CU Communicator Has Moved!

Greetings!

CU Communicator has moved to the Wordpress blog platform, effective Monday, October 8th. E-mail subscribers to the blog should have already gotten their opt-ins to the new blog address.

For those of you who are subscribed to the blog using a feed service, the new blog address is http://www.cucommunicator.wordpress.com/.

The Wordpress platform offers more features and flexibility that will help the blog grow into the future. In the meantime, thanks for your support - and see you at the new meeting spot!

This One's for You, Keri

The banner ad didn't grab my eye at first as I scanned the Winston-Salem Journal online last week. And then, a flicker of delayed recognition caused me to scroll back up the page. The smiling face was indeed familiar, and the words "Help Keri" naturally caused me to click and investigate more.

We all knew her as Keri Brown when she worked at Allegacy Federal Credit Union in the marketing department. Keri served on the League Marketing Council's executive committee when I was just getting started at the League in 2004.

She later left the credit union and our paths had not crossed lately.

Always quick with a laugh, cheerful, energetic and fun ... Keri was a hard-worker and a key to the success of the council. She had a wicked sense of humor and a million dollar smile.

The web site the banner ad transported me to was a shock.

Keri's married now.

Keri's 29 years old.

Keri's got a newborn daughter.

Keri's got Lou Gehrig's disease.

Keri's family & friends have rallied around her, and the web site is both a means of sharing information and allowing people to send their thoughts to Keri and her family. You will find the guest book of this web site at http://www.helpkeri.com/guestbook.html.

Also, Winston-Salem Journal Reporter Janice Gaston penned a powerful front-page article about Keri's life and her battle with ALS. Read it here.

Credit union people throughout the State, some of whom have never met her, have been gracious in offering their support, love and prayers to Keri via the web site. I invite you to do the same.

And think of Keri the next time you pick up a child, feel the sun hit your face, stroll along the beach, or do any of the million things each day that we take for granted.

On Katrina's Second Anniversary, Mississippi Credit Unions Pause to Say Thank You

We all remember the heart-rending scenes from the Gulf Coast in the days that followed August 29, 2005. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, so many people lost everything they own - and worse.

In the wake of the storm, credit unions across the world banded together to help out our neighbors. The Carolinas Credit Union Foundation was one of many credit union organizations to assist those in need. The CCUF donated more than $120,000 in direct cash assistance to victims of the storm.

On this second anniversary, the Mississippi Credit Union Association sent out this video to say thanks to those of you who were a part of the recovery. It's emotionally powerful stuff, complete with interviews from people two years ago expressing gratitude at a low point in their lives.

In addition to the video posted below, if you go to www.youtube.com/mscreditunionassoc, you can leave a comment for our friends along the Gulf Coast.

SC League & Credit Unions Show Value of Building Relationships with Reporters

A hearty shout out to the SC Credit Union League's Brandon Pugh and credit unions in the Columbia area who emailed Warren Bolton, the Associate Editor of the Columbia newspaper The State, about the sticky Courtesy Pay issue. Bolton penned two columns on Courtesy Pay and the attention it's been getting on Capitol Hill (and with consumers, who have been burned by excessive fees for that matter). The follow-up column came as a result of emails Pugh and credit unions sent to Bolton.

In speaking with Brandon after the column ran, he noted that Bolton has a good history with SC credit unions, which extends back to an anti-predatory lending bill that the League and credit unions supported a few years ago. Credit unions are also noted for their continuing work in the financial education arena.

Brandon added that the League and credit unions also contacted editors & reporters regularly when the issue of predatory lending came up again this year. These contacts were not done with the expectation of getting a story, but merely to share opinions and reinforce existing positions on the issue.

Courtesy pay is no doubt a sticky issue for banks and some credit unions. Bolton inquired about the practice earlier this summer, and the League shared best practices, while at the same time acknowledging that it is a slippery slope in the credit union industry.

When Bolton penned a column last week blasting the practice of Courtesy Pay, it opened the door for local credit unions to share their consumer-friendly approach with Bolton via email. These email contacts resulted in a follow-up column that praised the efforts of these credit unions.

(Special kudos to Lucille Beckwith, who not only wrote an email, but also as it ended up - wrote Bolton's headline and lead!)

The column can be found by clicking here.

The League and credit unions in SC did a masterful job of getting a fuller picture of courtesy pay painted, without as Brandon noted, an excessive amount of spinning on the issue.

