10/10/2008

Our credit union needs to be in Facebook. That's where all those crazy kids are!

By Tim McAlpine

Many credit unions are trying to figure out how to best create a presence within the walled-garden-of-promise that is Facebook. The most popular approach is to set up a free page and hope people find and become fans of your page.

These credit union pages have attracted a range of fans from a dozen to perhaps a hundred fans. The most I have seen is our Young & Free Alberta page with 231 fans. And I'll admit that about half of those are credit union folks. There are likely credit unions with more fans than that, but it still seems pretty paltry considering that Facebook now has more than 100 million members.

But what if there was a better way to build a presence in Facebook?

I have been watching a really interesting and really effective by-product of the Young & Free Alberta and Young & Free Texas spokesperson searches this year. The proliferation of campaign-specific Facebook groups by spokesperson applicants.

DeAndre' in Texas started the trend and between the two competitions there are now 10 Young & Free Facebook groups that I know of. And the member numbers are growing like wildfire. Here are the member numbers at the time of writing this post.

Alberta

• Myles (230 members)
• Jenna Mae (163 members)
• Starsha (142 members)
• Raymond (100 members)
• Damien (94 members)
• Daniel (45 members)

Texas

• DeAndre' (228 members)
• Jason S. (175 members)
• Amy A. (83 members)
• Amy G. (4 members)

That's 1,264 young people that have now been exposed to Common Wealth Credit Union and TDECU through unsolicited third-party endorsements within the last three weeks.

But these aren't real credit union fans!

Fair enough. Many of these groups will fade away as quickly as they appeared when we shortlist for the voting stage (today in Texas, next Friday in Alberta), but I would argue that the real value lies in what you do with the momentary attention. Most Facebook pages result in a bunch of credit union employees and industry peers becoming fans and little more.

These unsponsored, spontaneous Facebook groups have resulted in the biggest new account opening month for Young & Free Alberta since we started and a record amount of site traffic and blog comments on both sites over the last few weeks.

Another way we have been able to capitalize on this influx of traffic is by adding a simple question to all of the forms on the sites, including the blog comment form. We simply ask: "Would you like to receive e-updates and the chance to win great prizes?"

More than 75% of form submissions are opting into our e-mail lists. We have grown our Alberta list by nearly 900% in the last two months. These are young people giving us permission to open a dialogue with them in their in-box.

I talk a lot about being more blatant with your social media activity and asking for visitors to engage with your credit union and that you should not be afraid to seek opportunities to ask for the sale. Here is living proof that you can mix social media and word-of-mouth advertising with commerce and have it be authentic and very effective.

The cool thing is that this was not our idea or the credit unions' ideas. It just happened naturally. Pretty exciting stuff don't you think? If you have other ways that your credit union has been effective within Facebook, please add them to the comments.

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09/26/2008

Surprise and delight

By Tim McAlpine

Just watch and you'll see what I am talking about.

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08/27/2008

Are you listening? What your credit union can learn from EA and Tiger Woods.

By Tim McAlpine

By keeping tabs on what is being said on-line about its products, Electronic Arts picked up on a user-generated YouTube video that demonstrated a glitch in its Tiger Woods 2008 video game. For the release of the 2009 version of the game they produced this new commercial.

 
This is a quote from the WOMMA website. 

Tiger Woods Responds to Fan's YouTube Video A fan of the video game Tiger Woods 08 posted a YouTube video highlighting a "glitch" in the video that enabled the Tiger Woods character to walk and golf on water—dubbed the "Jesus Shot." In response, and as a promotion for the Tiger Woods 09 game, game creators Electronic Arts and Woods posted a video that shows the real-life Woods taking that very same shot. The video's message: "It's not a glitch. He's just that good." It's a great example of the good ideas that can come from keeping a pulse on what people are saying about you and your brand online.

EA took a possible negative and made it into a huge positive. Well done.

Listen. React. Repeat.

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07/08/2008

Change is beautiful. Are inspirational musings by the great Carl Weathers what credit unions really need?

By Tim McAlpine

This is quite possible the strangest credit union marketing campaign I have ever seen. The Credit Unions of Washington State have banned together to hire Carl Weathers to wax on about change. The actor is most famous for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies. Watch the videos on the Change is Beautiful microsite to see what I am talking about.

