Cornerstone Credit Union League will launch a new awareness initiative in August aimed at "rallying consumers around the vibrant and member-centric credit union movement," according to the league.
Known as the "Feel the Difference" campaign, the primary focus will be to capture underserved markets in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, the three states Cornerstone represents. According to the league's SVP of Communications Jon Gorman, the two largest untapped markets are millennials and unbanked Hispanics.
"[Those] unique markets have the greatest opportunity for member growth and asset growth…this effort is really focused on those two demographics," Gorman said.
Tools of the trade
The Plano, Texas-based league has developed a toolkit that CUs can utilize to increase outreach in their communities. The toolkit was designed to complement existing marketing initiatives by member CUs, according to Gorman, and includes a two-fold approach to awareness: Cornerstone will focus on paid digital and social media advertising to build awareness, while CUs within the league will be provided with sample TV storyboards, radio scripts, digital and social ad templates, and a messaging matrix to assist with leading conversations about how credit unions are different. The messaging matrix also includes positive reinforcements to the differentiators, misconceptions about CUs and areas that CUs need to be careful with when approaching.
"The goal is to not try and replace or compete with brands and marketing efforts by credit unions and credit union chapters – it is there to compliment those efforts," Gorman said.
Jim Brisendine, president/CEO of Dallas-based Resource One CU, served as chairman of the Cornerstone committee working on the Feel the Difference campaign. Brisendine, whose CU holds $446 million in assets and serves nearly 55,000 members, has been involved with the campaign since its early stages and sees it as a means to increase members and assets for all of the CUs involved.
"Credit unions have always been a 'best kept secret,'" the CEO said, "After this campaign begins to expose consumers to the benefits I believe the secret will be out."
Oklahoma Employees Credit Union, which serves 41,500 members, is "really excited" about the new campaign initiative from Cornerstone, according to VP of Marketing Jennifer Lown. The $486 million institution, based out of Oklahoma City, intends to focus heavily on the digital side of outreach through portions of the Cornerstone toolkit.
"We will be using the digital assets for social advertising and I think all CUs are looking for good shareable content," Lown said.
"This campaign will be highly beneficial for small, medium and large credit unions alike because of the research," said Erayne Gee Hill, VP of Marketing at the Fort Worth-based Unity One Credit Union. Unity One hopes to focus on member acquisition and retention through the campaign's materials.
The $229 million institution attempts to maintain growth through spending "a lot of time studying data and devising strategies on what we know has a higher likelihood to be successful," the VP said. She also noted that the CU, which serves 33,000 members, will likely rely heavily on the digital, online and retail mediums but will not get much use out of the TV storyboards, "because that's not our strategy as a credit union right now," Hill said, "The beauty of this effort is that it utilizes a variety of channels to appeal to all credit unions."
Awareness Initiative
In response to the Credit Union National Association's recently unveiled "Awareness Initiative," Cornerstone believes that some of the league's approaches are "naturally aligned," with the Feel the Difference campaign. Gorman anticipates working in conjunction with CUNA to see the best results for the industry; he pointed out that Cornerstone has been involved in numerous working groups discussing CU outreach initiatives with CUNA. "We firmly believe we all need to work together to make sure our message is consistent," he said.
Lown also participated in the CUNA discussions while planning the campaign. "I think the timing couldn't have been more perfect," Lown said, "I think they go hand-in-hand." The OECU Marketing VP has been really excited to discuss the CU difference, especially at a time when consumer confidence in the banking industry is at all-time lows.
"That messaging really resonated with those organizations involved in the research – this is what we need to be talking about," she said.
