Let’s work together. Let’s create. Let’s win. Let’s transform. Let’s challenge. Let’s rise together. Let’s evolve. Let’s lead.
As a credit union or community bank, you’re no longer competing just with the institution down the street. You’re up against national banks with billion-dollar budgets and fintech disruptors that seem to rewrite the rules daily.
So how do you stand out? How do you win when the playing field is stacked against you?
You think – and act – like a Challenger Brand.
The Power of Challenger Brand Marketing®
At Commit Agency, we are the nation’s foremost experts in Challenger Brand Marketing® – a proven methodology built to help organizations like yours outthink, outsmart and outperform larger competitors.
Challenger Brand Marketing® isn’t a campaign or a creative tagline – it’s a methodology. It’s the discipline of questioning assumptions, discovering your unique truth and turning that truth into a brand platform that inspires loyalty, drives measurable growth and wins hearts and minds.
We’ve refined this process over decades of working with community-driven financial institutions. The result? Our clients consistently achieve stronger differentiation, deeper target engagement and greater marketing ROI.
Because in the Challenger Brand Marketing world, success isn’t about outspending – it’s about thinking.
No Guessing. No Assuming. Just Results.
In a crowded financial landscape, you can’t afford to guess at your message. Guessing costs time, money and opportunity.
Our Challenger Brand Marketing® Discovery Process eliminates assumptions. We dive deep into your brand and your target’s mindset through proprietary qualitative research, intuitive target interviews and data-driven analysis. We uncover what your audience truly values and translate those insights into marketing that motivates action.
When you know exactly who you’re talking to – and exactly what they need to hear – your marketing stops being a gamble. It becomes a growth engine.
Your Brand Is Your Greatest Competitive Weapon
Your community roots, member-first culture and personalized service are powerful differentiators – but only if the market recognizes them.
Our Challenger Brand Marketing approach transforms those authentic strengths into a story that cuts through the noise. We modernize your identity, elevate your message and create emotional connections that drive trust, advocacy and long-term loyalty.
At Commit, we don’t just make your brand look current – we make it matter.
Capabilities
Does an award-winning, results-centric digital marketing and branding agency proven to grow clients’ revenue by 8% on average sound good? You’re darn right it does. Do you want cutting-edge and transparent reporting customized to your business goals? Heck, yeah, you do.
Well then,
we’re your agency.
Brand Definition
Experience Design
Marketing Amplification
Coast Central Credit Union
View Coast Central Credit Union Case StudyArizona Financial Credit Union
Success you can take to the bank––our partnership with Arizona Financial included more than 1 million campaign landing page visits generating nearly 28,000 free checking account form submissions and more than 43,000 new accounts opened in a nine-month period.
View Arizona Financial Credit Union Case StudyUnitus Community Credit Union
Through our Challenger Brand Marketing® approach, we led the Unitus leadership team through a comprehensive Discovery process that resulted in new branding language that better told the Unitus story placing a priority on the member and the community.
View Unitus Community Credit Union Case StudySavings Bank
View Savings Bank Case StudyKeyPoint Credit Union
There was something special about KeyPoint Credit Union, but they just weren’t able to put it into words. Our team was asked to help the Silicon Valley financial institution identify that special something and create a messaging platform that trumpets this unique positioning and surrounds prospective members with it.
View KeyPoint Credit Union Case StudyA Team Committed To Your Success
Collaborative and forward-thinking, Commit’s braintrust includes 30 of the industry’s top account service, branding, research, strategy, content, creative, data analytics, experience design, media (digital, traditional and social) and web development professionals.
Our core strategy team of highly experienced professionals have extensive backgrounds in both agency and client-side marketing, advertising and communications. Together, we share responsibility for all strategic direction and final output as a result of all work to be created, performed and executed.
David Ralls
CEO & Co-Founder
David Ralls
CEO & Co-Founder
Top Strength: Maximizer
Welcome to Commit Agency! We appreciate your visit. It is hard to believe that we started the agency 28 years ago already and there is no question that every day has been filled with a different adventure (or ten). “Evolve or die” is the mantra that drives us. And it is a good thing because when we started our agency email was new, social media didn’t exist and Google was just a word babies said while slurring.
