FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Arlington Community FCU really wants people to know it's not a bank.
As part of a new marketing campaign, the $225 million institution created a page on its web site (
Since the campaign was launched in mid-June, the credit union has witnessed a 10% rise in new members from the same time last year and also experienced "near record" loan growth in home equity loans and mortgages, according to President/CEO Karen Rosales.
Rosales said that the "NotaBank" link will remain on its website permanently, noting that she didn't realize "what a great conversation starter it would be in our community."
"We are now using [the webpage] as a unique way to demonstrate why folks should choose us for their financial needs," she said.
What makes Arlington's campaign different from other CU's marketing efforts, according to Rosales, is its hyper-local focus on its hometown.
"Even local banks tend to be regional — [but] we are all about Arlington," she said. "Our executives live here and serve on local non-profit boards. Most of our staff either lives in Arlington or has some personal connection to Arlington. All of our corporate giving is put into the local community and supports local organizations. Our lending decisions are made locally."
In addition, the evolving demographics of Arlington County, which is near Washington D.C., presents some unique opportunities for the CU.
"Arlington is a diverse county comprised of all income and education levels," Rosales said. "It is also the most Millennial-saturated county in the country. We believe we have products and services for the affluent and established Arlingtonians, but we also actively focus our efforts on unique products and financial education to support and improve the financial lives of younger, less established Arlingtonians as well."
EXPERTS WEIGH IN
Arlington Community is hardly the first credit union to use an anti-bank theme.
Paul Lucas, a credit union marketing and branding expert and former vice president at 1st Advantage FCU (now a $615 million institution based in Yorktown, Va.), said CU marketing campaigns like this go back to at least the 1990s after a U.S. Supreme Court decision gave credit unions some flexibility in changing their original member-base charters to allow them to evolve with changing times and market conditions.
At 1st Advantage FCU, Lucas noted, he joined in an effort to educate members and prospective members on the advantages of credit unions with a 'Friends don't let friends use banks' campaign (a humorous spoof of the well-known 'friends don't let friends drive drunk' public service message).
Similarly, several years later, Lucas re-branded Prairieland Federal Credit Union (a $65 million institution based in Normal, Ill.) with the catch-phrase "Not your 'Normal' bank." That tagline, he noted, is still used in the CU's email addresses and marketing communications.
Mark Arnold, president of On the Mark Strategies, a Dallas-based branding and strategic planning firm, praised Arlington Community's campaign. "What makes this a bit unique from other strategies is that they're quite upfront about how they are different from banks," Arnold said. "It's almost like a 'call to action' and plays well into the national trend of consumers wanting more 'localization' from their financial institutions. It's a highly effective effort."
Scott Coe, SVP and chief marketing officer at CoastHills Credit Union, an $864 million institution based in Lompoc, Cal., noted that a credit union listing its specific and significant differences compared to banks isn't a "revolutionary' measure, but can be effective.
"In Arlington's campaign, they are highlighting areas that banks typically don't want to go to—especially with their overdraft fee waiver of under $30," Coe said. "Very few credit unions even do that."
Amy Herbig, CEO of The BA Group, a credit union marketing agency, said the community needs to continue the discussion of how CUs differ from banks. "We haven't done a good enough job as an industry as a whole communicating and educating the public on the differences [on] a consistent and frequent basis—which is exactly the approach that is needed and long overdue," Herbig said.
But do credit unions have to "demonize" banks just to promote themselves?
Lucas indicated that such marketing campaigns are designed simply to highlight the advantages of credit unions, not to impugn banks.
"It's not a new idea but it is important for credit unions to consistently work to educate members and prospective members about the advantages offered by credit unions," Lucas explained. "The goal is not to make negative comparisons between banks and credit unions; it is simply to educate consumers… to help them make more informed decisions. Banks and credit unions both play important roles in the financial services marketplace."
IS ANTI-BANK OLD NEWS?
Herbig said she thinks that the antipathy towards banks arising from the global financial crisis of 2007-08 has become "old news" by now.
"It doesn't have the weight it did [during] the period of the main crunch of the recession, people have moved on," she said. "The 'move your money' movement had some steam, but then just died — it did not carry the consistency and frequency that is needed for any good branding and marketing effort/movement."
But Coe noted that since some consumers are fed up with their banks, positioning a credit union as a "safe haven" from the things that led to their disenchantment could work extremely well with that particular niche.
"Not everybody hates banks, but those who do want an alternative," he said.
Arnold stressed that Arlington Community is not trying to make banks the enemy. "They're not emphasizing anything bad about the banks, rather they're highlighting what is good about their credit union," he noted.
Coe also emphasized that credit unions generally do not market themselves as a way to position themselves against other CUs. Credit unions, Coe said, have for decades pledged to refrain from competing against each other. "That [stance] has softened, but most credit unions, including CoastHills, would [much] rather take business away from banks than any credit union," he said.
Another subject to consider is that, while some credit unions have increased their advertising and marketing budget in recent years, the Internet has revolutionized this aspect of the business.
"[Marketing] tactics have changed more than budgets have expanded," Coe said. "[We] have the ability to be much more concise with targeting, and the cost of digital is [now] far more efficient."
On the whole, good branding and marketing, Lucas added, "forgets about any specific competitor and simply builds awareness on what their brand can do for their target financial consumers."
