BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The crisis in confidence among consumers toward their financial institutions is leading to media campaigns across the country by CUs and trade groups stressing the safety of credit unions.
In addition to advertising, state and national associations have also been issuing press releases, doing interviews and urging member CUs to reassure their own members about their credit union.
The newest campaign to debut is coming from the Alabama Credit Union League, which is planning a statewide effort. Radio ads are already airing in Pennsylvania and Minnesota (see related story, page 19). While the methods being employed are different, the message is the same: despite what many are reading about banks, credit unions are a safe port in this storm.
Indeed, that's just the tagline being used by America's First Federal Credit Union, Birmingham, which launched its own campaign prior to the Alabama league effort. Its ads address "safety from the storm" and talk of its conservative loan practices.
League spokeswoman Adena Whitman Zamora told a local newspaper that credit unions have not been smashed by the subprime mortgage crisis the way banks have.
America's First Federal, a Birmingham-based credit union is running its own advertisements as a safe harbor in the financial storm. The ads tout the credit union's lending and investment strategy and specifically points out that it carefully oversees its mortgages and avoided subprime lending altogether.
Whitman Zamora also emphasized the NCUSIF's similarity to the FDIC in the local media report, assuring readers that their deposits in credit unions are now federally insured up to $250,000 because of the recently passed $700-billion bailout.
"There has been so much news about financial markets, legislation and consumer fear that the message that credit union depositors have nothing to worry about has, unfortunately, been overlooked," added Daniel F. Egan, Jr., president of the New Hampshire Credit Union League (NHCUL). "First and foremost, credit unions concentrate their investments in loans to members. So instead of putting money in new, strange and risky financial instruments, we were making good, fairly priced home, auto and personal loans to people who are part of our credit union community. We are member owned, so there is an absolute commitment to safeguarding your deposits.""
In Oregon, credit unions have already started to collaborate on advertising. OnPoint Community CU shared its media buy and placement of a full page ad in three publications in the Portland, Salem, and Eugene markets. Instead of promoting and advertising itself, the credit union placed a cooperative ad focused on the collective strength of Oregon's credit unions. Six credit unions agreed to split the cost of the ads; their CEO's signatures appear on the page.
Louisiana, Indiana and Maine's credit union leagues have taken to the nation's airwaves to reassure members and the public as a whole that credit unions are doing just fine.
Anne Cochran, CEO of the Louisiana league appeared on WWL 870 AM talk radio to discuss the strength of Louisiana's credit unions and the protection offered by NCUA share insurance, while Indiana League President John McKenzie and Teachers CU CEO Rick Rice took time out of the organization's three day convention to speak to a major news television station.
Rice said "more people are turning toward credit unions for financial stability," in these tough times, adding Teachers CU has "seen a lot more business come to us. The first seven months of this year, we did all of what we did last year in mortgages."
"These interviews and the resulting coverage provided an opportunity to emphasize our message about consumers and business owners looking to credit unions during these difficult times for the economy and the overall financial industry," McKenzie added in a press release.
In Maine, League representatives have appeared on some of the most highly-rated news programs in the state. The league has done segments in all eight over the air television stations, on news radio stations in five markets and appeared on a segment on the news magazine program "207" which appears in Portland and Bangor, the most coveted markets in the state.
Colorado and Wyoming credit unions are also getting out in front of their members by launching an online education and information program called FoolProof. Since its inception in April, nearly one-half of the two mountain states' 1.7 million members have access to that information.
"We believe credit unions should own consumer advocacy in their communities. FoolProof provides that consumer advocacy", said FoolProof's President, Will deHoo, "Even the smallest credit union can have five separate financial literacy and consumer educator programs-separate programs for adults, high school students, and college-age students."(c) 2008 Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
