09/28/2009

Thing 20 of 30: take a Filene open-source idea and run with it

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 20: take a Filene open-source idea and run with it

It's tough to come up with big ideas on your own. That's where the Filene Research Institute can help. Its mission is to support research efforts that will ultimately enhance the well-being of consumers and assist credit unions in adapting to rapidly changing economic, legal and social environments.

Basically, Filene is charged with coming up with big ideas and then setting them free for credit unions to implement. One of the ways that they do this is through the work of the i3 groups. Filene i3 is made up of a bunch of smart and creative credit union professionals that work to bring ideas to life. These small groups dream up innovative product and promotional ideas, create business cases and prototypes and ultimately package these ideas up for credit unions to take and implement.

There is big fat list of awesome ideas waiting to be brought to life at your credit union.

If I was a credit union leader, I would join Filene, spend some time pouring over all of the wonderful research and the i3 ideas, pick one or two and bring them to life at our credit union.

In fact, there is a whole laundry list of great Gen Y product ideas that a young group of credit union professionals called the CU Tomorrow group came up with that could help you fulfill 'Thing 19.'

Seriously, this sounds like a no-brainer to me!

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

09/28/2009

Thing 18 of 30: lay claim to being first at something

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 18: lay claim to being first at something

The credit union industry is better known for its conversative nature than being a group of pioneering innovators. On one hand, this has allowed credit unions to remain safe and sound in times of trouble, but on the other hand, it has also created a group of undifferentiated vanilla organizations that tend to follow instead of leading.

At my fictitious credit union we would concentrate on being first at something. Something radical and new. Something that no other financial institution has done to date.

An example of this kind of outrageous behaviour is premiering today. St. Louis-based Vantage Credit Union has just become the first financial institution to offer banking through Twitter! Here's the introductory tweet for Vantage's new tweetMyMoney service.

What I love about this innovative first is that people will have two reactions. 1. "Wow, that's awesome!" or 2. "OMG, that's stupid!"*

Here is some info from the simple mobile-friendly landing page:

We're excited to introduce the first-of-its-kind banking service via Twitter, available exclusively to Vantage members! View balances, move money and much more using tweetMyMoney.

• Choose to get balances on one or all your deposit accounts
• Get your 'last 5s' on one or all deposit accounts: deposits, withdrawals, checks cleared, transactions
• See what point-of-sale transactions are holding in your checking account and their dollar amounts
• Avoid overdrafts by making transfers from one deposit account to another... on the fly!

Congratulations are in order to the Vantage Credit Union team. I suspect this service will not only be popular with tech-savvy members, it will also attract more new members than producing yet another me-too deposit campaign.

What could you credit union be the first to do? That's the question I would spend time thinking about!

*Actually, those are the two reactions people have about Twitter!

Subscribe today + RSS + Blog by E-mail + E-newsletter + Follow me on Twitter

---

 

12/12/2007

Scary big idea 2: Take a chance on a game changer.

By Tim McAlpine

In October, I started a blog category called scary big ideas and proposed the concept of affinity positioning for credit unions. It was well received and sparked great dialogue within the comments. It also inspired a lead article in the December 3rd issue of The CEO Report.

Reporter Aaron Steinberg interviewed me and did a great job expanding on the concepts that I proposed in my blog post. Aaron examined the regulatory issues surrounding the concept and looked at various examples of actual credit unions marketing themselves based on affinity. You'll need a subscription to read it.

I was amazed at how throwing an idea out there took on a life of its own. That has lead me to another scary big idea that I have been thinking a lot about lately:

Why not take a large percentage of your annual marketing budget and invest it in a radical, game-changing initiative that no other competing financial institution is doing?

Challenging the status quo

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you will know that I believe credit unions are severely undifferentiated. The general public (and a number of your staff) have a limited understanding of what makes a credit union different from a bank and they have no understanding of what makes your credit union different from the credit union down the street.

To perpetuate this sea of sameness, financial institutions promote the same products, the same services and the same competitive rates during the same times of the year.

The typical credit union marketing plan looks like this: retirement promotion in Q1, lending promotion in Q2, quiet in the summer and finish up with a deposit promotion in Q4. Throw in some direct mail here and there and the plan is good to go. Oh, don't forget to give away a few iPods while you're at it.

Best practices leads to mediocrity

I also believe that there is a best-practices mentality that has infected the credit union world. Unless a concept is proven with white papers and formal case studies in multiple trade publications or spoken about over and over again on the conference circuit, very few credit union leaders are willing to be the first to try anything untested.

So what's the next game changer?

