2026 Marketing RAP - Session 3

CBA’s Marketing RAPs are the place for uplifting, collaborative conversations designed just for community bank marketing professionals. Whether your role is in marketing, retail, or business development, these programs offer the perfect mix of learning, sharing, and networking. At each Marketing RAP, you’ll: Share ideas and exchange best practices with peers facing the same opportunities and challenges. Hear amazing presentations from marketing professionals and industry experts bringing you the latest tools and strategies. Participate in roundtables for open dialogue and problem-solving. Enjoy lunch and networking while building meaningful connections with other community bank marketing directors across Georgia.

Join us for our next Marketing RAP on October 15 to hear from Rob Birgfeld, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at ICBA and Sarah Spooner, Marketing & Growth Strategist for Financial Institutions at Vericast.

Elevating the Community Banking Brand: Marketing Resources That Deliver
Discover how to maximize the marketing resources available through ICBA membership to strengthen your bank's brand, save time and enhance your marketing efforts. Rob Birgfeld, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at ICBA, will provide an overview of the ICBA Marketing Resource Center and demonstrate the tools, campaigns and customizable materials available to community banks. Built specifically for community bankingband tested with community bankers and their customers in mind, these resources are designed to help banks communicate their unique value and tell their story more effectively. Whether you're a one-person marketing department or part of a larger team, you'll leave with practical, ready-to-use resources and insights you can put to work immediately.

Rob Birgfeld is Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at ICBA. In this role, Birgfeld leads ICBA's marketing and communications departments, overseeing the creation and execution of results-driven strategies to enhance member value as well as the reputation of the nation's community banks in the eyes of consumers, the media and policymakers.

Birgfeld has held a variety of marketing and communications roles in several industries during his 20-year career, leading with digital-first, evidence-based strategies to realize business growth in healthcare, media and consumer packaged goods. Prior to ICBA, he worked at Inova Health System where he oversaw the organization’s digital experience, aligning priorities of various business lines to meet system goals and objectives.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and history from Syracuse University.

The New Consumer Decision Journey: AI, Digital Behavior, and the End of Traditional Financial Services Marketing

The New Consumer Decision Journey presentation argues that the classic marketing funnel, awareness, consideration, decision, loyalty, no longer matches how financial services consumers actually behave. Three forces have dismantled it: AI-mediated discovery is replacing search, digital-first behavior has turned a linear path into a looping network, and trust now flows through peers and algorithms instead of brand messaging. Current behavioral data, mobile as the default channel, demand for single-app consolidation, rising expectations for proactive personalization, shows this shift is already here, not a forecast. The presentation closes with a clear playbook: make content machine-readable for AI systems, shift from mass reach to precision targeting, move measurement beyond last-click to the full journey, and build unified, outcome-based intelligence across every channel.

Sarah Spooner is a strategic growth and marketing executive with over 15 years of experience driving revenue growth, operational excellence, and executive-level strategy within the financial services and credit union industries. Currently serving as a Marketing & Growth Strategist for Financial Institutions at Vericast, Sarah partners with executive leaders at regional and national financial institutions to accelerate growth through data-driven insights and integrated go-to-market strategies. In this role, she has driven $5.4M in revenue through consultative strategy and executive relationship management, and was recognized with the company's Emerald Award for outstanding performance and revenue impact.

Prior to Vericast, Sarah spent over seven years at RelyOn Credit Union, where she rose to Chief Executive Officer after serving as CFO. As CEO, she led the organization through significant transformation, delivering 35% asset growth, double-digit loan and membership growth, and a $1.3M reduction in vendor costs through strategic contract renegotiations. She spearheaded major capital investments in branch remodeling and expansion, executed a headquarters sale that generated a $1.7M net gain, and guided the credit union through a rebrand, core value refresh, and digital transformation. She also served as the organization's designated BSA/Compliance Officer, overseeing AML/SAR investigations and regulatory compliance. Earlier in her career, Sarah held leadership and consulting roles at Corporate One Federal Credit Union, Origence (formerly CU Direct), and Grow Financial Federal Credit Union, where she built a strong foundation in lending strategy, portfolio analytics, member experience, and team development — earning multiple sales and new-client acquisition awards along the way.

Sarah holds a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Tampa and a Bachelor of Science in Management and Organizational Leadership from St. Petersburg College. She has also earned several professional certifications, including an AI Prompting Certification from the University of Texas at Austin and a Google Analytics Individual Qualification.