To recap, their process works this way ...

1. Establish relationships with the media.
2. Stay in touch by stating and re-stating positions on issues of importance.
3. Work together!

The steps that got them there are terrific, and I'm going to look into integrating their strategy here in NC. Nice work, South Cackalack!

CUNA Continues Viral Push with Little Guy Campaign

CUNA just christened another viral video starring the "evil banker" star of an earlier business lending video. This time, Uncle Big-Bad is out on the street lobbying against CURIA, and for higher bank profits and fees.

It's funny - and all too true. Check it out ...



(Edit to add: right after I posted this to the blog, CUNA released another video and announced a third is on the way. The second video is posted below, and I'll post the third when we get it.)



(Edit August 3: Here's the third video ...)



CUNA is also producing "situational cartoons" in the ongoing bank vs. credit union struggle. These cartoons are sent out by email, in hopes that receivers will get a laugh, and then become senders of the same email. Here's the latest one ...



I like what CUNA's doing and hope they'll keep it up. Feel free to share your own thoughts on this by posting a comment.

Members Credit Union Ramps Up Football Promotion

Kudos to Members Credit Union for coming up with a creative, low-cost way to showcase its annual "Football Pick ‘Em" promotion. As mentioned here last week, Matt Davis and a few other credit union staffers … including CEO Jack Braswell … videotaped and produced short segments aimed at showing a more human side of the people who work at Members Credit Union.

Davis has bought Internet advertising on three outlets where Members has locations: WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, where Members is headquartered; the Sandspur, a Hope Mills newspaper; and the Hickory Daily Record. People logging on to these web sites can click on banner ads to view the videos.

The contest costs nothing to play and you do not have to be a member of the credit union to compete. The credit union selects weekly, monthly and grand prize winners in the contest. Weekly prize winners get a cap and a tee-shirt, while the grand prize winner gets to select a gas grill, a high-def television or a desktop computer for their prize.

Davis says about 600 people each year play Football Pick ‘Em, and he’s hoping to grow that number to 2,000 this year with the videos and advertising oomph. Since Matt is a video whiz, the videos didn’t cost them a dime to produce, and the Net ads set them back $1,500.

Matt says the point of the videos is to show the crew at Members as human beings that like to have fun. People you’d want to invite over to the house and surf the ‘net with, or grill out with … or (well you get the idea). It’s great to see people at a credit union having a little fun and not taking themselves too seriously. Way to go, Matt and Members!

Short Takes and Teases for A Friday

Ever seen those inane television 6 o'clock news "teases" that seemingly come on while you're around the dinner table? Stuff like, "A new study says a popular food may kill you, and you may be eating it now ... we'll have the story at 11." Well, this serving of CU Communicator won't kill you (and hopefully it's not inane), but it is going to leave you hanging just a bit. There's good stuff happening out in NC CU Land, and I thought I'd give you a peek at what's happening (without playing spoiler).

First, a short take ... as you stock market watchers know, the Dow gave up more than 300 points yesterday ... part of a rout in the global equity markets. The culprit, in part? Our old buddy, the subprime lending issue. Of course, daily movements in the markets are usually about expectations, not reality. Still, 300+ points is a big number on one day. Which leads us to our first tease ...

Foreclosure is about reality, not expectations ... Kudos to State Employees' Credit Union, which is about to roll out a big number of its own very soon, perhaps even today. About six weeks ago the credit union rolled out some products aimed to help members trapped in risky subprime mortgages. Well, SECU is working up a press release that will share the dollar figure of mortgage refi's in these products so far.

How big a number is it? Well, there's six zeros at the end, and two crooked numbers leading the train. Like I said, it's a big number.

Better than "the big number" though is the fact that hundreds of families in NC will keep the keys to their slice of the American Dream in their pockets, and won't have to turn them over to an auctioneer. Hundreds helped - in just six weeks.

Again, kudos to SECU for really being about "people helping people." If you've taken a pass on this issue so far and you could be helping, you might want to set aside some time today to take a look in the mirror.

Tease #2: another credit union that gets it ... Carolina Postal Credit Union. In this space last week, we chatted about CPCU's Priority Payday Checking, and the credit union's intense focus on serving the member, not the bean counters. Yesterday, the Marketing Diva of CPCU (and world renown) blogged an update about the product ... and the credit unions that are looking at adopting this program.

