05/28/2008

Macking on MAC

by Nala Henkel

I had a great time at the 2008 MAC conference in Newport Beach. I finally met the faces attached to my Twitter friends, Morriss Partee and Tony Mannor, two strong and passionate voices in the credit union social media movement today. I also made a new friend, Kelly Waddell of FAST Federal Credit Union of Hanford, California.

Kelly is the Marketing Manager at FAST FCU. I loved the conversations we had. Everyone always has their war stories, but we also shared some real challenges with each other. My challenge is making our cuckoo campaigns affordable yet profitable and her challenge is finding a way to for her credit union to live its brand in a way that is meaningful for members, but that also contributes to the bottom line. On the last day we were so deep in conversation that our table-mate asked if we had solved all the worlds problems yet! I told her we needed about another half hour.

Like the cluetrain manifesto states, marketing is conversations, and the MAC Conference was a great place to have those. As a new MAC member, I am looking forward to engaging and sharing with other marketers on MAC's website forum.

*Note: Despite some unsavoury definitions, I use the term "macking on" in a clean, wholesome way to say "enjoying ever-so-much." An example of my intent might be "I'm macking on this delicious Americano as I type this blog!"

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05/28/2008

CUES Experience Podcast 02: Conference highlights

By Tim McAlpine

Welcome to episode 2 of the CUES Experience Podcast. I recorded a bunch of conversations and sessions at the recent CUES Experience: Immersion Learning for Marketing, Technology and Operations Leaders Conference. The event was held from May 13–16, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.

In this episode, I give a brief overview of my experience and feature a taste of the sessions that I attended.

You can listen by streaming audio here on the blog or you can subscribe to it in iTunes and listen on your iPod. You can also visit the CUES Nexus Connection blog to leave a comment.

Production notes

+ Recorded with a Zoom Handy Recorder H4 mobile digital recorder
+ Edited in Audacity
+ Hosted on Evoca
+ Podcast RSS Feed through Feedburner
+ Intro music produced by Brent Dixon

NOTE: If you are listening on this page and want to post a comment, there is a good chance the CAPTCHA will time out. Make sure to hit the 'Post Comment' button twice. Copy your comment to your clipboard just to be safe. Thanks!

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05/27/2008

I was a guest on Current Issues in Credit Unions today

By Tim McAlpine

I had the pleasure of being on Current Issues in Credit Unions today. It's a great monthly credit union podcast that takes the form of a casual roundtable discussion. It is produced by Robert Rutkowski from Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A. in Cleveland, Ohio.

I called in from my hotel room in Chicago today and Rob has already edited and posted it by this evening!

+ Click here to listen
+ Click here to subscribe in iTunes

Typically the content deals with legal issues facing U.S. credit unions, but today I think they went easy on me because they knew I would have no idea what the difference between Reg. Z, A or B is!

But to be fair to me, three of the four lawyers had never heard of Twitter! Does that make us even?

Thanks guys, I had a great time!

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05/27/2008

BarCampBankBC: We have a great location!

By Tim McAlpine

Things are moving right along with the planning of BarCampBankBC.

• We have secured a couple of great rooms at the downtown campus of BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology): 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
   
• We have an official logo (see above)
   
• We have expanded to two days: Saturday, September 20 from 9 to 5 and Sunday, September 21 from 9 to 1
   
• We will have T-shirts!

What are you waiting for? Head over to the wiki and add your name to the attendee list. If you have already signed up, make sure to indicate what days you will be attending and add your T-shirt size.

I'll keep you posted with further developments.

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05/25/2008

Hey credit union marketer: do you want the diet pill or are you willing to pump iron?

By Tim McAlpine

I am always tempted by the get-skinny, get-buff-with-little-effort promises offered up by the infomercial-obsessed, buh-zillion-dollar diet and exercise industry. I want to believe the hype, but that logical subconscious voice deep in my head always tells me that if I really want to get fit, I need to eat healthier and exercise regularly. Now my business-owner, two-kids-under-five, I-love-chocolate reality seems to keep me from doing the hard work, but that's another story.

The lure of the marketing diet pill

Taking diet pills is obviously easier than dragging yourself to the gym everyday for another grueling workout. We wish it were this simple, but we know that hard work yields better results. The same can be said about marketing. With time and budget constraints, it is so tempting to take the easy route. For example:

• Being the same is easier than being different
• Being comfortable is easier than taking risks
• Repeating what you did last year is easier than rethinking everything
• Being nice is easier than being edgy
• Following trends is easier than setting trends
• Copying is easier than creating
• Talking in a monologue is easier than engaging in a dialogue
• Blanketing everyone is easier than targeting multiple niches
• Relying on best practices is easier than experimenting on your own

This type of diet-pill thinking rears its head in all kinds of ways in our marketing, including:

• Using stock photography rather than shooting custom photography
• Relying on generic demographic information rather than getting to know your members and potential members
• Printing in black and white rather than full colour
• Sending a mass mailing rather than than writing personalized letters
• Sending generic direct mailers rather than than sending variable-printed direct mailers
• Not having a website rather than having a website
• Doing nothing with a static website rather than maintaining a blog
• Updating your blog once a month rather than creating fresh daily content
• Writing text rather than producing video
• Sending generic newsletters and magazines to your members rather than creating your own localized content
• Having an automated phone attendant rather than having a real person answer the phone
• Offering standard products and services rather than creating your own unique offerings
• Leaning on the global credit union brand rather than defining and living your own differentiated brand

Easier is cheaper, but easier is not better

Are you breaking a sweat with your credit union's branding and marketing work? You should be. Are you questioning the status quo? You should be. Are you being creative and innovative when time and budget allow? You should be.

