Coworking with Michael Daum

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Michael Daum is SVP, CMO at Golden 1 Credit Union, a Sacramento-based financial institution. He’s also held senior marketing roles at USAA and at the Cleveland-based Key Bank.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? I help Californians thrive financially by making sure Golden 1 shows up in ways that are useful, relevant, and consistent. That means leading a team that connects our brand, marketing technologies, and community presence so members see us as both a trusted partner and an always-on resource. My role is equal parts growth driver, brand guardian, and talent coach.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? I joined Golden 1 as we were onboarding a new creative agency, strategically evolving our brand platform, and building out our marketing technology stack. Our first major brand campaign, “Life is a Journey,” reintroduced Golden 1 with stories filmed across California that captured the credit-union difference and highlighted the everyday financial experiences of our members. The campaign became the foundation for months of test-and-learn, full-funnel growth marketing that continues to deliver strong, incremental results. Just as important, it galvanized the team in new ways and gave us a series of shared successes to celebrate.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? As someone who loved Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School and is still mourning the end of Succession, I got a kick out of Uber Eats’s “Brian Cox Goes to College” campaign. It was unexpected, clever, and managed to reach both students and parents at the same time. Using humor to spotlight the benefits while expanding an established brand’s reach? That’s smart marketing.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: I grew up surrounded by music and pop culture. That meant lots of concerts, MTV, and playing mediocre lead guitar in a garage band. What I didn’t know at the time was how this love of music, pop culture, and radio—combined with wanting to find a career path with opportunities for growth and experimentation—would lead to me discovering the art of marketing in college. I found the perfect mix of creativity and strategy that has fueled my career ever since.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? The most exciting trend is how technology, data, and generative AI are raising the bar for personalization. When you use them responsibly, they don’t just create efficiency—they open the door to deeper connections with consumers and small businesses, and give us new ways to show why credit unions matter. I’m less optimistic about the trend of brands opting for safe, blended-in marketing rather than bold, differentiated storytelling. As consumer expectations shift toward authenticity, cultural relevance, and unique voice, the brands sticking with “safe everywhere” risk fading into the background.

What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? I try to break out of the algorithm and look for content that pushes me to think differently. On weekend dog walks, my go-to is Brand Champions, a new channel from Questus founders Jeff Rosenblum and Jordan Berg. Jeff brings the author-academic lens, Jordan brings brand-strategy chops, and together they deliver sharp, authentic takes on modern branding and the realities of agency life.