07/28/2010

There actually IS meat on bacon!

By Nala Henkel

Most of you have probably seen that Cheryl and I have thrown our collective hat in the ring to be the CU Water Cooler Symposium WildCard Speaker.

When you work in marketing and advertising, surrounded by fun co-workers and fun clients, on an incredibly fun and innovative product (Young & Free) it's hard not to let that spill over into contest entry for a wildcard speaker’s spot (as evidenced by our most recent campaign video).

But we want to clarify something—our presentation isn't going to focus on funny videos and bacon, it's going to delve into research we are doing with Gen Y'ers in regards to their use of social media platforms.

We are asking a cross section of young people across North America about:
• Which platforms they use
• What they actually use them for
• What they would never use them for
• And how they perceive businesses interjecting in those spaces

(just to name a few)

We will be compiling these results and sharing 3 practical ways that Credit Unions can take this information and implement a social media strategy in these spaces that will be relevant and get results.

So here’s what you need to know: yes, half of us are young and both of us are silly, but we're going to deliver a fun presentation that will leave the audience with some insight into how Gen Y is actually using social media and share information on how credit unions can get involved and get bottom line results.

We’re really excited to have a conversation about this, and if you are too, you can vote for us here:

http://www.cuwatercoolersymposium.com/vote/

Voting closes Friday at 2pm PT.

All the best,

Nala (and Cheryl)

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10/07/2009

If the pistachio industry can do it, can't credit unions?

By Tim McAlpine

The discussion of a national brand campaign for the US credit union industry was rekindled yet again. First on Mary Arnold's blog post on the CUES Skybox, then on Ron Shevlin's Marketing Tea Party blog and the conversation continues on Morriss' Partee blog posts about a whether a third-party vendor should be given free reign to fill the bill.

Then I learned about this edgy new national brand campaign from the pistachio industry. There must be a full moon.

This is from an article from Megan Angelo on the Wallet Pop blog.

"The pistachio industry wants to get nut lovers' minds off salmonella and onto sex. Pistachios took a big publicity hit last year when 2 million pounds of the greenish nut had to be recalled due to salmonella contamination.

Now, as USA Today reports, the industry is striking back with a grabby campaign that casts the pistachio alongside winking innuendos ("Mobsters do it with muscle") and C-list celebrities like Adrienne Curry, Chris Knight and the curiously ubiquitous Levi Johnston. (One slightly creepy short stars the five-year-old Denny quintuplets hopping around on bouncy balls as the voice over proclaims that "Quintuplets do it with balance."

Here is the microsite:

The Get Crackin' campaign is extensive and extremely well funded—apparently to the tune of $15 million. It has a user-generated video contest and multiple provoking TV spots. For example:

Jeffry Pilcher has this to say on Ron's blog about a national credit union brand campaign:

"One thing is for certain, and that is the credit union industry has a huge problem. Research has proven over and over that people don’t know what credit unions are, therefore people don’t consider credit unions as viable financial alternatives. A solution should be found for this problem, whatever name you want to give it. It seems as if a lot of people summarily dismiss the problem because they don’t like the proposed solution (brand campaign)."

Morriss Partee offered this counterpoint:

"I think a common misconception that many credit union professionals and board members hold is that the “Got Milk” campaign was successful. Yes, there was a lot of awareness for the CAMPAIGN; celebrities lined up to be in it…. but the deep dark secret is that it didn’t actually increase SALES of MILK. In fact, it worked brilliantly to commoditize milk, driving many smaller dairy farmers to either go out of business or figure out a way to differentiate themselves DESPITE THE NATIONAL BRANDING CAMPAIGN. Anyone want an additional battle to fight right now? No? No takers?"

CUNA ran an under-the-radar contest last year to see what the crowd could come up with. Speaking of Jeffry Pilcher, his entry won.

 

It's a good ad and I'm sure there are plenty more out there that would help promote the credit union difference.

Begs the question: If a nut that nobody thinks about can pull an industry together, shouldn't credit unions? I'm just a credit union fan from Canada. What the heck do I know?

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09/09/2009

Thing 9 of 30: proudly display and live the 7 cooperative principles

By Tim McAlpine

September is 30 things I would implement or consider implementing at my credit union if I was a credit union leader.

