Sparkhouse Awards Series: Sparkhouse + Southland Credit Union Win a Bronze MAC Award

Every now and then, we get to work on a project that’s both creative and wildly practical. The kind of video that makes people say, “Ohhh… that’s what it is.” This is one of those, and it’s officially award-winning.

Sparkhouse and Southland Credit Union just earned a Bronze MAC Award for Enjoy! Rewards by Southland, recognized in Non-Commercial Video – $1 Billion and Greater.

If you’ve ever tried to explain a rewards program and watched someone’s brain quietly exit the chat, you’ll understand why we love this win.

It’s basically the difference between a trailer that makes you need to watch the movie and one that leaves you saying, “Wait, what was that about?” (We’re aiming for the first one, always.)

Meet Southland Credit Union

Southland Credit Union is a community credit union focused on serving Members and local communities in Orange County and Los Angeles County. Founded in 1936, it began by serving Los Angeles County employees and has grown into one of the top-performing credit unions in the U.S.

Southland serves 70,000+ Members across 12 branch locations throughout the region. And at the core, they’re about helping Members reach financial success with tools, resources, and products that support real-life goals.

So when they decided to rebuild their rewards ecosystem, it wasn’t a “new perk” moment. It was a full strategy move.

The project: Enjoy! Rewards, explained like a human would

Southland undertook a comprehensive transformation of its rewards programs to better align with Member needs, improve profitability, and strengthen engagement. The initiative introduced a new loyalty platform designed to drive everyday transactions and longer-term relationships.

There was also a real deadline. Southland’s existing FIS rewards contract ended June 30, 2024, which set the timeline for launching the new Enjoy! Rewards program, including Enjoy! Rewards Checking and the Enjoy! Rewards Visa Platinum credit card.

On the backend, they migrated their credit card rewards points portfolio from FIS to AmpliFI, enabling a streamlined redemption process and the ability for Members to pool points across debit and credit.

Translation: big change, big stakes, and absolutely no room for confusing communication.

Our creative approach: clarity, momentum, and zero “finance-speak”

We leaned into an animated explainer approach for one main reason: when you’re introducing a new program and asking people to actually use it, clarity is the whole game.

The goal was to make the new rewards system feel:

• Simple (no decoding required)
  
  
• Useful (benefits you can picture in daily life)
  
  
• Immediate (you can start earning without jumping through hoops)
  
  

Southland Members with Rewards Visa accounts continue to have access to redemption options like cash, gift cards, merchandise, and fuel, with the added benefit of using points at a wide variety of point-of-sale retail stores. So the story wasn’t “look how complicated this is.” It was the opposite: “Look how easy this can be.”

We also built with Southland’s intended audience in mind, including daily transactors (people who use debit frequently), local communities surrounding branches, existing Members, and existing or prospective SEGs.

Because the truth is, nobody wants a rewards program that feels like homework. People want a reason to swipe, tap, and move on with their day.

The strategy behind the storytelling

What made this project especially strong is that it came with clear targets. Southland’s 12-month objectives were built to change behavior and strengthen relationships, not just “announce a thing.”

A few of the headline goals included:

• Increasing the average number of Southland products per Member by 15% (share of wallet).
  
  
• Reducing reward expenses by 20% by eliminating cash incentives and increasing interchange income by 10% through higher debit volume.
  
  
• Growing Rewards Checking to 15% of total membership and increasing average monthly debit transactions by 20% for Rewards Checking users.
  
  
• Improving retention among Rewards Checking account holders by 10% year-over-year.
  
  
• Launching pooled points at the household level with estimated annual cost savings of 15–20%.
  
  

When the goals are that specific, the creative can’t be vague. The video had to be direct, memorable, and Member-first.

Why it earned MAC Awards recognition

The MAC Awards spotlight standout marketing in the credit union world. And this project stood out for a pretty simple reason: it took a major operational shift and made it feel approachable.

It solved a real communication problem. A program overhaul can be messy. This made it feel clean.

It balanced strategy with simplicity. There were real business outcomes behind the program, but the message stayed grounded in what Members actually care about.

It had measurable intent. Judges can feel the difference between “pretty video” and “purpose-built launch asset.”

Also, let’s be real, “loyalty program” content could easily be bland. This wasn’t. It had a clear point of view: make rewards feel like a win, not a riddle.

Watch the award-winning project

Here’s the finished Southland Credit Union Explainer Animation featured on our site.

And to Southland Credit Union, congrats on the Bronze and on launching a program built for everyday life. Thanks for trusting Sparkhouse to help tell the story in a way that people can actually understand on the first watch. 

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