SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -
For Register-Guard Federal Credit Union, inability to reach its members using standard marketing tools has been a situation with which the $16.3-million institution has learned to cope since its founding in 1954.
As a single-sponsor credit union, Register-Guard FCU serves employees of and independent contractors to the Register-Guard, the primary daily newspaper serving Eugene, neighboring Springfield and surrounding Lane County, Ore. As part of the agreement between the newspaper's union and management, communications with employees may not be conducted on company time or use company resources. That includes all potential providers, including the credit union, which exists as an independent entity two miles from the newspaper's main office.
"Common marketing tools such as payroll stuffers and articles in employee newsletters are not available to us and never have been," explained Carolyn Smith, Register-Guard FCU's CEO. "We don't see that as good or bad. We find other ways to communicate with individual members."
The "other ways" referred to by Smith, who arrived at Register-Guard FCU four years ago after spending more than 18 years at SELCO CU in nearby Eugene, strongly emphasize personalized service. The 2,100-member credit union is allowed to maintain a locked drop box at the newspaper's office, in which members can make deposits, submit loan applications and conduct credit union business. Smith or another of Register-Guard FCU's eight employees make daily visits to the box, taking time to cultivate relations and talk with members they see during their visits.
Some members have begun to utilize the system in reverse, calling and asking for various forms and materials from the credit union, which staff members then deliver to those members when they make their daily visit to the newspaper. In this way, Smith says, the credit union can add a highly personal hands-on element to its marketing efforts without violating the covenant between union and management.
Ironically, the newspaper's circulation department helps Register-Guard FCU market to its primary independent contractors, the carriers who deliver the papers door to door. Like many markets, liability issues have forced the Register-Guard to utilize adult carriers who deliver the newspapers from their cars. The newspaper circulation staff includes CU promotional materials in the bundle wrappers that surround the papers they drop off for home delivery. The CU primarily markets auto loans, payday alternative loans and cash cards to the carriers, financial products they have discovered appeal to this particular audience, Smith said.
In both cases, strong emphasis is put on cultivating family members as way to expand both the field of membership and reduce the average age of members, which right now hovers at 49. Smith knows a stagnant, aging population is not a growth market for the full-service credit union and makes a concerted effort to attract family members, particularly children. Register-Guard FCU also networks heavily with other Oregon credit unions looking for tested ways to operate more efficiently and better serve its members, thereby keeping product and process development costs to a minimum.
Special efforts to reach kids 10 and younger and an open invitation to bring young members to the credit union's annual meeting-with corresponding prizes and activities to keep them entertained-characterize the credit union outreach efforts. The credit union leans heavily on its Dinosaur Club to reach the younger set and distributes educational materials to area school systems in hopes of creating a more visible presence.
Family membership is another way to bolster an otherwise flat membership base. Like other print media, employment at the Register-Guard newspaper isn't growing and doesn't appear to be changing any time soon. The ability to broaden household penetration, coupled with emphasizing the portability of membership for those who leave the area, are twin hopes to which the credit union has pinned its future, said Smith. The personal attention the credit union has given its members over the years doesn't hurt either, she added.
"Personal service drives our success," said Smith. "We have a dynamic group of members who know they can go anywhere, but choose to stay with us due the service. That level of personalization has become our hallmark.
