, but relationships win the decade. The teams behind the work, across strategy, account, media, and creative, are the ones who show up every week, ask the harder questions, and build the kind of understanding that makes the work genuinely useful, not just responsive.

It’s not about managing timelines or delivering assets. It’s about understanding how the business actually works, how products are structured, and how the member experience shifts from one market to the next. That kind of depth is what earns a seat at the table when the real decisions get made.

The brief is only as good as the relationship that produced it. Invest in the people who build those relationships, and the work will follow.

Lesson 8: Time unlocks the work you couldn’t have made earlier

There’s work we’re producing for ICCU today that we couldn’t have made in year one. Not because the talent wasn’t there. Because the relationship and trust weren’t there.

That kind of shared history and mutual understanding lets you walk in with a new idea and have it met with curiosity instead of defensiveness. That takes time.

The value of a long relationship isn’t just efficiency. It’s access. It’s the ability to propose the idea that would get a different agency shown the door and instead get a “let’s talk about it.”

Invest in relationships long enough to find out what they can become.

Lesson 9: Their culture becomes part of yours

ICCU is an organization of people who genuinely believe in what they do. They believe in the credit union model, in their communities, and in their members. That’s not marketing language. It’s just how the place operates.

Working alongside a client like that changes you. It makes you more intentional about your work. It’s a reminder that what we do isn’t just a deliverable; it helps real people make real decisions about their lives.

We’re a better agency for having spent ten years in that orbit. The culture sticks with you. And that’s a good thing.

“As our cultures have blended over the past decade, Drake Cooper has been more than an agency partner. They truly are an extension of our team. Their ability to pair strategic insights with our vision and create creative that feels like “us,” has helped build trust and allowed us to stay relentlessly focused on what matters most: serving our members and meeting them where they need us to be.”

— Wes Bell, Vice President of Marketing, ICCU

Lesson 10: Never stop pitching

The biggest trap in a long-term relationship is the moment one side stops trying to earn it.

We’ve tried not to let that happen. Every brief gets real thinking. Every presentation is treated like it matters. And we still ask ourselves the same question: if this account went up for review today, would we win it? If the answer isn’t a clear “yes,” there’s more work to do.

The clients worth keeping deserve the same energy you had on day one. Longevity isn’t something you earn once. It’s something you keep earning.

Longevity isn’t something you earn once. It’s something you keep earning. 

Looking ahead

Ten years. One credit union. Thousands of decisions, campaigns, strategies, and conversations that added up to something neither organization could have built alone.

We’re proud of what ICCU has built. And even more excited about what comes next. Maybe that’s the final lesson. The best reason to celebrate ten years is that you’re already looking forward to eleven.