MADISON, Wis.-Thirteen credit union and trade association marketing executives from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Korea and the United States met at World Council of Credit Unions' headquarters here for a day-and-a-half event called the "Build the Brand Workshop."
The workshop, funded by a grant from Vancity Credit Union in Vancouver, B.C., sought to develop strategies for credit unions to reach a younger audience through social media.
Resonating With Consumers
The event built on the inaugural Build the Brand Workshop in 2012, which identified credit union messaging that resonates with consumers worldwide. Results of the workshop are scheduled to be shared at WOCCU's World CU Conference in Ottowa in July.
"Social media presents credit unions worldwide with an opportunity to deepen their relationships with members, especially Generation Y," said WOCCU CEO Brian Branch.
Moderated by Shel Holtz, principal of Holtz Communication + Technology and expert in integrating technology into communications strategies, the workshop provided a blend of expert advice, participant presentations on credit union social media efforts, and brainstorming sessions during which the multi-national teams addressed opportunities and campaign initiatives to engage younger generations through social media.
Participants from the five countries addressed the challenges their credit unions face in meeting consumer expectations for social media engagement with limited resources, including a lack of employee training, relevant content curation tools and technological incompatibility with mobile and tablet devices. Participants also agreed that credit unions must incorporate a content strategy that articulates cooperatives' social responsibility philosophy, which they found resonates with younger audiences' personal values, according to WOCCU.
"The difficulty in attracting younger members is not unique to credit unions in the USA," said workshop participant Sean McDonald in a blog post after the event. "Our challenges are the same, our focus points are the same, and our goals are aligned."