Thing 9: proudly display and live the 7 cooperative principles

While you may know that the credit union philosophy is rooted in the 7 cooperative principles that guide all cooperatives, does your staff know that? How about your members? There seems to be a glaring lack of communication about this fact in the credit union space.

If I were the leader of a credit union, I would follow Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union's lead and dedicate a section of our credit union's website to explaining the 7 cooperative principles. I have visited a lot of credit union websites and I have never seen such a great display of what credit unions should be all about.

Seattle Metropolitan has taken the these simple truths and turned them into a big differentiator, just by being the only credit union talking about this stuff! Not only is it real and authentic, it's a great marketing hook (I know, that's a sacrilegious thing to say).

I also really like how Seattle Metropolitan has customized the wording to make the principles even more relevant.

The 7 Cooperative Principles

Principle #1 (inclusive): membership should be open to all
Principle #2 (voice): members should call the shots
Principle #3 (benefit): rates and fees should benefit our members
Principle #4 (independent): autonomy and independence set us apart
Principle #5 (education): financial education should be free and available to all
Principle #6 (cooperation): cooperation among cooperatives is vital
Principle #7 (community): giving back to the community is an obligation

I'd also proudly display these principles in a unique way in every branch lobby and in all of the staff rooms. Seems like a no-brainer to me!

Kudos to Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union. Its marketing department does some great marketing and PR work. Check out these two example reported on by The Financial Brand, here and here.

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02/18/2009

United Federal stands up, takes matters into its own hands and says "We're different and you can trust us"

By Tim McAlpine 

 
Michigan's United Federal Credit Union isn't sitting back and waiting for the new members to find them, they are taking a stand and have launched their own PR campaign. This is from United Federal's interactive press release.

"While Congress continues to pour billions into a bailout stimulus plan for the banking sector as a solution for economic recovery, alternative financial institutions like United Federal Credit Union (UFCU) are standing up and speaking out about being another resolution to the financial crisis, and an institution that Americans can trust."

United Federal is not beating around the bush! Nicely done. More credit unions should step up and get their good name out this way.

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10/05/2008

CU Branding 101: What's the difference and does it matter?

By Tim McAlpine

There were many highlights at the FORUM Solution/Trabian Partnership Symposium, but the best part to me was the unveiling of the CU Skeptic. We now all know that the CU Skeptic is Mark McSpadden from The Garland Group and the host of Banktastic TV's the CU Scoop.

Mark did a great job of presenting his case. One of the screens that he employed to prove his point was simply titled "The Difference Between Credit Unions and Banks" which was followed immediately by a blank screen. In Mark's sub-30 Gen Y opinion, there is absolutely nothing different between the two. We can all go on and on about the member ownership, the not-for-profit structure and the community centered focus, but to the Skeptic and in his estimation, to the general public these things either don't matter or are completely invisible.

Mark's blogging as the Skeptic grew out of being tired of the credit union cheerleaders (including yours truly) blogging about how great and different credit unions are.

Does the difference between credit unions and banks even matter?

The problem with this age old comparison is that the differences are subtle and the differences are often different!

Ultimately, each credit union needs to be relevant and desirable to its own members. This point was brought home by William Azaroff presenting his story about Vancity (400,000 members and $14B in assets) and Gene Blishen presenting his story about Mount Lehman Credit Union (2,000 members and $40M in assets).

Other than both being credit unions, these two institutions have absolutely nothing in common. This is a good thing, because both serve a very different group of people and both of these credit unions are very successful.

So why the fixation on a national brand campaign?

A recurring theme at these events and online is the need for a nationwide brand awareness campaign in the US to illustrate the difference between credit unions and banks. In theory, this is a good idea, but the main problem is that large groups of credit unions can never agree on a compelling universal difference.

Since hearing the Skeptic's talk, I have had this mock meeting conversation rattling around in my head.

The scene: the Motel Owners Association National Convention 300 motel stakeholders have congregated to discuss the need for a national branding campaign. "We need to get the word out that motels are better than hotels. Those hotel guys are eating our lunch." "Yeah, hotels are all about making the big profits. Motels are an affordable alternative. So first of all, let's decide on what makes us different." "Doors on the outside?" "No, we have halls at our motel." "How about anything under two floors?" "Nope, we have three floors." "Kitchenettes?" "No. Some hotels have kitchenettes. We can't use that." "What if we go after the business practices of the hoteliers?" "Not our style. Besides, we'll have the tourism regulators kill our campaign." Two hours later after serious brainstorming and debate, two final message emerge that all 300 conference delegates can agree on: "Motels... Our towels are slightly scratchier." "Motels... It is 68% fewer steps on average from car to pillow."

