Young & Free Turns 5!

Five years ago this week Young & Free was born. At the time, the concept of a business-sponsored user-generated contest, involving videos and blogs in order to hire someone, or conversely to apply for a job or enter a contest, was completely original and new.

The brief for the project was to “own the young adult market in Alberta.” The Currency crew, and the folks at Commonwealth Credit Union in Lloydminster, Alberta, were excited about the marketing campaign, and a little scared. Prior to launching, Commonwealth’s CEO, Jeff Mulligan, said to Tim, “I’m hornier than a house cat about this idea, but do you think it will work?” Tim’s answer, “I have no idea!” Talk about going out on a limb.

The rest is recent history. Larissa Walkiw was the first Young & Free Spokester and she left a couple of legacies: Larissa coined the “Spokester” term, and she created the Difference Between Banks & Credit Unions video that’s been embedded on credit union websites around the world, accumulating more than 150,000 views. We’re talking about a credit union video here.

Fast-forward five years and there have been 24 amazing young adults have held the Spokester title on behalf of credit unions around North America. That’s 24 amazingly talented writers, video creators and in-person rock stars who learn about credit unions and spread the love. Young & Free is no longer simply a marketing campaign using social media, it’s a full-blown integrated marketing program that helps credit unions ensure the long-term viability of their businesses, wrapped around the real, authentic, human voice of the Spokester.

Tim has been busy assembling footage of our Spokester alumni talking about the coolness of their jobs and how they love credit unions.  Here’s one of them:

We love that Spokesters are now part of the credit union difference for Young & Free credit unions.

Happy birthday Young & Free!

Sandy