SAN DIEGO-Credit unions in the United States should take note of the power of collaborative marketing campaigns.
That was the message from a panel of marketers that included visitors from Guatemala and founders of a company that applies neuroscience to marketing.
Oswaldo Oliva, CEO of Guatemala's credit union trade association, said prior to 2007 his country's CUs simply took marketshare from each other. But five years ago those same credit unions began planning collectively, he explained, the result being a better job of reaching the public with a focused message.
"We did not want to give up all the history that was in the individual brands of the credit unions in Guatemala," Oliva said in Spanish, as translated by Victor Coro. "We held a meeting and standardized products and processes."
The brand name now associated with credit unions in Guatemala is "Micoope." Mi is the equivalent of "mine" in Spanish, and a "coope" is a cooperative.
The collective marketing efforts in the Central American country, which launched officially in November 2008, have brought "a lot of attention" to CUs and have had a "strong impact" on the market, Oliva continued.
"All credit unions were repainted with the same colors, giving them a national brand presence," he reported. "An awareness campaign launched with advertising achieved 78% awareness. Before the campaign credit unions in Guatemala were seen as small and weak. Now, the largest cell phone company runs its payments through credit unions, which generates income."
