WATERFORD, Mich.-While hosting informational videos on a website was once considered pricey, decreasing bandwidth and production costs have created new opportunities and offerings within the credit union industry.
"These videos are on our homepage and attract a fair amount of conversation among our members," said Oakland County Credit Union Marketing Manager Ken Chmelko. "We generally keep the videos around one minute, because we don't want to distract members from their original purpose, which in online banking."
With 20,000 members, four branches and $177 million in assets, Oakland County has, for the last three years, worked with Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL) and its Credit Union Broadcast Experience (CUBE) TV. "They gave use directions, basically a recipe to follow," said Chmelko, who called the annual fees that are charged "reasonable. The goal with our videos is to create a memorable experience."
Inspired by YouTube, CUBE TV was launched in 2008 and currently works with approximately 300 credit unions. "The content we have that credit unions like the most are short training videos, especially compliance pieces," said MCUL CEO, David Adams. In 2008, CUBE TV posted 49 videos with 2,000 views. Last year, 141 videos were posted with 22,000 views. To date, there are 632 videos in its library.
"About eight years ago we started this video technology website with the intention of creating a credit union video channel, and we called it CU TV, but we didn't copyright the brand and someone else snatched it up," said Adams. "Our goal is to create educational content with weekly reporter/broadcaster quality industry updates that can be shared with other credit union leagues and organizations."
Not Just Talking Heads
A former journalism major, Chmelko understands inverted pyramid messaging. "I remember one of my professors telling us it takes no effort for a reader to stop reading, so when writing scripts I think about every sentence I write with that thought in mind," he said.
Also serving as director and producer, Chmelko uses a $400 Canon camera, a tripod and production-quality microphone when making videos. "This isn't extremely difficult and it gives you the opportunity to be creative. The main goal is to be memorable so the member keeps watching and will want to hit play the next time we post a video."
Video offerings and partnerships are on the rise not only due to falling prices of hosting content, but also due to consumer demand. For example, eMarketer, a market research company, estimates that the number of people who view videos online will increase by nearly 6% in 2013, compared to last year.
It isn't just credit unions using videos. In Madison, Wis., CUNA Mutual Group Sales Market Manager Donna Dyer said of the content that company has produced, "These videos allow us to tell our story in a more effective way, reaching credit unions with a fresh voice and through a medium that has more impact than we could communicate with otherwise. It has opened new options for us that help us take advantage of the latest technology and a more dynamic ways to communicate."
Late last year, CUNA Mutual Group partnered with the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues (CCUL), which has recently introduced C-Sun Studios. "We wanted to work with the league because working within the system was important to us," said Dyer. The initiative allowed CUNA Mutual to merge the Ontario, California-based C-Sun Studios with its internal studio located at the company headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin.
'New To The Process'
"There is a greater need to provide video content from webcast streams to producing, script writing, storyboarding and editing videos," said Vice President of Digital Media for C-Sun Studios, Joe Keller. With a career spanning 20 years, Keller previously worked at Western Bridge Corporate FCU/WesCorp, serving as director of web technology from 2004 to 2011. CCUL hired Keller in July 2012, which coincided with the groundbreaking of the studio.
C-Sun Studios opened in September 2012 and counts among its client the California Housing Finance Agency and Credit Union Direct. "A lot of the credit unions we are working with now are new to the process," said Keller. "With CUNA Mutual, for example, they came to work with us to create a video on their new iPad app they were promoting."
Branded Messaging
Like all technical initiatives, there is often a matriculation process. Oakland County CU is currently going through a branding transformation, including a new logo and website. To further enhance its video presence, the credit union is hiring CU Solutions to create six new videos. "We want a more professional look and they can help us graphically," said Chmelko. "So while I will still likely write the scripts, we are going to spend a few dollars to get top-notch videos produced," said Chmelko.
Whereas OCCU's prior videos were often time sensitive and removed from the website once a new video was ready, the CU Solutions-produced videos will be fixtures.
"These new videos will be more so permanent. On the mortgage page, for example, we will have a message from our mortgage manager," said Chmelko. "And, we will include member testimonials, which I think will work well because it is always good to hear directly from members about their experiences."
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