SEATTLE – Now is the right time for credit unions to take advantage of public dislike of banks and chisel away at the misconceptions people have about credit unions – if they even know what CUs are.
That is the message that will be presented to attendees of the Credit Union National Association's America's Credit Union Conference here Tuesday. Teresa Freeborn, chairwoman of CUNA's Awareness Advisory Group and president/CEO of Xceed Financial CU, El Segundo, Calif., gave CU Journal readers a taste of what is to come in a
"Education and awareness is what it all comes down to," Freeborn said. "It is not going to be top-down, it will come from credit union roots. It is not going to replace anything that is going on. We want to inspire credit unions to see now is the right time. We want people who are at this conference to go home to their credit union and tell everybody about it."
Douglas Kiker, CUNA's chief strategic communications officer, said, "This effort is driven by research, and plenty of it – 16,000 people interviewed over the past 16 years. Consumers are giving us all the news we need, and they are consistent in saying they don't know much about credit unions, but as soon as they learn about the, they like credit unions over banks."
The awareness Initiative is a "CUNA priority, but it is not a CUNA initiative. It is to be an industry-wide initiative," Kiker added.
Messages, Tools, Content
Patrick Dorton, partner in Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Rational 360, has been involved in the build-up to releasing the awareness Initiative for the past year. He said the goal is to deliver messages, tools and content to credit unions to "enhance" what they do every day.
"Our best assets are the 350,000 credit union employees, leaders and volunteers. We are going to allow them to be ambassadors of the credit union movement," Dorton explained.
Currently, the awareness Initiative is in phase one. Dorton said there are three sub-areas of focus: building an education campaign that will create employee ambassadors; compiling or creating content for CUs to use on digital platforms such as their website; and, gathering best practices and/or success stories from CUs across the country.
CUNA's Kiker said buy-in by credit unions will be "absolutely critical."
"We need something that is sustainable, long-lasting and measurable," he said. "Consumer distrust and dislike of banks is lasting. We are a decade after the recession, and people still hate banks. Credit union members love their credit union – they have a 93% satisfaction rating – but we have to reach those non-members."
From now until the 2017 CUNA Government Affairs Conference, many people will be working "night and day" to flesh out this first phase and gear up for phase two, Kiker said.
Added Dorton, "We are on the side of the angels. We need to amplify our voices."
The members of the Awareness Advisory Group are:
Teresa Freeborn, Xceed Financial CU, El Segundo, Calif., chairwoman; Gary Vien, Suncoast CU, Tampa, Fla., vice-chair; Mark Rapp, SchoolsFirst CU, Santa Ana, Calif.; John Uchida, Space Age FCU, Aurora, Colo.; Tom Berquist, BECU, Tukwila, Wash.; Frank Weidner, Wings Financial CU, Apple Valley, Minn.; Barb Bowker, PSECU, Harrisburg, Pa.; John Bratsakis, the Maryland-DC CU Association, Columbia, Md.; Michelle Hunter, Credit Union of Southern California, Anaheim, Calif.; Myles Bristowe, PSCU, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Denise Gabel, the Northwest Credit Union Association, Seatac, Wash.; Mick Trevey, CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, Wis.; and, Samantha Smyth-Paxson, CO-OP, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