Depending on your situation, it's not likely that everything you produce can be 100% unique to your credit union, but you need to find the right mix for your credit union's budget and your marketing department's capacity and capabilities. I challenge you to find the balance between generic and easy and differentiated and hard.

I would love to hear what other diet-pill marketing lures you struggle with.

P.S. Son, can you pass me the remote please?

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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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05/22/2008

Young & Free Alberta wins big at the MAC Awards!

By Tim McAlpine

Nala just e-mailed terrific news from the gala dinner at the MAC 2008 Education Conference in Newport Beach, Calfiornia. The Young & Free Alberta campaign came up big at the MAC Awards tonight!

• Gold Award for market segment program over $500 million category
• Gold Award for editorial public relations program over $500 million category
• Gold Award for websites over $500 million category
• Best of Show MACQUEE Award for coordinated campaigns

We were up against over 400 entries from all across North America. After the super showing last week at the CUES Golden Mirror Awards, we continue to float on cloud nine!

Thanks again to the Currency team, the Common Wealth Credit Union team, our PR partners, Brookline Public Relations, our media partners, DSA Media, our technology partners, K1 Technology. And, I've said it before, but a real special thanks to Larissa Walkiw—who continues to prove the Young & Free story everyday!

Here is a link to the press release.

P.S. Thanks to Morriss Partee for snapping the photo!

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05/22/2008

Part 3 of The Difference completes the perfect set!

By Tim McAlpine

Larissa Walkiw has just published The Difference Between Banks and Credit Unions – Part 3 on the Young & Free Alberta blog. I posted Part 1 here and Part 2 here on our blog to help these videos get seen by as many people as possible.

 

These three videos convey all of the many reasons that I believe in credit unions. This is brilliant work created by a talented young woman as she discovers for herself what makes credit unions special.

It's like being a kid in a candy store for me: I get to log into our content management system the night before and see what Larissa has waiting in the queue for tomorrow. She has created 103 amazing blog posts in under four months including this brilliant series.

Larissa, thanks for putting your heart and talent into your work. With this three-part series now complete, you have created the most approachable, infinitely memorable and easily understood credit union educational series ever. The ultimate credit union trilogy. Your impact will be talked about for years to come.

Keep up the great work!

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05/20/2008

Does your credit union have orange pants?

By Nala Henkel

As you read this, I'm jetting my way to the 2008 MAC Conference in Newport Beach, California. Should be exciting! To tide you over, here is a whimsical post about the odd things people like.

Once my 15-year-old daughter Taylor and I were shopping and discovered some "sweet" orange pants. "Sweet" is her word; "garish" was mine.

"Can you get these for me?" Taylor asked, excited and breathless from the sheer "sweetness" of the orange colour.

They weren't that expensive, but I figured this was an impulse on her part and I hate wasting money on things that don't get worn.

"Well, maybe this weekend." I stall, "They'll probably still be here." Come on. They were horrifically orange pants! Who was going to buy them?

"No they won't. These are totally sweet orange pants!" she countered, disappointed but resigned.

Next weekend we return. No orange pants. This was last spring. She still hasn't forgotten.

This proves that no matter what life-sustaining goodness you do for your kids - whether it's waking them up for school, making their lunches, lending them your make-up, throwing your body in front of various vicious animals, or even charging into burning buildings to save their CD collection (I haven't done this, but I might!) - if you don't buy one pair of orange pants you are forever vilified. Or at least remembered badly.

The point: Kids forget the everyday good stuff and never forget the ONE TIME THINGS DIDN'T GO THEIR WAY. Members are the same way. Buy your members the orange pants!

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05/16/2008

Are you an agent of change?

By Nala Henkel

"Former vice president Al Gore will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign Wednesday aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history.

The Alliance for Climate Protection's "we" campaign will employ online organizing and television advertisements on shows ranging from "American Idol" to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." It highlights the extent to which Americans' growing awareness of global warming has yet to translate into national policy changes, Gore said in an hour-long phone interview last week. He said the campaign, which Gore is helping to fund, was undertaken in large part because of his fear that U.S. lawmakers are unwilling to curb the human-generated emissions linked to climate change."*

Agents of change are characterized by individuals or organizations that champion a specific cause. Al Gore's brand is "global climate change." You can't hear the name Al Gore anymore without thinking of global climate change.

Vancity is a corporate example of an agent of change. They have developed a website called www.changeeverything.ca to promote their belief in environmental advocacy. The site has a loyal group of followers who deeply believe people and organizations alike should be leaving a smaller footprint on the earth. But it doesn't end there. Vancity ties in its products to their cause, such as the Enviro VISA and Circadian Mutual Funds. The latter lets you invest in "companies that profit in a sustainable manner."

A credit union that is an agent of change is in it for the long haul, not just a 6-week campaign.

Could your credit union be an agent of change?

Tips

1. Large scale or small, choose a cause your credit union can TRULY champion, from the top to bottom of your organization (members included)

2. Set goals that allow you to measure success

3. Develop a strategy, or to-do list, for achieving those goals

4. Allocate funds that will allow your credit union to successfully implement the strategy

5. Include your members in the cause in a real way, such as joining staff cause-related meetings, sitting on the committee, involvement in events, etc.

6. Communicate your achievements, setback, discoveries, victories to staff, board, members and the community at large

7. Act on feedback and suggestions from members and non-members. If for some reason you can't, publicly acknowledge that and supply a reason.

Nothing inspires an emotional connection like passion. Share your credit union's passion about your cause.

*From "Gore Launches Ambitious Advocacy Campaign on Climate", by Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post Staff Writer, March 31, 2008 page A04 – as read at www.washingtonpost.com

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