PORTLAND, Ore.-Social media was the vehicle, but branding was the purpose for a campaign Weber Marketing Group designed for $3-billion OnPoint Community Credit Union here.
OnPoint was chartered in 1932 at Portland Teachers Credit Union. It remained an education-based CU until 2005, when it was granted a community charter that allowed it to serve 10 Oregon counties. With the new charter came the new name.
Seattle-based Weber Marketing was part of the rebranding and renaming effort, and its CEO, Mark Weber, said the strategy was to ensure the credit union did not want to forget its roots while welcoming new members from the area.
"Obviously, the new name did not speak to the original educational field of membership," he recalled. "Education involves many people, well beyond teachers and administrators and including the students, parents and the community, so we created the OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education.
"The program awards a total of $45,000 to local teachers and schools. The teacher chosen as Educator of the Year gets their mortgage (or rent) paid for one year, plus $5,000 is given to his or her school.
Weber said the contest was inspired by those used by large corporations.
"We developed an idea that was social media driven, but the purpose was branding for OnPoint and the theme was focus in the community," he said. "The contest looks for the best teacher, someone who sets kids on fire and changes lives. We built a microsite to drive traffic for people to talk about the teachers they liked."
Esteemed People
After nominations were taken online, OnPoint and Weber Marketing created a panel of "esteemed" people in the community, Weber said. The panel takes the top 25 candidates and narrows those down to a list of five finalists. Voting takes place on the microsite by the community.
According to Weber, an "effective" post on a Facebook page or a microsite by a credit union draws 15 to 20 posts from the community. The first Excellence in Education Prize drew 830 posts.
"The response was phenomenal," he said. "People posted and they shared the site with their family and friends. As voting was going on, it helped raise awareness of a special product OnPoint developed that helped teachers buy a home in the community where they teach.
"OnPoint and Weber Marketing are about to launch year three of the contest, and Weber said, "it has taken on a life of its own. Parents, teachers and students all love it."
