Truliant FCU promises never to merge, but can it live up to its word?: It's a vow that resonates in North Carolina, home to a wave of bank M&A activity.

Truliant Federal Credit Union, a$2.2 billion institution based in Winston-Salem, N.C., has undertaken a rather audacious marketing campaign to help distinguish it from the competition - by unequivocally promising never to merge.

The ad strategy is particularly relevant to residents of parts of the bank-heavy Tar Heel State, including the Piedmont Triad and Charlotte, who have witnessed wave after wave of banking mergers and consolidations. These customers, the credit union noted, are often left "feeling disenfranchised," since a primary driver of using a community bank is a desire to be a part of a local institution rather than a larger regional or national bank.

The new campaign highlights other differences between Truliant and banks, including free interest checking, a variety of low-rate options on auto loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, mortgages and other loans.

The campaign was launched over Memorial Day weekend and will eventually involve various forms of media, including print advertising, billboards, direct mail, social media and a special merger page on Truliant's website.

Chief Marketing Officer Karen DeSalvo explained that the merger issue has continued to be top of mind in North Carolina, where community banks disappear on what seems to be an almost daily basis.

"There are currently 10 active mergers in the communities we serve," she said. "The merger of two (or more) financial institutions can be unsettling for consumers, who face the uncertainty of new management, the potential for higher fees and the possibility of branches closing."

She said she hopes consumers affected by these mergers "will consider us as a better banking alternative."

Truliant plans to measure the campaign's success by monitoring membership and loans, and DeSalvo said the credit union will "certainly track activity in communities where the campaign is running."

A crucial element of a campaign such as this, she said, lies in "seizing the opportunity to communicate our differences from banks to those who may not be aware of how credit unions are different. For us...