 

But perhaps now there is a compelling difference that needs to be told

With the big banks in the US in an endless downward spiral, now would be the time to promote a unifying difference between credit unions and banks. A message of trust would resonate more today than ever before.

Will it happen? Not likely. There are too many cooks and there is fear of casting any doubt towards the stability of the big banks.

Bottom line:

Defining and promoting your credit union's brand is your problem. Do everything you can to stand out against the competitors in your marketplace. Lean on some of the global credit union differences if that makes sense in your situation or define your own difference and stick to it over time.

The CU Skeptic provided all of the Symposium attendees with a splash of cold water. Thanks Mark!

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09/08/2008

Are your credit union's marketing efforts worthy of comment?

By Tim McAlpine

The blog-o-sphere has been buzzing about Microsoft's new Windows Vista ad campaign that debuted last Thursday. I'm not going to add another blog post analyzing whether the first ad is good or bad or whether Windows Vista has any chance of shaking off over a year's worth of awful press and reviews. I'll leave that to the advertising and tech blogs to fight it out.

 

One thing is for sure though, people are talking about this ad. On and offline. I was at dinner last night at my hotel and I overheard a group of regular folks laughing their heads off, "And Jerry and Bill come out of the mall eating churros. Ha ha ha! It was hilarious."

Relevance to credit unions? I know you don't have $300 million to spend on your next campaign, but this example begs these questions. Are your credit union's marketing efforts:

1. Memorable?
2. Different?
3. Remarkable?

And by remarkable, I mean worthy of comment and discussion—good or bad. Now in the case of Microsoft's latest effort, most of the commentary seems to be negative.

Most credit unions play the middle ground of features and benefits advertising producing results that are not remarkable. No one is interesting in duking it out over a bullet-point list of benefits!

P.S. OK, I will give you my opinion. I'm going to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt. I like the first Vista spot. It has layed the ground work for an interesting story to be told. Going head to head with the stellar Apple Mac vs. PC ads is a near impossible challenge. Vista has been publicly lambasted for more than a year. Microsoft and its agency have chosen to take a very different approach. And for that, I applaud them.

I can't wait to see the rest of the campaign play out. Bill Gates makes a great straight man, but the bigger issue for Microsoft is the negative public perception about Windows Vista. I think Vista sucks and I haven't even used it before! No 90-second spot is going to fix that.

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07/15/2008

Credit unions can use large-scale collaboration to cut to the chase and cut through the excuses.

By Tim McAlpine

I've read a couple of good posts lately extolling the advantages of large-scale collaboration in the credit union space.

• Jim Jerving on the NACUSO blog: Credit Unions are Slow to Innovate
• George Hofheimer on the Open Source CU blog: Leave it to Beaver

These posts reminded that I neglected to report on my Member Gateways experience where I was exposed to some amazing large-scale collaboration actually taking place! What's Member Gateways? Here is a description from its website:

Member Gateways is the credit union industry's networked new product incubator Owned by 24 progressive credit unions and one strategic industry partner, Member Gateways provides the opportunity and means for all credit unions to offer the products and services typically afforded only to mega-sized financial services institutions. Through our combined solutions, partnerships, intellectual properties, strategic CUSO investments and financial service partnerships, we expect to transform and revolutionize the credit union industry.

 
I was invited by Vic Pantea and Deb Jones from Member Gateways to present the Young & Free story at the their semi-annual meeting in mid-June in San Antonio. Although it was a relatively small crowd compared to some that I have been speaking to, it was intimidating to present to more than 40 progressive senior credit union leaders. 

 
The best part of this opportunity for me was that I was allowed to attend the entire two-day session and see one presentation after another about cool things that Member Gateways' credit union partners are considering or already have in the cooker. Most of it was private, but I can tell you that it was impressive and extremely encouraging to see real innovation on its way to market. And by credit unions no less!

There are a lot of voices here in the CU blogosphere that are frustrated about the lack of innovation in the credit union space. I have definitely been one of those voices from time to time. Meanwhile, here is a group of very powerful US credit union leaders quietly implementing fresh innovations at their credit unions. They are just getting it done and it was inspiring to learn about these stories.