I am a numbers guy that has strategic vision to see opportunity for our clients. Opportunity that grows their business. It is the thing that drives me…finding the why for our clients to make a meaningful difference in their business makes me proud of our work, our team and our agency. We don’t settle for just ok and we constantly watch our client’s back. This philosophy has allowed me to build many friends in this business that were clients first. It really is those relationships built on trust with great people that make this business rewarding and fulfilling.
When not running the agency, I am spending time with my wife Deborah and two sons and a significant amount of my spare time is spent supporting charity boards including the Chandler Compadres and Phoenix Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix. I have been recognized by the ASU Spirit of Enterprise Center with the Monster Entrepreneurial Award and was named one of America’s top 25 Most Influential Minds in the Hospitality Industry by HSMAI, the Hospitality, Sales and Marketing Association International and was recognized by Phoenix Business Journal 40 under 40. I am blessed to have been afforded the opportunity to get my MBA from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.
My client industry experience includes healthcare, hospitality, home building, retail, government, and nonprofit. Brands I have worked on include Destination, CIGNA, The Phoenician, Canyon Suites, Luxury Collection, Maracay Homes, Health Net, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, Camelot Homes, Harrah’s Ak-Chin, Paddy O’ Furniture, Shasta Pools, Magnolia Hotels, NextCare Urgent Care, Santé, State of Arizona Department of Health Services, Aetna, Forever Resorts and many others.
John Gumas
President
John Gumas
President
Top Strength: Achiever
John is recognized as one of the country’s foremost authorities on Challenger Brand Marketing®. He is the author of the popular books “Marketing Smart” and “Challenger Brand Marketing”. In addition, John is an adjunct professor of branding, advertising and interactive marketing, a sought-after speaker and a regular columnist for several publications and blogs.
John currently sits on many boards, including the San Francisco Giants Community Fund, The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco State University, The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, and The Elios Society / Elios Charitable Foundation.
John was recently inducted into the San Francisco State University Hall of Fame, recognized for his community service and leadership by the U.S. Senate and the S.F. Giants, and was selected as the “Man of the Year” by The Elios Society.
Marcus Kent
Senior Vice President of Agency Services
Marcus Kent
Senior Vice President of Agency Services
Top Strength: Empathy
Marcus Kent, who has been instrumental as the President of Organizational Development, brings over 20 years of experience launching and advising over 50 growing and established businesses globally. His impressive career includes executive roles in startups, large international brands, and various other sectors, balancing these parallel pursuits with remarkable success. Marcus’s strategic vision, honed through his diverse experiences, has consistently delivered measurable results across industries such as packaging, consumer products, sports apparel, licensed brands, and food service, inspiring confidence in Board Developer’s future under his leadership.
Elaine E. Ralls, Ph.D.
Co-Founder
Elaine E. Ralls, Ph.D.
Co-Founder
Top Strength: Positivity
“Everything will be alright in the end so if it is not alright it is not the end” — The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel….. favorite quote of mine from the movie. As a co-founder, I get to support our team and work with leadership development plans that allow them to stretch and grow and be their best for each other and for our clients. I love how forward-thinking Commit’s team is, and that we have built so many long term and meaningful relationships with our team members, our clients and in our community.
My dissertation research was on measuring the effectiveness of marketing and advertising. At Commit, clients are committed to their own growth, actively involved, and crave results. Just like us.
Personally, I serve on the Pacific Southwest BBB and Bank 34 boards, support leadership development in the community, and enjoy living my “One Big Life” with friends and family.
Stephanie Pentelute
Vice President Client Services
Stephanie Pentelute
Vice President Client Services
Top Strength: Consistency
If you ask anyone in my circle what they’d say about me, I think they’d say I like to think big.
Big ideas are what come naturally to me after more than 20 years of account management experience, primarily in the casino, hospitality, automotive and quick-service / fast-casual restaurant industries.
Over the years, I’ve been proud of my ability to create and cultivate high-performance teams with a personal focus on developing long-lasting client relationships and loyalty.
When I’m able to turn off the switch for a bit and focus on non-work fun, I enjoy wine tasting (especially in central California), traveling, golfing (but not during the Arizona summers) and spending time with my husband and two children.
