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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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Comments

1) James Robert Lay @ Feb 10, 2009
http://www.cugrow.com

Thx for the post on this Tim... i was the one who made the comment about Julie and Lisa. The fact that Julie is in Canada and Lisa is in Australia makes this not so bad. It would be different if they were in the same city/market.

However, I think the thing that rubbed me the wrong way (and felt a little awkward) was the fact that it's almost the exact freekin' same UX and concept. They didn’t even try to improve upon it or change it up at all. When you add the whole Community First "banker spankesqe" spots (which they do give credit for)... to me it felt... i don't know unoriginal.

But... what does that matter in the "outside" world (non CU marketing). Inside... the first reaction is those unoriginal jerks. I wish I was the agency who was on the account (it would make my life easy). Maybe the credit union never even knew about the original version of these two if they went through an agency.

However, none of that matters for the fact that none of their members or markets (in Canada or Australia) probably care. They are half way around the world from each other. However, if it was in the same market, the game would be different and more than just R&D.

I would love to hear Community First’s thoughts on how these two came together.

2) CU Potential @ Feb 10, 2009
http://christianmullins.wordpress.com

It's a dicey situation to be sure. With 8,000 CUs in the United States and over 1,000 CUs/caisses populaires in Canada, some overlap is to be expected.

Having said that, R&D has been prevalent in the CU world for as long as I've been in the business (14 years). While I don't envision that attitude changing, there shouldn't be a problem as long as the two (or more) CUs don't overlap in their charter. If they do overlap...

...catfight! But with a measure of civility.

3) Internet Archive @ Feb 10, 2009
http://www.archive.org

"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."

Check the web archives... about 2007

4) Cammie @ Feb 10, 2009
http://hopewellfcu.org

Whoa Nelly! Too close for comfort if you ask me! Sure, CU's borrow from each other and share ideas but this is the exact same thing, lock, stock and barrel so to speak-I'd be miffed.

5) Sandy Manisco Brillowski @ Feb 10, 2009
http://eHawthorne.org

I agree, unless they got permission, it's just too similar. The copy cats should've taken a great idea and made it their own - put a twist on it - added their own style of branding (the wheels are already turning in my mind...great idea. I love it! But I promise not to cookie-cutter it!)

Also, I only wish I could come up with something so innovative that others would copy it. It's a great compliment.

6) Jeffry Pilcher @ Feb 10, 2009
http://thefinancialbrand.com

Yes, they are similar. But no, being unoriginal is neither illegal nor unethical.

One does not need permission to rip-off an idea. Only a *particular expression of an idea* is protected. Unless Coast Capital was able so secure a patent on its talking Julie (something much different than a trademark or copyright), which is unlikely, they would have nothing to complain. But I doubt they'll cry about it.

But! Just because you can rip something off doesn't mean you should. From a branding perspective, differentiation is everything. Of course, as JRL pointed out, the two credit unions couldn't be farther apart geographically.

7) James Robert Lay @ Feb 10, 2009
http://www.cugrow.com

Speaking along these same lines, there was a similar issue dealing with a spot a CU in Texas (University FCU) produced. I think it won a few general marketing awards and know it won some CU marketing awards in the fall.

Then, CU Times broke a story (http://www.cuna.org/newsnow/09/system011509-7.html) about Northern Star CU creating an almost identical spot (same locations, same story board, etc).

Once again, in CU Times, the CU gave credit to the original version:

"The idea for the commercial came from Austin, Texas-based University FCU, which ran a similar ad last year. The firm's creative director had spotted the commercial on YouTube, and created a spin-off.

"I'd love to say we created it from scratch," Scharl said.

However, the video has since been taken down from You Tube and can no longer be found.

8) Jeffry Pilcher @ Feb 10, 2009
http://thefinancialbrand.com

Worth noting: The Coast Capital "Julie" responds to inappropriate inquiries with funny and amusing reactions. "Lisa" does not.

Try "take off your clothes" as a search query. (FYI - I didn't figure this out on my own. I learned of this hidden Easter egg during a conversation with a guy from the agency that did Coast Capital's "Julie." I swear.)

Like James said, if you're going to duplicate someone else's idea, at least add your own improvements or sense of style.

9) Tim McAlpine @ Feb 10, 2009

@Jeffry - thanks for pointing that out. Because, I too, swear that I was unaware of this extra functionality and certainly did not test it out myself!

10) Credit Union Warrior @ Feb 10, 2009
http://creditunionwarrior.blogspot.com

Turns out responses to "dance" and "get naked" are also programmed in. Funny stuff!

11) Tony Mannor @ Feb 11, 2009
http://cuhype.com

Now it would have been extra funny if, to the "take your clothes off" question "Lisa" responded with "Ask that Julie girl, I hear she is into that kind of thing." just as a wink and a nod to Coast Capital. Obviously CC has a sense of humor and might appreciate the inside joke.

As for the rip-off, yeah it is pretty blatant. But that has always been part of the game in this industry. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have been at conference and see campaigns that we ran a year prior show up on someone elses board with a slightly different picture or tweaked headline. I used to get upset that I "Did the hard work" to have someone else roll up and "cheat off of me".

But now I take it in stride under "Rip of and duplication is the sincerest form of flattery".

At least it is agencies I think do good work normally that are ripping off our ideas. Makes me feel better than if it were the "not so great" agencies...

right?

12) Jeffry Pilcher @ Feb 14, 2009
http://www.thefinancialbrand.com

Right. Good points/ideas Tony.

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