A silly side story

One highlight that I can share (I think) is about Zopa. Three of the six founding credit union partners in Zopa US are Member Gateways credit unions, so Scott Pitts, Zopa US' Managing Director, was at the meeting to give a progress report on this credit-union-partnered peer-to-peer-lending service.

Zopa is doing really well, but what stuck in my head was an anecdote about one of the most popular members of the Zopa community—the cat guy. Zopa members can choose to offer a very low interest rate to people they feel are most deserving.

After joining one of the six credit unions, members of the Zopa community build out a profile similar to other social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn. The members also write a little bit about what they plan to do with the funds that they want to borrow. And of course, members upload a profile picture to put a face to their name. Well the cat guy, who is paying one of the lowest interest rates on the site, is popular because he regularly updates his profile picture with one of the latest funny LOLCAT images (click here if you don't know what LOLCATS are).

While that silly side story has nothing to do with large-scale collaboration, it is the only story from the meeting that I think I am allowed to tell!

And now back to my point

In order to compete, credit unions needs to innovate. But innovation is often expensive and innovation often takes scale. In recent times, credit unions have turned to merging to get that scale. But mergers can be messy and expensive and quite often stall innovation for an extended period of time while the parties try to bring their operations and cultures together.

Large-scale collaboration is a legitimate alternative solution. It allows credit unions to remain smaller and independent, yet allows these credit unions to share, cooperate and, most importantly, innovate. If you are not involved in collaborating with other like-minded credit unions, it's time to get started.

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05/23/2008

Challenge your members

by Nala Henkel

In a recent Ipsos News Alert, it was reported that "fully eight in ten Canadians (86%) enjoy being exposed to people and ideas that challenge the way they look at the world."

When Larissa put out her great "difference" video on behalf of Young & Free Alberta, I sent it to several family and friends. I wanted to share the kind of work my company does. Here is the response from one of them:

"This is so informative!!  I never really knew the difference before.
I am convinced that I should join our local Credit Union."

So many credit unions that Currency works with have growth opportunities with their existing membership, let alone new members. Banking is such a commodity these days, that providing great service is merely table stakes. What does your credit union do that is different? How can you challenge members to rethink their banking relationship and deepen their credit union relationship?

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02/14/2008

Want to start another revolution? The difference between banks and credit unions – part 2.

By Tim McAlpine

The last time I posted a video by Larissa Walkiw, the Common Wealth Credit Union Young & Free Spokesperson, it travelled around the world like wildfire.

Well, Larissa just posted part 2 today. Here is the original post.

 

The more people that see these videos, the better. Part 2 is more specific to the Alberta marketplace, but the credit union differences of local decision making and free ATM access are universal.

Again, this is 100% Larissa's work. We are very proud of her. Feel free to post it on your website or blog and please include the following credits.

Video courtesy of Common Wealth Credit Union's Young & Free Initiative. This is the original work of the 2008 Young & Free Spokesperson Larissa Walkiw. Copyright 2008. Visit www.youngfreealberta.com for more information.

My online conscience, Ron Shevlin, left this comment on a previous blog post.

"I don't think that the number of other blogs and sites that link to the video are measures of success."

Good point. I'll leave Larissa's RSS feed subcribers to generate local success. I'll enlist mine to help the credit union movement. I have heard from numerous people that sharing part 1 caused people to become credit union members! And afterall, that is our purpose!

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01/24/2008

The best education piece on the credit union difference that I have ever seen.

By Tim McAlpine

 

Larissa is knocking it out of the park on a daily basis on Common Wealth Credit Union's Young & Free Alberta blog.

+ Add this feed to your reader. She will make your day.

+ Share this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cawzTSVTP2M

Everyone involved in the credit union movement should watch this video.

I have been marketing and believing in credit unions for more than 15 years. Honestly, I have never seen the credit union difference so powerfully illustrated.

Other than setting the stage and providing a forum for conversation, we have nothing to do with the direction or the content of the blog. Everything you see here is Larissa. She has an inquisitive mind, a wry sense of humour and mad skills beyond her 19 years.

She is doing Common Wealth Credit Union, the credit union movement and her generation proud.

Bravo!

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