So, ING Direct decided to film a video of women dancing around and in a fountain to promote a new checking account in Canada. I am all for unconventional marketing (though how long until these type of campaigns are conventional?!?), but this one really doesn't work for me.
Why? It is kinda boring. And, it is not clear at any point who they are performing on behalf of and well...it is boring. Ok, you should still watch it. It is less than 3 minutes. What do you think? Good? Entertaining? Do you want to go out and get some sort of unclear account with ING Direct? Did you even know it was for ING Direct until the title at the end?
ING Direct should take a look at how it should be done...fun...rocking...entertaining dancing...and a clear view at the event of who is dancing! Check out the flash mobs from Innovations FCU!
In honor of the color orange, I used an orange border on the video below instead of the normal CU Chat Up color! And, if you want to read more about the color orange and the fight for it within financial institutions, check out Ron Shevlin's post: Financial Branding Wars: The Battle for Orange
Bill Cheney, CEO of the Credit Union National Association, was a guest today on CNBC's Closing Bell and interviewed by Maria Bartiromo. The interview covered credit cards, mortgages, savings rates, consumer debt and delinquency.
Rob Cartwright just recently became the Young and Free St. Louis spokester for Vantage CU in ...St. Louis. Vantage CU is one of my favorite credit unions for their new innovations, like TweetMyMoney and Not My Mama's Checking account.
For Rob's first video, he tackled the neverending question that credit unions have to answer...how are we different than banks?
I first heard about this contest when I was searching youtube for credit union videos and one of the entries popped up. I was going to do a post on it, but the setting was changed to private overnight. The deadline for entries has now passed and it is voting time!
I love the idea of member generated content. This contest has a huge incentive for entries with prizes of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 for the top three videos. The contest was narrowed down to the top ten videos. I have posted the first five videos here. Watch them all, they are worth it! The quality and content were above my expectations (my eyes even watered up a bit during one of them)!
What did you think? Have a favorite? Is this something that you think would work for your credit union?
On this week's show, we discussed 2 new credit union innovative marketing programs.
Joe Mecca, from Coastal CU, talked about their new 1 Cent Overdraft Protection program. This innovative program charges only $.o1 for overdrafts that are brought positive by the end of the business day or for overdrafts of under $10.00. Hear all about this new program!
Brad Blue and Nicole Anguiano, from Denver Community CU, were on to talk about their "We Admit It" video series. These are in your face, honest, authentic video ads that while not anti-bank, get the point across about the credit union difference. Make sure to check them out and listen to the story behind the ads and how they were made!
Also, check out the CU Water Cooler Symposium t-shirt design contest that Nicole entered. Submissions to the contest will be accepted until Friday, August 20th. And, then voting will begin. The winner will receive free admission to the Symposium (Oct 28-19, 2010).
I also announced that CU Chat Up will be on hiatus for the next week or two. I will be starting a new job on Monday and will take a break from doing the radio show. Make sure to continue to check the blog and video blog as those will continue. Only the show will return after Labor Day.
Additional topics included credit union advertising...anti-bank good or bad, credit unions' impact on their local communities, the opt-in deadline, and the MBL fight in Congress.
Here is a new ad campaign from Denver Community CU that I find intriguing. They aren't really anti-bank, rather really come out and flaunt the credit union difference. I love the concept, though not sure about the way the words project across the screen. That was slightly annoying the way it was done. But, overall, I expect these will be very effective ads.
Since I wrote the intro above, I have watched and listened to these adds another few times, and I have to say, I love the voice! Overall, I love these commercials! One of my favorites that I have seen and I have watched a lot since starting this CU video blog.
What do you think?
We admit it: You make our owners richer with every transaction
We admit it: All we care about is putting money in our owners' pockets
We admit it: We want you to get e-Statements because our owners like money
Guest Post by Devin Selte about his experience at WYCUP and The 1 CU Conference in July 2010.
There are moments in life that will change you forever. Moments such as marriage, birth, and death can be so impactful, they revolutionize the way you think, the way you feel, and the way you live. Professionally, I can pin point when my Credit Union life changed forever. It was during my attendance at the WOCCU Conference in Barcelona, Spain, in 2009. Perhaps I am a little naive in the fact that this was my first ever Credit Union conference. Plus I have never travelled overseas before, and to Spain none the less, so again, possibly naive.