What the Diva won't tell you (yet) is that the credit union is about to roll out one heck of a great product and promotion. It's one part loan, one part slang, and one part duct tape (I'm not kidding). Best of all, it's a great fit with their members. More to come ...

Tease #3: are we having fun yet? Wow, the folks at Members Credit Union sure look to be! The credit union is putting a new spin on its annual "Football Pick 'Em" contest this year. Click here to go to the Credit Union Warrior blog to view some videos about "Football, not Futbol."

The CU Communicator especially enjoyed Office Destruction and Face Paint ... although the keen acting abilities of CEO Jack Braswell are on display in Management Meeting.

More on how the credit union plans to use these videos next week on CU Communicator. In the meantime, be careful what you eat for dinner. :)

We Pause to Give Thanks for This Server Meltdown ...

There seems to be a lot of pessimism in credit union circles these days. Member growth seems to be a lot less than we'd like, and surveys show that people who don't know about us really don't know about us.

Meanwhile, new competitive threats seem to emerge weekly in the tech-happy world we live in. Companies and concepts such as ING and microlending seem to be like the Prius to our credit union Yugo.

But anyone who saw Liz Pulliam Weston's column titled "Ditch Your Bank for a Credit Union" in MSN Money this week had to feel a little better. Weston wrote a simply GLOWING article about the positives of credit unions, written to those in her large audience who might just be a little sick and tired of their fee-happy, money-grubbing bank.

And apparently, more than a few folks were receptive to the message. Weston included a link to the California Credit Union League's national CU Matchup web site in her column.

In the wake of the column's release online, the ensuing rush to CU Matchup crashed the site's server!

This episode tells us a few things ...

• Credit unions need to continue telling their story to reporters. Advertising is nice, but how much would you have to pay to get the reaction a column like Weston's sparked?
• A lot of people simply hate their bank, and many banks have spent millions in advertising to address it and build a more customer friendly-image. But as the late Molly Ivins once said, "You can put lipstick on a pig and call her Monique ... but she's still a pig."
• If you're emulating banks with your branding and messaging, see point # 2.
• Weston's column includes an important piece of shorthand that connects with people. Weston wrote: "Banks hate -- hate -- credit unions." To many consumers, the resulting logic goes ... "I hate my bank, and my bank hates credit unions ... h-m-m-m-m credit unions must be pretty good." When you talk about your credit union, whether it's with a reporter or in the quarterly newsletter - always, always ... always contrast yourselves with banks.

So let's cheer up, keep doing great things and start talking about those great things more!

I leave you with this lovely commercial produced by WaMu. Funny stuff, but it'd be funnier if it weren't so true. :)

In Praise of Simplicity

In credit union circles, we often praise the "Grow or Go Away" mode of thinking and we seemingly chant the mantra of "Bigger is Better" without much thought as to whether for each and every organization that saying rings true.

Today, we're going to spend a little time praising simplicity and flexibility, two words that not only can lead to growth ... but more importantly, lead to building a strong brand and member loyalty.

Put another way, there's nothing wrong with being large, but it's better to be relevant. A good case in point is Carolina Postal Credit Union down in Charlotte. The credit union recently announced the roll out of a "Priority Payday Checking" product.

It's a simple concept ... the US Government makes its ACH salary deposits for postal employees early Wednesday morning for payment two days later. CPCU immediately deposits this money into the accounts of postal employees who have checking accounts at the credit union.

While getting paid two days early is nice, the real member benefit is that postal carriers can transact their business at the credit union on Wednesday or Thursday instead of just on Friday, which according to the credit union is a particularly busy day for postal employees.

For front line staff at CPCU, this also means that postal paydays are a little less hectic. In short, everyone wins.

This new product has already created new checking accounts at the credit union and has no doubt generated great word-of-mouth among members (which of course is the best kind of PR you can get).

Innovative ideas like this come from credit unions that have more homogeneous member bases, and it helps when the trip from the CEOs office to marketing to compliance to member services is a few short steps ... not a crushing journey of paperwork, bar graphs, turf wars and legal consultations. Kudos to CPCU for seeing an opportunity to serve its members and going for it!

Being a large credit union can have its advantages, but big ships not only have a hard time steering away from icebergs ... but also have a harder time steering toward opportunities.

So buck up smaller credit unions, and remember that knowing your member's needs and designing products to suit them is far more important than asset size.