Lanny Ward
Creative Director
Lanny Ward
Creative Director
Top Strength: Empathy
After having studied photography and graphic design in college, I began my career as a designer and illustrator for a local newspaper. I went on to work for/with some of the top ad agencies in the Southwest—building and leading various teams of writers, designers, developers, photographers and others toward the best work possible. What I love most is working with clients to discover or rediscover the heartbeat of their brand. Even as a child, I remember being compelled to take my toys apart to see how they worked. I believe this innate curiosity has shaped who I am today. I love getting to the bottom of things to better understand how it works (or not). This ultimately ends up showing us what direction to point the ship. When not in the office, I love spending my time with my wife and kids, writing/playing music, or riding my motorcycle—all the while trying to learn how to live in the moment.
Janelle Brannock
Vice President Marketing & Communications
Janelle Brannock
Vice President Marketing & Communications
Top Strength: Input
As someone who wrote her first “book” at age 8 and dreamt up a fictional superhero called Banana Man who went on wild escapades every Christmas Eve (honestly, I don’t even know), I get to tell stories for a living. Real stories that matter…and aren’t about weird banana-yielding superheroes. How cool is that?!
With stints as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor and PR gal, my 25-year career has taken lots of twists and turns. Just like a good book, one might say. From covering grisly crime scenes as a police reporter to attending a presidential inaugural ball in our nation’s capital, my career path of finding and telling stories has taken me from Phoenix to Washington, D.C., and back again.
Today, I guide brand strategy at Commit—alongside an uber-talented group of creative geniuses. Along the way, I’ve been able to work on some amazing brands including McDonald’s, Pfizer, Make-A-Wish America, UnitedHealthcare, Nationwide Insurance and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In my downtime, you can find me curled up with a good book (shocking, I know), hanging out with my kids or enjoying a leisurely brunch with my better half.
Meredith Schrom
Digital Director
Meredith Schrom
Digital Director
Top Strength: Empathy
Starting my career in account management, I’ve always lived and breathed client support, putting people and their goals at the center of every campaign. Over the past 10 years, I’ve transitioned to the dark side digital department, where I now guide Commit’s digital strategy across social, programmatic, organic and paid search, and more. I’m involved in every stage of digital projects and campaigns from market research and competitive analysis to execution, testing, optimization and (my personal favorite) reporting!
Call me a nerd, but I love numbers as much as Count von Count from Sesame Street, AH! AH! AH! Whether it’s analyzing performance data, uncovering trends, or teasing out insights, I’m all about telling stories through data. Basically my job is one-third psychology, one-third analysis, and one-third storytelling. Told you I loved numbers!
When I’m not buried in dashboards, I’m usually chasing after my two young boys, who just might be my toughest job yet.
Frosene Phillips
Vice President Client Services, California Division
Frosene Phillips
Vice President Client Services, California Division
Top Strength: Arranger
Frosene is a seasoned media executive, having worked with major and national accounts throughout the country.
She cut her teeth in the media business when she worked for her father, who penned his entertainment/restaurant column for the Oakland Tribune for 29 years. She later penned her own column, “Frosene on the Scene,” which ran in the Oakland Tribune for more than 20 years.
Frosene is actively involved with her Greek community and her three grandkids.
We Don’t Just Understand Credit Unions—We’ve Transformed Them
Most people still see credit unions and Community Banks as traditional, limited, or niche. We’ve helped institutions across the country rewrite that story – building brands that feel modern, accessible, and purpose-driven.
Through our Challenger Brand Marketing methodology, we help you claim your space as the smarter, more human alternative to “big banking.”
Because bigger isn’t better. Better is better. And that’s what we help you discover.
The Commit Challenger Brand Advantage
We live and breathe the Challenger ethos.
We never assume or assume.
We perform the right kind of discovery.
We find your unique niche – and help you own it so completely that you become famous for it.
From brand strategy to creative storytelling and omnichannel campaigns that deliver measurable ROI, our proprietary process takes the guesswork out of marketing. Every tactic, every message, every ad is designed to work harder – and deliver more.
We’re not just your agency. We’re your ally – your strategic partner in redefining what success looks like in you.
Let’s Start Winning—Together
You already have what matters most: trust, integrity, and heart. Now it’s time to have the brand power to match.
Let’s challenge the status quo – and show the world what your financial institution can truly become.
Ready to start your Challenger journey?
Let’s connect.
Contact Commit Agency
Our Offices
While we have amazing employees across the country, our primary office is located in the heart of downtown Chandler, Arizona.