SAN DIEGO – Can a credit union grow in the current economic environment? The answer is a resounding “yes” according to the more than a dozen speakers and experts who have been speaking to Credit Union Journal’s Grow Show in its opening day. But that key to growth, suggested numerous credit union leaders, lies in being focused on identifying a market niche and serving it better than any other provider.
Todd Kern, VP-marketing with USA FCU here in San Diego, for instance, noted it previously had been “trying to be everything to everyone and in the process we weren’t being anything to anyone.” The credit union since has refocused around a new brand and has especially targeted younger members, succeeding in lowering the average age of its members over the past two years by 17%.
Focus isn’t all that’s necessary. Several speakers told Grow Show this is not the time to pull in the marketing efforts. “I can’t emphasize enough the need to take risk,” said Mark Weber, president of Seattle-based Weber Marketing Group. “This is not a marketing campaign, it is transformational. Added Roy MacKinnon, VP-Marketing with First Entertainment Credit Union in Hollywood, Calif., “Find your own outrageousness and don’t be afraid.”