After viewing all of the videos, I honestly don't know if this one is weird-good or just weird-weird. What I do know is that it is different and that the Credit Unions of Washington should be congratulated for sticking their necks out there. The fact that this creative made it through a committee environment is very admirable, if not downright unbelievable. Approving edgy work takes collective courage!

I have a couple of easy suggestions that might make the campaign more successful.

Suggestion 1: Embed videos from a video sharing site like YouTube, Vimeo or Viddler rather than locking the videos down in a closed player. This choice to block others from discovering the videos randomly or sharing the videos on their own websites or blogs will limit the campaign's chances of gaining widespread popularity (I've been told I shouldn't use the V word). Perhaps Mr. Weathers contract didn't permit this type of usage.

Suggestion 2: Since this campaign is designed to get people talking, why not let them talk? Include a simple mechanism for people to post comments or their own Change is Beautiful stories.

Here is some more background information on the thinking behind the campaign. Will this oddball approach be successful? It has garnered some positive local media coverage, but time will tell if Apollo really fairs better against the bank world than he did against Rocky Balboa.

What do you think?

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07/06/2008

OK, maybe YouTube Fred won't work for your credit union, but how about someone like Rhett or Link?

By Tim McAlpine

Other than one comment from a slightly ticked Morriss—because I used the word viral 10 times—my last post about YouTube Fred didn't get any real dialogue going. Perhaps its because no one really saw the potential of hiring a goofy Internet star to represent their credit union. Fair enough.

But before I move on to another topic, I wanted to further explore this new trend of employing self-made YouTube celebrities as product pitchmen. Enter the Alka-Seltzer Great American Road Trip starring Internet sensations Rhett and Link.

Let's put my fascination with social media and weird Internet memes aside for a moment and look at the smart marketing strategy at work in this example. Alka Seltzer is a tired old brand that Bayer Healthcare is looking to reinvent and introduce to a new generation. Credit unions find themselves in this same situation.

At the core of the Great American Road Trip is a very simple concept. Alka Seltzer is ideal for calming the type of upset stomach that one might get from over indulging in rich, deep-fried road-trip cuisine. To prove the point, Bayer has hired two proven Internet stars to document their road trip across America this summer. In the process, Rhett and Link are raising brand awareness for Alka Seltzer and likely selling some product along the way.

Here are my take aways:

1. Entertain first
2. Educate second
3. Create a story
4. Use free online channels
5. Show up where your audience is
6. Bring people back for more

I hadn't thought of Alka Seltzer in years. Now, I can't get enough of this site. Who knows, maybe I'll even buy some Alka Seltzer if I get a stomach ache this summer!

 

This particular video is my favourite. I'll get off this YouTube celebrity track for awhile and move onto something else.

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07/04/2008

Youth marketing: Could your credit union buy viral?

By Tim McAlpine

Exhibit A: Zipit Wireless. Zipit offers an all-in-one wireless messenging device—kind of a like an inexpensive Blackberry for kids. Billed as the ultimate texting device, the Zipit Z2 is sold through major retailers like Target and Best Buy for under $50.

Exhibit B: Fred. Fred is a bonifide YouTube viral video sensation. His extremely silly videos get viewed millions and millions of times. This video, for example, was uploaded just two weeks ago and has been viewed more than 3 million times. Fred's collection of videos have been viewed more than 25 million times. Some of his videos have more than 35,000 text comments.

 

What's interesting is that Fred is now sporting a Zipit Z2 device in his videos. Zipit and its LA-based ad agency, WOO, have brokered an endorsement deal with Fred. Fred even has his own Zipit microsite.

Marketers world-wide are seaking viral. The problem is, viral is nearly impossible to create. Viral just happens. What makes one video go viral doesn't necessarily make another video go viral.

Zipit and WOO have recognized that viral marketing can't necessarily be manufactured from within an ad agency and have, instead, attached the Zipit brand to a proven viral entity.

A few questions for credit unions seeking younger members to consider:

1. Is viral marketing a goal for your credit union? If so, why?
    
2. Would sponsoring a proven YouTube star work for a credit union?
    
3. Could this type of approach increase membership?

I can totally see the brand connection between Zipit and Fred. The device is cool and it is specifically designed for young people.

Could a credit union pull this off? Considering that most YouTube 'stars' are slightly offbeat characters, it would take a credit union with a slightly offbeat brand to have any type of alignment.

Most credit unions are conservative organizations that are very concerned with portraying a stable, trustworthy image to their membership. Someone like Fred might be a stretch, but it sure would be fun to watch!

What do you think?

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