As Cooperative Advertising Dies ... What's the Big Idea?!

Seemingly, it's a never ending debate: should credit unions embark on a national branding campaign using television, radio, print and other mediums? These conversations come up quite often in credit union circles, yet at the end of the day the topic is much akin to conversations about the weather: everyone talks about it but no one does anything about it.

If our experience here in NC last year with cooperative advertising is any indication of the problems encountered with launching these campaigns, it's no wonder we can't seem to get things going on the national level.

Last year, the League worked with about ten Charlotte-area credit unions to devise a cooperative advertising campaign to air on a local television station. A small, committed group of folks came together and we came tantalizingly close to getting the thing off the ground.

So what happened? Essentially, our experience was that it's hard to build consensus on a variety of issues. In particular, our differences focused on two areas: the message, and the funding formula.

In the case of the message, some credit unions thought the message should revolve around our philosophy (we're different), while others felt we should hammer home the product/convenience message (we're different, but darnit if we aren't convenient and modern institutions at the same time).

The funding formula was also an area of contention. Who should pay what? Should the folks who pay more get more perks than the folks who pay a little (in real if not relative dollars)?

Ultimately the lack of support for the message we chose and the funding formula (to a lesser extent) doomed our venture to fail. After months of effort by a lot of people, seeing nothing come of it was a bitter pill to swallow.

This experience points out some real problems with entering the advertising arena cooperatively. All the points of contention that happened in the Charlotte attempt happened for very legitimate reasons. Credit unions that are going to plunk down tens of thousands of dollars want to make sure the message that is delivered is one that is both comfortable and complimentary to their business objectives. I can't say I blame them, really.

In the wake of our experiences in Charlotte last year, my thoughts on the subject are starting to evolve away from cooperative advertising campaigns to a new concept to raise attention and awareness: The Big Idea.

Recently, I got an email from American Express announcing the Member's Project. For each AMEX cardholder who registers for the Member's Project, the company will contribute one dollar, with up to $5 million to be contributed. The users of the Member's Project will suggest and interactively discuss ideas over the summer about how to make the world a better place. In the end, the $5 million will be used to tackle the one issue the users identify as the one they would like to help solve.

I'll let you ponder the benefits of having up to five million people discussing solving a world problem while thinking, "Gee, isn't AMEX a great company for doing this?!"

The Member's Project is an example of a Big Idea, and I'm sure you've seen other such concepts.

So what if credit unions stopped fretting about the lack of a national or statewide advertising campaign -- and instead came up with a Big Idea that would generate a lot of attention?

In NC, there are about 2.8 million credit union members. What if they were approached about a Big Idea? What could credit union members accomplish cooperatively, and how much attention would it generate in the media statewide? More importantly, how much good will would it foster among members and credit unions?

The Member's Project offers a glimpse into a Big Idea and for purposes of our discussion, I'll throw out an example of a Big Idea for NC - what if we had a charity bike ride from Murphy to Manteo (that's what - 600 miles?) over about a week's time, committed to raising a BIG sum of money (say $1 million for starters) and contributed that money to a NC-specific cause?

Audacious? Yep. Hard? Very. Worthwhile? Absolutely! Think of all the positive PR and good will credit unions would garner by doing what we already know how to do - come together for a cause greater than ourselves.

The Big Idea "process" asks us to start at our shared values and asks us to work together to accomplish big goals that help people. The cooperative advertising process asks us to work through some profound differences to arrive at a message that will do one thing (and perhaps nothing else): transfer huge sums of capital to big media and ad agencies.

Which process sounds more worthwhile and fun to you?

On the national front, there are 88 million or so credit union members. WOW - what could that kind of human capital accomplish?!

So I challenge you to think of a Big Idea for NC, or perhaps the national credit union movement. Feel free to suggest Big Ideas by posting a comment, or suggest another concept you'd like to see credit unions try.

The Power of Storytelling (and Freebies!)

It's hard to believe how quickly time flies ... but I have been at the League for just about 3 1/2 years now! As some of you know, I consistently emphasize using personal stories to drive home the messages that are communicated to the media, your members and other audiences you are trying to reach. This emphasis comes from the work of Andy Goodman, who helps good causes communicate more effectively using storytelling as best practice.

I had the great fortune of attending a workshop Andy led just before I started at the League. It is not an exaggeration to say Andy's workshop on Storytelling as Best Practice is THE best primer on effective communications I've ever gotten. It's definitely colored my philosophy in the years since.