Team Little Guy Blog Launched

If you were in attendance at the Annual Meeting in Pinehurst earlier this month, you probably heard about "Team Little Guy." TLG is a group of twelve credit union runners who are going to run in the 208-mile Blue Ridge Relay Race in September.

As a biker, I have no idea why anyone would run 208 miles (even if twelve folks divide up the work with a nifty little baton).

Keep the baton, and please pass the phone so I can rent a car.

At any rate, TLG will be blogging about the experience of training for and running in the race. It's a bit of a flier, but we hope to accomplish a few things ...

• It's a way to thank our sponsors and share the experience with them (and let them hassle the team mercilessly).
• It's a way to spotlight the excellent work of the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation and the Micro Community Grants Program.
• It's a way for 12 guys who like to run to share their knowledge, and learn from other runners in the blogosphere.
• With runners scattered all over the East Coast and Midwest (some of whom have never met), it's a way for the team to build unity.
• It's also a way for us to learn more about Social Media.
• It will also be an initial test of the "Big Idea" concept mentioned in this space previously.

If you are so inclined, please check out The Little Guy blog ... and pass it along to the folks you know who are into running.

Communicating Your Credit Union’s Core Values Using Earned Media

In a roundabout way, this post updates the subprime lending issue first raised on this Internet outpost back in March. The folks at State Employees’ Credit Union have rolled out two new products specifically designed to assist members who may be trapped in subprime mortgage products from other, less consumer-friendly (to say the least) lenders. (Edited June 21st to add ... Local Government Federal Credit Union has also announced an effort to help its members who may be trapped in subprime mortgages.)

As I read the details of these new products and their impact on the credit union’s members, it occurred to me that SECU does an outstanding job of communicating its core values in its media outreach. If you look at the vast majority of the press releases they send out, most of them involve either a product or service that is meeting a need in the membership, or the activities of the SECU Foundation.

The Foundation seems to have given the credit union a real focus for doing good works across NC – and on a large scale. The credit union has provided millions of dollars in scholarship money, one of many educational investments the Foundation has made in the State.

On the product/service front, the subprime mortgage solution is but the latest example of the credit union meeting a consumer finance need on issues that have generated headlines and controversy. A few years ago, the payday/predatory lending issue was hot in the State. SECU rolled out a product to help people break the cycle of payday lending. This product won the credit union the national Louise Herring Award and the solution SECU offered generated a lot of earned media last year when USA Today spotlighted the issue.

(Edited June 21st to add ... the SECU mortgage products are just hitting the market, but they've already gotten coverage in the Winston-Salem Journal.)

Of course, grabbing attention is not why SECU designs and rolls out these products ... but by doing so and telling folks about it, the credit union reinforces its brand -- on the media’s dime. And because they come up with some truly innovative solutions that meet needs – they make the entire movement look better.

Coastal Federal Credit Union is another example of a credit union that does a great job of communicating its core values using the PR process. Coastal sponsors “Food for Thought” seminars where people can drop in, grab a free lunch and learn basic financial skills. The credit union is also bringing national talk show host Clark Howard to Raleigh over the summer.

Coastal has done a great job of highlighting the ways it tries to make its members smarter when it comes to money. Like SECU, they have tailored programs and product lines that meet specific needs ... and then they tell the world about it.

These are two examples of credit unions in NC that get it when it comes to PR. If you’re trying to figure out a more strategic approach to your communications efforts using the media and other tools, you would do well to ask yourself a simple question up front … “Of all the things we do, what is it we want to be known for?”

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.)

Champion Credit Union Gets Awesome Kudos in Newspaper Article

Champion Credit Union in Canton is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. It's one of our state's oldest credit unions (in fact, Champion is the oldest credit union in NC that doesn't have "postal" in its name).

A local newspaper near Canton, the Waynesville Enterprise-Mountaineer, did a fantastic front page article on the history of the credit union. Included in the story is the fact that a random encounter on an airplane ride inspired the founding of the credit union, and a fellow named Bergengren came to Canton to help organize the credit union.

Yeah, that Bergengren!

The story also shares some great information about how people in the mill community have relied upon Champion over the past three quarters of a century for their financial services.

You can read the story by clicking here. If you aren't touched by the loyalty and affection Champion members have for the credit union after reading this story, please quit your credit union job immediately and go work for a bank.