With every financial institution looking and behaving almost identically, it doesn't take much to change the game. The first step is to really understand your marketplace. Study what your competitors are doing and look for unmet opportunities. Here are some categories to consider:

1. Social media. Definitely a hot topic. Everywhere you turn it's Facebook this, MySpace that, blogging, social networks, Twitter, user-generated content and on and on. The thing is, there is still plenty of time to get involved. By and large, credit unions have been very timid and slow in putting their social media strategy together. You can still enter the social web now and be seen as a pioneer in your marketplace. Think beyond just online conversation. How can your credit union create a unique product or service that can be marketed through the social web or how can your credit union impact societal change through the social web?
    
2. Alternative lending. Look at the headlines that the six US credit unions that have partnered with Zopa are garnering. This new peer-to-peer media darling is just one example of a new lending concept that has caught the public's interest. What else is out there that you can attach your credit union to?
    
3. Mobile banking. Most credit unions are watching this trend pass by. Hiding behind studies that tell you that no one is interested in mobile banking is one way to go, but why not get out ahead of the curve and have your banking system ready for the mobile explosion?
    
4. Generational marketing. "How do we attract Generation Y?" is the question of the day. One way not to attract them is to ignore them and keep going with your status quo promotions. Change the game in your marketplace by doing something unique. How are you investing in your credit union's future members?
     
5. Online personal financial management services (PFM). Another hot topic. Is your credit union's banking system leveragingWesabe and Mint and the other emerging PFMs? I keep waiting for a credit union to stand up and promote these services. I think there is a great opportunity for a member acquisition campaign around this concept. 
    
6. Your brand. When was the last time you updated your brand strategy? What's that? You don't have one? This may be the year to steal from your promotional budget and consider investing in your brand. You could actually take the time to understand your marketplace and position your credit union as an attractive alternative.

These are just a few idea starters. Check out the Filene Institute or simply follow the Net Banker blog and you will see what game changers are on the horizon. Your game changer just needs to be more original and interesting than another 4.0% 18-month cashable term deposit promotion!

It doesn't take much to change the game. All it takes is actually doing something different and interesting.

---

 

10/29/2007

Scary big idea 1: Affinity positioning for credit unions.

By Tim McAlpine

This is a new category: scary big ideas. I was going to call it "wild ideas that credit unions will never go for, but should, because these ideas, if executed with courage and commitment, would really fly" but it was too long and wouldn't fit in the category menu.

Think of this new category as a fringe third-year course taught by an eccentric that doesn't have very many students.

Some background on this scary big idea

There is a general consensus that credit unions need to be bigger and need to have an unlimited field of membership to compete. So the once tightly defined fields of membership have given way to the new looser, we-are-open-to-everyone fields of membership.

For many credit unions that have made this jump, there is a sense of surprise and wonder that this new openness has not yielded hoards of new members flocking in to open new accounts and move their mortgages.

So, the next conclusion drawn is to offer better rates, free chequing accounts and free George Foreman grills to compete in these highly competitive multi-credit union markets.

What if there was another answer?

What if the decision to become more open was flawed? What if when an original field of membership is deemed to be irrelevant and unsustainable, we redefined an equally tight, but more relevant field of membership?

What if we defined our fields of membership by affinity?

Here are some dictionary definitions for affinity:

1. A close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character.
2. A natural attraction or feeling of kinship.
3. A natural liking for or attraction to a person, thing or idea.
4. A person, thing or idea for which such a natural liking or attraction is felt.

When I think of large groups of employees or even neighbours, there is very little shared affinity. The relationships we have with our coworkers and neighbours are not based on shared passion, they are based on mere acquaintance: "Hey Bob, how was your weekend?" "Fine, Dave, how was your weekend?" "Fine."

Huh? What the heck am I talking about? 

Put all of the "it will never happen" thoughts that are racing through you mind aside and think like the CEO of a start-up for a second. If you opened a new credit union today with no members, how would you go about building your business from nothing? This new credit union would have be highly differentiated with a story so compelling that a select group of very passionate early adopters would promote it for you. Your new credit union would need to build around shared affinity.

Here are some ideas for narrow affinity based fields of membership

1. Ladies-Only Credit Union. Tony Mannor had a discussion going on his CU Hype blog about a credit union based entirely on pink targeting women. This is the type of idea that I am talking about here. However, Tony also suggested "to co-brand a secondary colour like chocolate brown or black to appeal to men." This is exactly what I am not talking about here. You have to deliberately limit your field of membership to appeal to an affinity group. To make our Ladies-Only Credit Union really fly, we could donate 20% of operating profits to fight breast cancer. Wouldn't you take a possible target of 50% of the population?
    