The conference blew me away. Prior to attending, I really had no idea what the Credit Union movement was about. The experience opened my eyes to a whole new world, and started a fire in me to do more for my Credit Union. It also allowed me to participate in the WOCCU Young Credit Union People Program (WYCUP). This was awesome, as it allowed me to network with Credit Union peers from around the world. With the assistance from some of my fellow WYCUPers over the past year, I initiated the Servus Young Leaders Network (SYLN), which I am proud to say has been endorsed by our Credit Union. Hopefully (keep fingers crossed) we are able to open this up to our staff within the next few months.
I vowed after returning from Barcelona that I would attend the Las Vegas conference, no matter what. After a teeny, tiny amount of convincing (I would be attending at my own expense), my wife quickly agreed that I should attend, and I did just that. My main take away from the Vegas conference was the constant referral to the continued need for a youth movement in the Credit Union system, not only for new members, but for staff. I think the WYCUP Program provides a great opportunity for this, as did "The Crashers" ( http://one.crash.coop/) and CU Swag (http://www.cuswag.com/). I have to give mad props to both of these groups, as I was totally inspired by what they have done for the Credit Union youth movement to date, and am super-duper excited to follow them going forward.
A part of my original proposal for the Servus Young Leaders Network was a Servus Young Leaders Scholarship. The scholarship would allow Servus Credit Union to always have representation at the WOCCU conference with the requirement for the winner of the scholarship to participate in WYCUP. This individual would then share their experience with the SYLN via blog, video, meeting, etc. As we progressed with the development of the SYLN, the scholarship idea was put on the backburner, and rightfully so. As we are getting closer to opening SYLN, I wanted to go back to the scholarship idea so it can be implemented for the 2011 WOCCU Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. I thought what a better way to show the value of the conference, than to film a documentary (I like to call it a C.U.-mentary) about my experience in Vegas.
Now please, bare with me, clearly I am not a video making connoisseur, I am a business banking relationship manager. This is my second attempt at a YouTube video (the first being my entry into the Top Credit Union Executive contest, which by the way, was only 1 minute long). The video is shaky, the editing not precise, but it isn't necessarily all about the production, it's about the message of what WOCCU and WYCUP can do for you as a young leader.
The show is about 15 minutes, so may I suggest a quick bathroom break before you get started. Then sit back, get your popcorn, and enjoy WOCCU and WYCUP through a curly haired, Canadian Credit Union hoser (with rockin' soundtrack!!!)
A song to promote Kohler CU's I Want a Car Loan campaign using Katy Perry's California Gurls tune. It is a fun credit union song!
I am becoming a huge fan of promotion specific URLs that are easy to remember and promote. These promotions can help overcome some of the branding problems credit unions have with their names....especially alphabet soup credit unions.
Edited to add: Turns out Kohler CU also has a couple very funny commercials to promote iwantacarloan.com as well. Each are only 30 seconds. Check them out as well!
Almost a year ago, I saw this video for the first time and I wrote a blog post about it on my personal blog. When deciding what to post for the Friday Fun Video, I decided to share this video because it is one of my favorites. How could I go 30+ years and not know the "right" way to open a banana? And, why is it no one I ever knew opened one this way? It will remain a mystery to me, because...this monkey method as I like to call it, works amazingly well!
Try it! No more bruising the banana trying to open it! And, you can eat the whole banana! No waste!
So, anyone reading this always used the monkey method?
Are you going to try it?
Hope you enjoyed today's Friday Fun Educational Video!
On this week's show, I had the opportunity to speak with the other 3 Next Top Credit Union Exec finalists, Tina Hall, James Roller, and Amy Stanton about the contest and their projects.
As part of the contest, each finalist is working on a project at their credit union and then provides updates on via blogs and videos. I was very impressed with all 3 of these finalists and credit union professionals can learn from what they are doing.
Tina Hall, from Verity CU in Seattle, WA is working on a Performance Management project that focuses on Work-Life Transcendence.
James Roller, from Tinker FCU in Oklahoma, OK is focusing on the Health and Wealth of their employees through education.
Amy Stanton, from Connex CU in North Haven, CT is leading a project targeting the younger market with the implementation of a marketing internship program looking for a VP of Unbanking.