I Want Media Attention!!! (So Now What?!) – Part Two

Last week, we went over some of the media message channels you might want to consider if you’re looking to get attention for the work your credit union is doing and compared the pluses and minuses of each. We also threw out a few basic ideas about things that happen at your credit union that may be newsworthy.

With this baseline drawn, we’ll move into the most important aspects of getting your news out to the media. Many of these are common sense tips that will hopefully be easy to implement. Some will take legwork, but they are well worth the time investment.

The first and most important thing to keep in mind is that you have to put yourself in front of reporters to get in the media game. Meet a reporter for coffee or lunch, or spend some time on the phone with them. The purpose of the meeting is twofold – introducing yourself and the credit union to the reporter, and listening to the reporter so you can get a feel for what types of stories they are looking for in general.

This process can be a bit time consuming, especially if your credit union covers a lot of geographic territory. But this time investment helps you in two ways – you put a face with your name when you send material in, and you find out what types of information you should send. It can also help you out when a crisis hits the credit union (embezzlement for instance) – if the reporter knows you, you’re much more likely to get a fair hearing than if you’re some faceless person at Brand-X Credit Union.

Building relationships with reporters is important, but getting your news placed in the media is also depended upon another form of detail work – how complete the information is that you provide. One of the more common mistakes I see credit union people make when they send information to me is that they give very little detail about their events.

Sometimes, I’ll literally get two sentences on a credit union’s biggest events of the year, including annual meeting summaries or big fundraisers! Since the League loves to see credit unions shine, we’ll usually call or email people back to get more information so we can post these on our web site or publish them in Focus.

A reporter won’t call back for more information if you leave out details (why should they?), so you’d better make sure you’re giving them as much information as possible. In general, be sure to include six essential pieces of information in your press releases: who, what, when, where, why and how.

On that same note, send a good quality digital photograph in with your press releases after events happen. Odds are that reporters are not going to attend your annual meeting, but a complete press release and photo of the event increases your chance of getting a little coverage.

The final tip to consider is to be creative in getting attention. The Northwest Chapter holds a golf tournament each year. Over the past three years, they’ve reached out to a local radio station that has promoted the tournament and even had a couple of radio personalities play in the tournament each year! The chapter also appears on the local television station in Winston-Salem to talk about the tournament and credit unions. These efforts not only promote the tournament, but also position credit unions as organizations working together to improve the community.

So I encourage you to look for opportunities to be creative with the media process, and get to know the men and women who bring the news to your community each week. Granted, these rules are not etched in stone. What makes for a nice news item in smaller papers like the Hickory Daily Record or Jacksonville Sun won’t even be considered by big dailies like the Charlotte Observer. However, these tips will work in many communities.

As always, the League is happy to assist with media outreach and story pitching. A media contact list is located here on our web site. We also have press release templates available for you to download and use in the Marketing Resource Center. Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

I Want Media Attention!!! (So Now What?!)

Yesterday, I got a chance to see the folks in Hickory at the Foothills Chapter meeting. The chapter is composed of many credit unions that started up in the area’s manufacturing heyday. (The Hickory area is widely known for its furniture manufacturing, although a lot of those jobs have gone overseas the past ten years.)

With so many changes in the economy and the world, it's more important than ever for credit unions to "get in the game" when it comes to public relations. Consumers are bombarded with ads from banks in a variety of ways. We cannot as a movement afford to remain silent any longer - we've got to get the word out about who we are, what we do and how we do it!

The folks at these credit unions wanted a short primer on how to get their news items placed in the media. So we took a few moments to discuss the pluses and minuses of different media channels (television versus print versus radio), and identified opportunities for them to get their news out into the public square.

In comparing some of the different media in the Hickory area, quite a few opportunities emerged. While every city is different, there are a few guidelines that are pretty much universal:

-- Local newspapers offer the best opportunity to get news items placed. Generally speaking, they contain many different sections where news from the credit union would be appropriate (more on what to send later). In addition, newspaper advertising is generally fairly cost-effective when compared to television.

-- Radio can be a good fit on three different levels. First, for those radio stations with a local news reporter, some news items will occasionally be appropriate to send. Second, radio stations do community announcements, which are perfect, free opportunities for credit unions. Third, radio stations with locally-produced shows (especially in the morning) can be good spots for you to talk about what your event (especially if you’re doing a community fundraiser or creative event). Radio advertising is usually fairly cost effective.

