02/23/2009

Words to live by: Business Week debunks 6 social media myths

By Tim McAlpine

Jeffry Pilcher pointed out an excellent article posted on Business Week last week.

The author B. L. Ochman offers sage advice and shoots large holes in the following social media myths:

1. Social media is cheap, if not free
2. Anyone can do it
3. You can make a big splash in a short time
4. You can do it all in-house
5. If you do something great, people will find it
6. You can't measure social media marketing results

For all of you who are contemplating a social media effort or are already up to your neck in it, please take the time to read this article.

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02/19/2009

Is Fear by Lilly Allen the anthem of the new economy?

By Tim McAlpine

Every time Lily Allen's new song, Fear, comes on the radio, I am struck by the modern reality of the lyrics. Here are a few of the more accurate lines.

I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don't care about clever, I don't care about funny

But it doesn't matter cause I'm packing plastic
And that's what makes my life so 'bleeping' fantastic

And I am a weapon of mass consumption
And it's not my fault, it's how I am programmed to function

Now I'm not a saint, but I'm not a sinner
Now everything is cool as long as I'm getting thinner

Yeah, but it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

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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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02/11/2009

Elizabeth Gilbert's talk must be watched and shared

By Tim McAlpine

I just spent 20 minutes watching this wonderful talk on Brent Dixon's blog and was compelled to embed it here in hopes that more people might see it as well.

If you are a neurotic, creative person like me who fears your best work may be behind you, this just might help. I sure love brilliant presentations.

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02/10/2009

Are all ideas in the credit union world free for the taking?

By Tim McAlpine

Meet Julie, Coast Capital Savings' award-winning online greeter. Julie is from Canada and has been helping website visitors since 2006.

Meet Lisa, Community First Credit Union's online greeter. Lisa is from Australia and has been helping web visitors since I am not sure when. UPDATE: since 2007 (from the comments).

I learned about Lisa in the comments today on the Financial Brand. I have no idea whether Community First has licensed the idea or was given permission to clone Julie.

In the case of these ads, Community First does give props to the originals from BankerSpank that were inspired by Apple (boy, this is getting confusing).

All's fair in the world of cooperative credit unions or just another example of credit union R&D (rip-off and duplicate). What do you think?

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02/04/2009

Tinker's Buck the Norm is great and so is this video!

By Tim McAlpine

I have been following Oklahoma's Tinker Federal Credit Union and its Buck the Norm Generation Y promotion for awhile now and I am very impressed.

The good

• Awesome name and URL. Anything that makes you giggle because it almost sounds like a swear word gets the thumbs up.
• Speaking of thumbs, I love the thumb characters and the spirit and energy throughout.
• The look and feel is top notch.
• The Buck the Norm videos are very high quality. They have a cool vibe and a memorable point of view.
• The site is packed with useful financial resources. The depth and variety of financial content and tools is the best that I have seen.
• The Buckie and Knuckles comic strip is fun and on theme.
• The use of seasonal, themed challenge contests is great. Tinker is currently running a "My Money Mistake" $2,000 scholarship video challenge. The great part is how tightly defined the challenge is right down to what props must be used. From an applicant's point of view, this really makes it easy to get involved and also improves the quality and relevance of the applications.

Question marks for me

• No Tinker logo. There is only a subtle link near the bottom of the page to the sponsor credit union. I am all for creating a separate destination site, but the lack of any corporate tie in is confusing to me.
• I couldn't find any links on the corporate website to Buck the Norm. Tinker is missing a big opportunity to drive traffic and interest to this initiative.
• There is a blog-like section on the home page, but you can only get to older posts by subscribing in a blog reader (at least I couldn't figure it out).
• Although there is a great contest going on, I couldn't find any of the entries or any commentary on how it is going on the Buck the Norm site. After some poking around, I found a bunch of great video entries on YouTube. It's too bad there is nothing on the Buck the Norm site. This may change when the contest enters the public voting phase, but in the meantime, this seems like a missed opportunity.
• Tinker is potentially missing out on product sales and attracting new members through Buck the Norm. Although there is a product page, it only includes descriptions of typical products young people should consider, but there are no specific offers or even links back to products on the corporate site.

My criticisms are very minor. Overall, I give Buck the Norm very high marks. It is great to see another credit union stepping up and doing its part to become relevant to the next generation of members.

And finally, this YouTube video contest entry is ridiculous

And by ridiculous, I mean outrageously phenomenal.

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02/02/2009

We launched Young & Free South Carolina powered by South Carolina Federal Credit Union today

By Tim McAlpine

I am excited to announce that our second U.S. Young & Free Program has just launched and its for South Carolina Federal Credit Union headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina!

+ Visit www.youngfreesc.com to get a feel for the South Carolina program.

I am especially excited about the product offer that South Carolina Federal has put together. It is three accounts under the MY Accounts banner.

• MY Checking includes all of the expected free services plus something called Oops Refunds, which foregives one 'oops' per quarter. The account also includes access to FinanceWorks powered by Quicken. South Carolina Federal is one of the first financial institutions to offer this new integrated personal financial management solution.
• MY Savings can be used as overdraft protection and also earns extra dividends every quarter on the first $1,000 on deposit.
• MY Whatever Savings also includes the extra quarterly dividends and the ability to name it yourself. You determine what you are saving for: My Car, My iPod or whatever is important to you.

Plus, I am really excited about totally online account opening. This will be ready by mid-February. I think this will have a huge impact on attracting new young members to the credit union.

Sandy and I were treated to South Carolina hospitality in September at our first onsite visit. The South Carolina Federal Credit Union team is great to work with. We have been struck by how professional and committed Beth, Brandon, Kathy, Kimberly, Raschonda, Scott and the entire senior management team have been. Young & Free South Carolina is in very good hands.

Here's a nice quote from our press release from Beth Jaskiewicz, South Carolina Federal Credit Union’s Senior Vice President for Marketing. “Young & Free is an amazingly strategic program and a great fit for South Carolina Federal’s objective of engaging with existing and future young members. We are eager to learn more about Gen Y, and we are thrilled to be launching a suite of products—MY Accounts—that have been designed especially with 18 to 25 year olds in mind. Currency is a supportive partner, guiding us as we enter the social media realm, and managing the program that is fully integrated with our credit union. We’re excited about the shared learning and collaborative opportunities that we can experience from being a member of the broader Young & Free family.”

As with Alberta and Texas, the website is just one piece of the marketing plan. We have a great traditional and alternative media strategy to help ensure that we not only attract new youth members but also attract the right Young & Free South Carolina Spokesperson. 

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