SYLVANIA, Ohio-Thinking it's time to have a little fun-at the banks' expense-Directions CU has turned to three humorous TV commercials that have attracted young members and raised the credit union's name awareness.
Three TV spots ran in 2009 and helped bring in 5,526 new members-many of them Gen Y-and raised name awareness by 37% following a year in which DCU changed its name. During its annual advertising competition, the CUNA Marketing Council recently recognized the "Life is easier with Directions" commercials for Best Use of Humor.
"We thought it was a really good time with the problems the banks are having to get our message out and steal some customers," said Brenda Covrett, VP growth and development. "The commercials appeal to people, cut through clutter, and with times being a little down now, humor is a nice change of pace from many of the financial messages we're seeing."
Three 30-second commercials were produced for $64,000. One targets Gen Y, another Boomers, and the final spot appeals to seniors. The Gen Y spot ran most often. All three show a couple driving a car and needing help with a financial problem. The vehicle's navigation system comes on and begins talking to them and "directs" them to DCU for the solution. It also pokes a little fun at banks.
"We did that subtly," Covrett said. "We tried to get the message out that it's time people look in different directions for a financial institution, and that tied into the struggles the banks are having."
Spending a lot of money on TV is new for DCU, but Covrett said the economy played a role in the decision to spend $135,000 on media placement for TV, which ran for nine months. "The market is tighter, banks have cut back a lot on their advertising, and we found that we could buy media cheaper than in previous years. So there is not only less clutter, we got great deals-a lot of two-for-ones. We got some really good bargains on cable. Air time on local TV stations was less expensive, as well."
With supporting radio and print, the campaign cost a total of $260,000.
What pleased DCU the most, Covrett said, is the boost in name awareness that was confirmed by its annual telephone survey in which the credit union randomly calls consumers to determine its name awareness. "It was great to see our numbers come back so strong."
