SEATTLE-One credit union plans to share how it turned $3,000 into millions in national media for its Seven Principles brand and the CU industry.
Jill Vicente, VP/chief marketing officer for Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union, here, will lead a panel titled, "Principles & Pay-It-Forward Press," at Credit Union Journal's upcoming Grow Show in San Diego.
Vicente will teach how the $518-million CU mix of viral media, public relations and a simple question-"If we gave you $10, what would you do for someone else?"-brought meaning to the credit union message.
Seattle Metropolitan budgeted $3,000 for a giveaway, and credit gave away $2,000 of the funds $10 at a time by asking its members, "If we gave you $10, what would you do for someone else?" The responses were videotaped and placed on its website at www.7principles.coop, with the winner given another $1,000 for the cause with which they had said they'd share the funds.
Vicente said that CUs need to find a way to communicate with their members, and to teach the credit union mission, "which regular people don't understand."
"I'll be speaking about putting together an event that differentiates you from other financial institutions," she said.
"It's a struggle to show people how we are different from banks," she said. "I'm going to share the story of our process and when we came to talking about seven principles."
Vicente said she hopes that attendees of her session will learn the value of not being afraid to try new mediums, including YouTube and Facebook, and others not traditionally considered by credit unions as a way to communicate.
"A lot of credit unions haven't done that," she said. She also wants to tell credit union executives the importance of planning.
"You really need to plan out what you are doing," she said, "really setting goals, and how that's a benefit. I also might talk about how to talk to the public so that we are all speaking the same language."
Vicente hopes attendees will ask questions following her session.
"I definitely would like some interaction," she said.