2. Golfers' Credit Union. Imagine a credit union only open to golfers? Golf vacation loans. A roaming PGA golf pro on staff available for free lessons. Branches with a club-fitting corner. A rewards program based entirely on golf including vacations, clubs, attire and green fees. ATMs located at golf and country clubs. Member tournaments. The ideas are endless. Golfers are affluent and the word of mouth promotion would be incredible.
    
3. Bloggers' Credit Union. Members would have to a have an active blog or podcast. With Technorati ranking more than 10 million active blogs, there are more than enough bloggers to float a credit union. Get a few on side and let the viral nature of the social web take care of new member acquisition. Add in members of MySpace, Facebook or YouTube if just bloggers is too limiting for you.
    
4. Emo Credit Union. OK, maybe this is a little narrow (or weird), but music fans have undeniable shared affinity. Rewards could include music memorabilia, concert tickets and back-stage passes. (I stole the emo idea from Brent Dixon and Charlie Trotter).
    
5. Vegetarians' Credit Union. Motorcyclists' Credit Union. Adventurists' Credit Union. Naturalists' Credit Union. Parents' Credit Union. Little Peoples' Credit Union. Dog Owners' Credit Union. Save the Earth Credit Union. Nudists' Credit Union.

I could go on and on. My point is that affinity has incredible power, more so than shared geography, shared demographics or a shared employer and affinity has nothing to do with the highest or lowest rates. You products and services would simply have to be competitive, not earth shattering.

Before you cast this crazy idea aside, consider the affinity and passion that Harley Davidson owners share. Or the affinity and passion that Apple computer owners share. Affinity could be the next killer app for credit unions.

Or, you can tell the eccentric teacher to put a sock in it! What do you think?

---

 

Viewing 1 - 4 of 4      |  

 

BLOG SEARCH

BLOG CATEGORIES

30 Things (24)
A Day In The Life! (56)
Announcements (27)
Awards (7)
BarCampBank (15)
Big Evil Banks (17)
Blogging (22)
Blogs To Read (7)
Board of Directors (2)
Book Reviews (2)
Branding (47)
Challenge Marketing (19)
Collaboration (2)
Community (4)
Conferences (46)
Co-op Advertising (2)
CU Branding 101 (11)
CU Innovators (19)
CU Movement (15)
Cuckoo Campaigns (6)
CUES Podcast (4)
Currency Work (21)
Demographics (3)
Economy (1)
Endorsements (2)
Guest Posts (10)
I Heart CUs (33)
In The News (8)
Innovations (10)
Marketing (80)
Member Acquisition (1)
Member Service (16)
Musings (4)
Naming (3)
New Competitors (2)
Off Topic (3)
Opinion Polls (6)
P2P Lending (4)
Podcasts (26)
Positioning (8)
Press Coverage (2)
Product Dev (10)
Productivity (2)
Public Relations (8)
Ranting (5)
Scary Big Ideas (4)
Segmentation (2)
Service Not Enough (3)
Shout Out! (25)
Small CUs (5)
Social Economy (6)
Social Media (137)
Speaking (40)
Technology (20)
The Truly Weird (4)
Tips: Bad Practices (2)
Tips: Good Practices (3)
User-Generated (31)
Viral Marketing (6)
Web 2.0 (154)
Wet Blanket (1)
Young & Free (78)
Youth Marketing (83)
YouTube Videos (76)

ARCHIVES

August 2010 (3)
July 2010 (2)
June 2010 (2)
May 2010 (2)
April 2010 (3)
March 2010 (2)
February 2010 (7)
January 2010 (5)
December 2009 (5)
November 2009 (6)
October 2009 (7)
September 2009 (27)
August 2009 (5)
July 2009 (3)
June 2009 (3)
May 2009 (6)
April 2009 (8)
March 2009 (6)
February 2009 (7)
January 2009 (6)
December 2008 (11)
November 2008 (17)
October 2008 (11)
September 2008 (25)
August 2008 (20)
July 2008 (18)
June 2008 (18)
May 2008 (18)
April 2008 (21)
March 2008 (21)
February 2008 (14)
January 2008 (11)
December 2007 (7)
November 2007 (6)
October 2007 (6)
September 2007 (7)
August 2007 (9)
July 2007 (12)
June 2007 (11)
May 2007 (7)
April 2007 (3)
March 2007 (3)
January 2007 (1)
December 2006 (3)

OUR WRITERS

Nala Henkel (38)
Tim McAlpine (354)
Colleen Pepper (1)
CU Skeptic (1)

RECENT POSTS

August 31, 2010
Want to attend How Magazine's Mind Your Own Business Conference? I've got a code for you!

August 20, 2010
Lack of young blood runs deeper than membership

August 8, 2010
Young, Free and Super-charged

July 28, 2010
There actually IS meat on bacon!

July 19, 2010
Co-op Vegas?
(2 Comments)