LAKE JACKSON, Texas - Texas Dow Employees CU has taken down a website that aggressively spoke to the bank failures and other problems in the financial markets.
The decision to take down the site followed a letter from the FDIC's general counsel to Texas CU Commissioner Harold Feeney. In the letter, the FDIC's Sara A. Kelsey expressed "concern" regarding what she said were "misleading statements regarding the banking industry."
On the site, which had used the address www.tdecusafeandsound.org, the credit union had sought to highlight the problems at other financial institutions while also reaffirming the safety of the public's money in TDECU.
The $1.3-billion CU was using radio, TV and the Internet to spread the "safe and sound" message. "If you're not upset at the current banking crisis, you should be," TDECU CEO Edward Speed says in one advertisement, before turning to the differences between banks and credit unions. "Unlike the banks and brokers, we're not motivated by Wall Street greed."
Prior to pulling the website, Speed told Credit Union Journal he had become "fed up" with fielding phone calls and other inquiries about the financial security of his members' funds.
"We started getting flooded with calls in our call centers and people coming into our branches. I would estimate 2,000 calls or more," he said. "We pretty much got fed up with this and decided to differentiate ourselves... and be very, very clear with all the talk of bailouts that credit unions don't need bailouts. We (TDECU) don't need a bailout and we're not in trouble."
Speed conceded that the ads were "aggressive," but the tone had more to do with his frustration that credit unions were "lumped in" with big banks in the current crisis. The ads did implore the viewer or listener to join a credit union and to consider TDECU, but there was little else in the way of a sales pitch.
"(Garnering additional members) was never the intent," he said. "(But) we hope that people will see us as a safe and sound financial institution."
The Texas Bankers Association responded by noting small banks also have not gotten caught up in the housing and credit meltdown. Speed promised to yank the ads if area banks ran their own advertisements. He had also pledged to re-shoot the ads alongside a community bank representative or even run bank advertisements in commercial slots that TDECU has purchased.
After reviewing the campaign, Texas Commissioner Feeney requested the CU "delete" any references that implied deposits in banks are not as safe in deposits in credit unions, and further called on TDECU to "cease any activities that may foster public alarm and threaten the stability of the deposit insurance system."
The entire "saturation campaign" cost the credit union less than $100,000 and Speed anticipated it would pay off as it made the brand more visible. Though the CU has not calculated related ROI, Speed said based on anecdotal evidence, the message was heard and well received.
"Every response we receive from our members and the public has been positive and appreciative," he said.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
