As the world’s largest not-for-profit credit union, Navy Federal is committed to safeguarding members’ finances. Our goal is to empower our community with knowledge needed to protect personal information and recognize emerging scams. Understanding today’s social landscape, we adapted our approach to create short-form vertical video content that aligns with how social users seek scam education from financial creators. Our objective is to equip our community with tools to stay safe online and be scam-smart.
Cybercriminals increasingly target vulnerable groups within our membership – particularly younger generations and active-duty military. Our idea is to meet audiences where threats occur: on social platforms. By delivering timely, relevant education on cyber hygiene and scam prevention, we aim to build awareness and protect our community from evolving threats. Our field of membership includes officers, enlisted men and women of all branches of the military, veterans, DoD personnel and their families. Our strategy centers on two goals:
These videos reinforce Navy Federal as a trusted source on emerging fraud trends and provides audiences with clear, actionable steps to stay secure.
Scam Trends
When creating videos on trending scams, we ensure the topics align with our core security social-content strategy: to provide financial edutainment that coaches members toward safer decision-making. Our content supports our objective by offering straightforward, practical strategies that help our community recognize and defend against fraud.
We use dynamic live-action skits to make financial education more relatable and digestible. These videos transform everyday scrolling into an opportunity for smarter financial choices. Our goal is not only to drive reach and retention but also to encourage viewers to share and save content to help educate others.
Our Social Media Team partners closely with Security to track trending scams and turn insights into authentic, social-first content. By blending research and social monitoring, we deliver content optimized for Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and TikTok to drive engagement while protecting our community.
Gaming themes promote engagement
With billions of gamers worldwide, we saw an opportunity to tap into gaming culture to expand reach and engagement. By weaving in gamification elements, we transformed financial education into immersive, memorable experiences. We enhanced our content to build strong brand connections and seamlessly integrate into the gameplay environments where ads are shown.
In collaboration with our in-house creative team, we developed a fresh approach to teaching password best practices. To differentiate our messaging, we developed a concept that presents password tips in a more engaging and memorable way. The video has a retro gaming-style format and features Sammie (Navy Federal’s mascot) as a fraud-fighting knight defending the castle with strong passwords.
Our designers built a custom 8-bit world from scratch, which took time! We wanted to transport Navy Federal’s branding into a gaming universe, so our creators added in brand colors, scammer icons and logos to elevate the video’s brand connection. The finished product unveiled a medieval adventure theme level where Sammie collects coins and defends the kingdom from fraudsters with a unique password.
To infuse creativity and more gaming elements in video, Sammie was reimagined as a felt puppet in stop-motion videos. Sammie gears up with security upgrades and can be seen running, collecting coins and dodging scam boxes. This journey mirrors how members can “level up” their own account security with Navy Federal as their Partner in Security. Branded elements were woven in by adding logos on containers and the globe at the final checkpoint, creating a story-driven experience.
Our security-focused videos delivered significant impact, generating over 2.16M views and 10.7K engagements across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Average engagement rate on Instagram Reels rose nearly 40% compared to other content during the same period. YouTube Shorts led with the highest average watch time, with 160K+ viewers staying to watch the full scam scenario. These videos turned awareness into action, equipping our community with the knowledge to recognize and prevent scams.
Hundreds of followers shared and saved our content, creating a community-driven movement to educate others. This organic amplification shows our content’s real value. We sparked conversations, fostered trust and gave viewers actionable information to protect themselves.
Our refreshed strategy generated over 3.35M impressions, reached millions of engaged users and attracted 3,700 + new followers, strengthening both community trust and brand awareness.
Ultimately, this initiative sets a new benchmark for how education-driven campaigns can inspire meaningful action and bolster community resilience. These videos pave the way for future strategies that continue to protect and empower our audience.