In addition to his workshops, Goodman, who was involved with two television series you probably remember ... The Nanny and Dinosaurs ... provides many free or low-cost tools to help non-profits sharpen their storytelling skills.

One of the freebies is a monthly print newsletter called Free Range Thinking, which examines the art of storytelling using real life examples from non-profits across the world. It's a quick and easy read that comes to your snail mailbox every month. The link provided also allows you to look at back issues.

If you scan Andy's web site, you'll see some other resources for little or no cost as well. I'm a real fan of his work, and I hope it brings you some benefit as you demonstrate how your members are being helped at the credit union.

On that same note, Colin Rowan, a contemporary of Andy's, has started a blog that also examines communications using the art of storytelling. The Rowan Report is linked off this blog - check it out!

If you have any suggestions for communications tools for little or no cost, feel free to suggest them by posting a comment.

Picking the Right Radio Fit for Your Advertising Scratch

I'm spending part of my Monday making calls to radio stations in the Triad to get quotes on advertising rates for a non-profit agency that recently received funding from the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation. Luckily, I know the market pretty well, so my list is pretty short. But it got me to wondering if radio station ratings in other markets were available anywhere online.

One swift Google search later, I know the answer is yes! RadioandRecords.com lists 299 US radio markets, with easy clicks to get the data for the individual markets. This data is pretty current, and lists the rating information for most of the stations from what I can tell. In addition, the site lists the format of the radio stations - which may further help you deduce good advertising prospects.

In North Carolina, you'll find data for the following radio markets: Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Triad, Asheville, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Greenville/New Bern/Washington, and Rocky Mount.

At any rate, the link to the site is: http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DefaultSearch.aspx?ShowAll=yes. If anyone is aware of other ratings sources, feel free to pass them along.

Banging My Head Against Rocks (and Web Sites!)

I'm fresh off a "working" vacation. Last week, I spent several days landscaping the back yard area adjacent to the patio at my house. Normally, this kind of stuff is enjoyable to me, but this project was a real nightmare! The people who owned the house before me put landscape rock in this space on top of a "helpful" plastic liner about three inches down. Over time, soil had mixed in and covered over the rock, and the mess was higher than the patio. So any time it rained, dirt and rock would flow over to the adjacent patio.

After four days of moving rocks in 90 degree heat, the patio is higher than the adjacent soil - and the space is neatly planted and mulched. I can entertain on the patio area now - and spend evenings sipping wine with friends while silently contemplating what to do with 100,000 or so landscape rocks.

Back in the office grind this week, I have interacted with some web sites that remind me of my old patio space - ugly and hard to use. Just yesterday, it took 15 minutes to schedule a flight to DC for Hike the Hill later this month -- and I still had to call tech support at the airline when the web site told me I was doing something wrong -- without telling me exactly what. After 15 minutes on the phone with the techie telling me what it *could be* -- we finally got the flight booked. (As an aside, have you ever noticed that when folks in tech support have no clue what's going on, they say, "hmmmmmmm?")

Fast forward to this morning, when a newspaper person I emailed yesterday was nice enough to reply to let me know she had referred a press inquiry I made to the appropriate person on staff. They did so without providing contact information back to me for my press contact list. "No problem," I thought, "I'll just go on their web site and find them."

After wrestling with the search function and staff contact list for 10 minutes, I gave up. It's not worth the time. Added to this, the newspaper in question overhauled its web site not too long ago in order to embrace "Web 2.0" and the ways in which people receive information!

So how does your web site stack up? I am far from an expert on this area (I'm just a schmo who has to book airline flights occasionally and likes to use the search function). If you are in the process of evaluating the web portion of your communications toolkit, I came across a book and web site that might be of help ... Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think.

Krug is a web usability guru according to non-profit communications expert Andy Goodman. (Note: I love Andy Goodman's stuff, much of which is FREE. I will do a blog entry soon on Andy and the work he does.) Krug's book will set you back $35 and according to Goodman is, "Worth its weight in gold."

Krug's web site has some great information and perspectives on making your web site more user-friendly. Check it out.

If you have gone through this process yourself and have some tips and resources to share, feel free to do so. Also, if you have a funny "web nightmare" story to share, feel free to post a comment.

The person who shares the best "web nightmare" story wins 100,000 landscape rocks, which will be sent COD to your home. (Just kidding.)