-- Television is tough! Not only are the advertising costs fairly high, TV news looks for visual types of stories with lots of movement. Credit unions and banks usually do not generate that kind of news (and when they do, bad things are usually happening!). A couple of exceptions include morning television shows, which can offer opportunities to appear and talk about your credit union’s activities. Also, cable companies are increasingly hopping into the TV news business and these operations produce news 24/7. These cable-based news channels can also be good outlets for credit unions.
Overall, I wouldn’t ignore the TV medium entirely but I would also be very selective about what types of information you send, and to whom you send it.

-- Finally there are alternative channels. Look around for “low hanging fruit” in your community – free opportunities to communicate your events and news. Examples might be alternative newspapers or the community announcements channel on cable. (If you’re really brave, go on public access TV!) Another can be bulletin boards at the local grocery or book store that allow people to post fliers (heck, they even supply the thumbtacks!!!).

So now that we’ve identified some of the media message channels to consider, let’s take a look at a few opportunities through the year where you can send out a press release and hopefully get some attention. Granted, it takes a little time to get this information together, but the payoff of a third party communicating your messages for free is well worth the time investment. So consider sending these announcements to the media as a minimum through the year:

-- Annual meeting announcements – send information out beforehand to let people know the meeting is coming up, and then after-the-fact (with a good photo) to summarize what happened.

-- Board election results – give your volunteers a little free publicity! Send out a press release (and photo) for each board member to the newspapers in your area. Your board will love you for it, and the newspaper’s readers will be happy to see their friends and neighbors spotlighted!

-- Staff promotions, hires and other news – showcase people who work at your credit union, and celebrate your employees’ success when they advance in their careers.

-- Charitable and community events – helping out your neighbors? Tell folks about it! It’s a good way to get your news out there, and it also allows the non-profit community agency you are supporting to get some positive promotion.

Now that we’ve summarized a few of the different message channels and opportunities to spread the word, the question becomes how to actually share your information in a way that will ensure success. We’ll tackle the issues of how to write a good press release and how to send it to the right people in part two, next week!

The Great Thursday Road Show

After a spectacular run of 80 degree weather, winter is trying to make a comeback here in the South. If the weather guessers are right, we're headed for the 20's this weekend. (Time for a disclosure - I used to be a TV weatherman before I became a PR lackey. It's been a good career move ... these days, I sleep a lot better and lie a lot less.) :)

Meteorological changes aside, it's a Great Thursday. The Braves managed an outstanding 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies last night. The game turned on a spectacular eighth inning relay throw from Jeff Francouer to Kelly Johnson to Brian McCann that absolutely nailed Ryan Howard at the plate. Dude was road-kill!

Speaking of the road (terrible segue I know), it's also a Great Thursday because I'm hitting the road to visit a couple of credit union success stories today. First up is a trip to Kilwin's, an ice cream shop in Cary. Kilwin's is newly opened thanks to a member business loan provided to the Hernandez family by Coastal Federal Credit Union.

Credit unions don't talk a lot about their business lending success stories, and we really should. A few credit unions here in NC make loans to help folks like the Hernandez family open small retail businesses.

Many other CUs provide loans to members who open lawn care and other small businesses. While not a business loan in the strict sense of the word, the jobs and opportunities created are the same as the loans made by Coastal.

After visiting the Hernandez family in Cary, I'll be off to Food Lion Credit Association CU's annual meeting in Salisbury. It's a big night for them, as they are celebrating their 25th anniversary -- and officially unveiling their new name. (I'll post a link to the story and the name later tonight.)

The Food Lion staff, headed up by John McGrail, is absolutely committed to serving its members -- and they're some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. It'll be a great crew to hang out with on a Great Thursday evening.

Afterward, it's off to Good Friday and a three-day weekend. Y'all have a great weekend!

Jeff

GREAT Ad Campaign and Promotion on the West Coast!

Hey folks,

Greetings from NC, where it is sunny and 80 degrees! Spring is showing up everywhere here on baseball's opening day.

The Braves won already, and I am about 30 minutes away from a bike ride. Does life get any better?

Anyway, I wanted to link you all up with a great ad campaign underway at Boeing Employees' CU in Seattle. This campaign is being reported on by the Netbanker blog. Check it out - it's smart ... and the "headline number" puts ING to shame! http://www.netbanker.com/2007/04/boeing_employees_credit_union_becu_markets_highrate_savings_checking.html

Yours in biking (and baseball)!
Jeff