Listen to this week's show to hear more about their projects and check out their blog entries and videos to learn more by clicking on their names above. Credit union professionals can learn from their journeys through their projects and original content.
Before I watched the first video, I was excited to see what these were all about. You see...I went to the University of Iowa. And, Iowa City has a long history of local blues musicians. I used to go and listen to live music every week, including local, regional and even national acts. (Never will forget seeing Smashing Pumpkins at the small music club in Iowa City and Billy Corgan walking right in front of me...but I digress)
I love the idea of using a local musician to promote a community credit union. The choice in and of itself stresses community. UICCU chose to use a musician, BF Burt, in its commercials. Take a watch and what do you think?
I'm not a huge fan of credit unions using negative banks ads, but unfortunately negative advertising does seem to work. Politicians wouldn't keep winning campaigns with negative ads otherwise, right?
(This post originally appeared in the Credit Union Times Blog on July 22, 2010, reposted here with pictures and video added)
Decorations everywhere. Casual meeting rooms. Cheering. Bell ringing. Hooting and hollering. An armed battalion marching through the office. Personalized office space. CEO in a cubicle. Sharpie writing on the staircase wall. Free lunch, soda, and snacks. No, this is not a credit union...this is what I saw when I visited the Zappos headquarters last week in Las Vegas. But, that is only part of the story. This is a company with top of the line service levels, dedicated employees, and happy customers. I went into the tour as a credit union professional and wanted to see what components of the Zappos way could be adapted to a credit union. Now, I don't think most members would appreciate an armed battalion marching through the lobby singing Sound Off, but imagine a credit union that did that. What would it look like?
Here is the video of the march at Zappos
Would a fun and casual branch environment be more inviting to the younger demographic that most credit unions are trying to attract? Members would walk into a branch and each employee would have a personalized, decorated desk. Employees would ring a bell or do a cheer when a member pays off a loan, makes a savings goal, and sing happy birthday on a member's birthday. Members are randomly given surprise gifts or opportunities to play a game for a prize. Employees are allowed to dress however they choose as long as respectful. Ok, maybe that is a stretch and not an accurate comparison since Zappos is not serving their customers face-to-face like a branch. But, sometimes you need to look at the extremes to come up with something new and innovative.
While the Zappos environment may not transfer very well to a credit union branch, what does transfer and should be looked at is their commitment to having top of the line customer service. Every employee spends time on the phone helping customers during their training. Yep, even the IT, back office employees, and management positions. This is because they are working to support those that help the customers. And, to stress the importance they are required to experience the job to better understand it. At your credit union, how many employees do you have that have never talked to a member or had to help a disgruntled one? I'm not sure I can think of a better way to emphasize the importance of good service throughout an organization.
Another thing Zappos does that is unique, they offer their employees $2000 to leave after their initial training period. Yes, they will pay the employees to leave the organization. What a way to make sure you have the right employees. Think of your credit union employees right now, how many would take $2000 to leave? And, what does that say about your organization?
Zappos uses Net Promoter Score to measure the organization's and their employees' service levels. They ask customers 3 main questions: Based on a scale of 0-10, 10 being the highest score, how likely are you to recommend Zappos to a friend or family member? On a scale of 0-10, if you had a company that was focused upon service, how likely would you be to hire this person to work for you? Overall, would you describe the service you received from ______ as good, bad, or fantastic? Wow, they ask if the customer would hire their employee; what a bold way to find out if your employee is providing excellent service.
I could write much more about my insights from the Zappos visit, but I'll close with a story that we were told that exemplifies their commitment to service. Their call center, called the Customer Loyalty Team, is not measured on their call time. What? Yes, they are not supposed to try to get the customers helped and off the phone as quickly as possible. Instead, they are supposed to take their time and help the customers as much as the customers need to be assisted. The Sunday before my visit to Zappos, they had their record length of customer assistance call. How long do you think it was? Take a second and think about the longest member service call you have probably had at your credit union. 10 minutes? 20 minutes? How about 7 hours and 28 minutes. That was the length of the Zappos customer service call. The previous record - over 5 hours. Customer Service Excellence!
Before leaving Zappos, we were given a copy of CEO Tony Hsieh's book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose. Another example of their culture, I walked out with a free book from a free tour. They live their culture. Now that I have written this post, I am off to read the book and expect to be further inspired.
