Back from my vacation and catching up on my google alerts. This one came across while I was gone. Battle between banks and credit unions rages on.
Two paragraphs from the article stood out for me:
“Credit unions originated in Europe in the 1840s, but really gained a foothold in the United States in 1934 with the signing of the Federal Credit Union Act by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who saw credit unions as a way to help the nation recover from the Great Depression.”
“Credit unions were established to “make more available to people of small means credit,” in hopes of “helping to stabilize the credit structure of the United States,” and were therefore organized as non-profits that were owned and governed by their members.”
Also in my email box was an announcement for a webinar hosted by Callahan & Associates sponsored by Mark Weber of Weber Marketing.
Here’s an excerpt:
“According to Mark Weber of Weber Marketing Group, ‘A lot of credit unions are asking how much should they go back to the message that they are a non-profit credit union and their profit goes back to members. Is this an ownable, differentiated difference upon which to tell the credit union story?’ For many credit unions this simply isn’t enough to build a brand upon that will distinguish them in the market and lead toward increased membership and expanded services for existing members.”
The webinar promises to deal with the issue of name change and re-branding. It goes on to say:
“A credit union name change should be seriously considered by all those who are considering a re-branding initiative.”
The question, in my opinion, is not “Should you change your name?” but rather, “Do we change religions?”
Americans households are saddled with an average of $8K in unsecured debt. The household savings rate is in the negative (excluding retirement). The stock market is as volatile as ever. Subprime mortgages losses threaten the stability of our economy.
The last thing the America needs is another bank.
Let’s dig deep folks. We have a cause – it’s always been to promote thrift.
To help people live within their means. or as CUNA so eloquently said in a 1952 advertisement placed in Newsweek Magazine: “Thrift, economy and character are linked together. Credit unions do much to promote them. Thrift and better financial management contribute to high morale of employees and are fundamental to national well-being.”
It’s not about marketing that, it’s about living it!
12 comments
Comments feed for this article
August 13, 2007 at 1:56 am
Tim McAlpine
Here here Denise. I totally agree with your take on this and I ‘loved’ your Love Boat series. It’s time to get back to credit union basics.
August 13, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Denise Wymore
Tim,
It’s good to be back. Especially where the dollar is a dollar! The pound was kicking our as*!
August 13, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Dan Veasey
Hey,
Where did you find that CUNA ad? Are there any more like it?
August 13, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Denise Wymore
Dan,
I found that ad attached to the original charter documents for Coors Credit Union (a client of mine). It’s gorgeous. Full page and lots more fabulous credit union selling points like this one:
“We like the lessons of frugality and thrift which credit unions teach. These things make for happier and more efficient employees. The feeling of security that comes from thrift is a bulwark against family unhappiness.”
(this was a quote from a company CEO)
I have to admit, I didn’t even know what “bulwark” meant so I looked it up. It means fortification, or rampart, barricade, embankment. A wall against family unhappiness. That’s what we created.
August 13, 2007 at 8:39 pm
terrell
I agree whole-heartedly with promoting thrift, but it’s not an interesting topic for most people. How do we get people to care about saving and living within their means? How do we use our limited resources to compete with the millions of dollars others companies have to promote their products?
All the bank/credit union advertisements I see around town are rate or product based or in the case of Key Bank, are offering a free i-pod w/ a checking account. I would argue that most of the executives at my credit union would not let me spend my budget on advertising the importance of thrift because that won’t bring in new members.
It’s frustrating, from a cu marketer point of view, because you make some very good points, but at the end of the day, the message I’m getting is that we need more members.
August 14, 2007 at 1:31 am
Denise Wymore
Terrell,
Thanks for the comment. I couldn’t agree more that that is what they want us to advertise. There is a relentless pursuit of new members – and we’re stealing them from each other.
We NEVER advertised promoting thrift. We just lived it. It oozed from every pore of our being. It was about caring for our members, looking out for them.
Courtesy pay used to be a phone call to a member letting them know they needed to make a deposit. We’d do it for free! That saved them the embarrassment of the NSF fee on both ends! The word of mouth those acts created far outweigh the ROI on any i-Pod bribe campaign.
We have to think differently. Let’s face it, direct mail is dying. When we were in Scotland last week (okay – I can only say that for a few more days so you’ll have to forgive me) half of the homes we walked by had “NO JUNK MAIL” signs plastered on their mail boxes. There was even a threat of penalty if they didn’t comply. It’s just a matter of time…..
August 14, 2007 at 5:16 am
Tony Mannor
Welcome home Denise. Thanks for the updates 🙂 I almost feel like I can skip my own vacation this year!
August 14, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Ron Bensley, Jr.
Denise: Welcome back to the States!
Americans, as individuals and collectively, will eventually pay a very high price for their lack of savings. No other industrialized nation has such a low personal savings rate and such high personal debt levels, even though some other national governments have higher per-capital national debt than the USA, believe it or not!
ING Direct is much-maligned by credit union folks, but their biggest strength is that their bank truly preaches and encourages savings and thrift. Most credit unions used to do that, but it’s hard to find today.
August 15, 2007 at 3:49 am
Denise Wymore
Ron,
I knew I could count on you for good stats. Thanks for your support.
August 15, 2007 at 9:19 pm
From Roger
Terrell asks the “reality” question. Everyone is so darn hung up on product/rate (price/item they call it in the car biz). Education is still the CU edge, but what CEO can/will justify a “mission” (and that’s what it would take) to “educate”…I mean to really educate…with innovation! It’s a challenge…but we can’t call it impossible.
August 18, 2007 at 3:18 pm
From Roger
This just in…can CU’s learn something from TIAA-CREF’s latest campaign? I believe we can. The campaign is anchored by a new website, http://www.powerof.org , and is bolstered by a 50 million dollar media blitz from Modernista in Boston. Check out Stuart Elliot’s’ weekly marketing article from the NYT about the campaign titled A Dot-Org Stresses That It’s No Dot-Com. Talk about leveraging ones “non-profit” status…I believe TIAA-CREF has done it as well as one possibly could. Of course, the 50 million dollar price tag doesn’t hurt any…but I believe this message works, and CU’s should take note of it. Especially the ones that focus on healthcare and educators—like TIAA-CREF. By the way, I found this initially by checking a blog I frequently visit called andHow To Reach Women. Incidentally, why did credit unions gravitate toward .ORG extensions?
August 19, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Denise Wymore
Roger,
What a great example! It’s not impossible, it’s just harder than sitting in a meeting and deciding to come up with some rate special for a new car loan and then creating a clever poster for the lobby.
Thanks for this!
Denise