Cardinal Credit Union and Cleveland Browns Partner to Bring Financial Education to Kids
During the NFL season, Cardinal Credit Union will be stepping into the marketing space in order to connect with Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
Through its partnership with Cleveland Browns Running Back Nick Chubb, Cardinal will be able to offer financial education to elementary and middle school children through the Lil Brownies Savings Program in 2024-25. As part of a co-branded Browns Cardinal ice cream truck, Cardinal kicked off the enrollment period for the Lil Brownies Savings program during the Browns training camp on August 4.
Chubb’s primary area of focus will be to support the launch of the Lil’ Brownies Savings program that provides financial education to elementary and middle aged school children via the exclusive Brownie the Elf VISA debit card. The program includes a free savings account with a debit card that allows for parental controls, parental allowances, payment for grades, and budgeting along with other youth financial education tools.
According to Christine Blake, CEO of Cardinal Credit Union, the company is committed to supporting and helping seven counties, making the Cleveland Browns a perfect match for the company. The Cardinal Credit Union, for instance, sponsored a holiday food drive last year for underprivileged families, which was succeeded by engaging more people with the effort thanks to Kareem Hunt. With the NFL season underway, the brand is focusing on the youngest members of the community.
“We are always focused on ‘people helping people’ and partnering with the Cleveland Browns seemed like a great way to extend our message and increase our presence in the community,” she said. “Browns fans are an incredibly loyal bunch so we thought aligning ourselves with them would be a great way to further our work in northeastern Ohio, especially our financial education initiatives, such as the introduction of the Lil’ Brownies Savings program.”
As it is a joint effort between the Cleveland Browns and Nick Chubb, the brand has two goals regarding social media: to attract consumers as well as businesses to the program by means of organic posts. Browns and Chubb has taken to its own social media channels during Cleveland Browns games in order to spread the word about the program using organic and paid posts on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and X.
“There are a lot of sports fans out there, especially in northeastern Ohio, so partnering with the Browns to provide our members with extra perks just makes a ton of sense for us,” said Blake.
Cardinal Credit Union is not the only brand that is entering the NFL marketing landscape this year in a way that means more than simply advertising. With the help of the Baltimore Ravens for its expanded outdoor advertising campaign in the Baltimore-DC area, ZIPS Cleaners is boosting brand visibility within the metropolitan area, and Yo Quiero revamped its marketing strategy with its partnership with the Dallas Cowboys. This year, the brands are taking a non-traditional approach to reach out to a new audience for the first time in order to attract new consumers for the current NFL season.
