SAN DIEGO — With his studded collar and fierce name, Spike is not about to back down just because the economy's in flux-just one of the reasons USA FCU chose the 59-pound bulldog to be its official "spokesdog" for the credit union.
Spike is the brainchild of Seattle-based Weber Marketing Group. Mark Weber, CEO of the consultancy, said the campaign featuring Spike was designed to attract younger members, ages 18 to 35.
"Also, it was to bring traffic into some of the credit union's newer branches, which were not well known in the community," he explained.
Attendees of Credit Union Journal's Grow Show, to take place at the Hotel Del Coronado here April 27-29, will get a chance to hear about Spike from Weber himself, as well as Todd Kern, USA FCU's vice president of marketing.
"Spike has been used in different ways and different areas," said Kern. "It is very unique how a symbol can accomplish different things in your credit union."
While many businesses, including credit unions, look to trim their marketing budgets during economic down times, Weber said getting one's name out in the public eye is more important than ever. "Right now we are seeing the classic symptoms of shock," he assessed. "The first stage is disbelief, then a little bit of denial, then people wonder what to do. Many people stop at that third stage, but others move on and realize it is going to happen, so they start marketing themselves to build business."
Generating New Members
In the fourth quarter of 2007, Weber Marketing implemented a new campaign for USA FCU. The use of Spike and the tagline, "Say no to the fat cats," was designed to generate new members-which Weber pointed out remains a problem for every credit union in the country.
"We wanted a unique campaign that took a fresh approach to generating new members," he recalled. "Also, it was a generational marketing campaign-it was built for both Gen Y and Gen X. We had a philosophical belief that there is too much attention paid to Gen Y alone, and people forget about Gen X and its need for financial services."
The results have been "nothing short of massive," according to Weber. He said one-day sales events have drawn crowds of 1,000 people to the credit union's branches. At these events USA FCU sold its products and services to members, and there were drawings and giveaways of merchandise dubbed "Spike's Stuff."
"Spike is edgy and fun, but he has a message-dogs need owners," Weber said. "We took a humorous, fun approach to giving Spike his own voice. His style and approach was very different from anything in the market."
The Spike campaign began with a two-month goal to generate 400 net new members, "which we blew out in two weeks," he declared. At the end of four weeks-half the campaign's length-USA FCU had 1,200 net new members.
"It was a complete multi-media campaign, plus events, PR, branch sales events, advertising, direct mail and online marketing," said Weber. "The credit union's CEO, Mary Cunningham, showed up at the kickoff event driving a Harley in full leather. This helped capture the staff's attention and enthusiasm. The key is not just the growth in new members, it revived the whole organization to be inspired and build relationships the right way."
USA FCU's Kern said for him, "what has been unique in this situation after a long time in the entertainment and music industries is to help people think outside the box and take the handcuffs off as far as creativity; what you can and cannot do."
The issue of the "fat cat" came up toward the end of the campaign, Weber recalled. He said the marketers and USA FCU management realized "we had built something that had legs-we could build on it and take it a whole lot further."
A decision was made to make Spike the "spokesdog" as part of a rebranding.
"Everyone was loving Spike! So what we started to realize was this fun dog could show what was different about a credit union from a bank," Weber continued. "There was a lot of frustration with banks in the San Diego community, so Spike started saying, 'Just say no to the fat cats.'"
A Branding Revolution
Next came a series of communications that proclaimed, "We're as different as cats and dogs." That in turn led to what Weber labeled the "ultimate": Spike began to gain characters. He appeared in ads dressed as Che Guevara, leader of a "branding revolution." There were T-shirts that said, "We're kind of like a bank, but we don't suck," and the brand tagline-which Weber said was the essence underpinning the brand-was "180 degrees from banking."
"We love that tagline," he said. "It allows us to say what a credit union is. A lot of people, especially young people, don't know they can do banking at a credit union. And this tells them the credit union does it a whole lot better."
Kern said the "big hook" for those who come to his and Weber's Grow Show session will be learning branding CUs can be done uniquely in today's world. "Especially in a fun, inviting way that can engage younger consumers," he offered. "It has really been fun doing what we've been doing because people in the credit union have been galvanized and excited. One of the things we've tried to do is bring a cult-like atmosphere; not only for the employees but also members and potential members out there."
Added Weber: "Spike is only getting bigger; he has a lot of momentum. It has become one of the more well-differentiated brands and one of the most fun ways to tell the credit union story you could have. It will be an incredibly fun and enlightening session for people. Todd is a Gen Xer with a background in the music industry. He is new to credit unions and has a fresh perspective that is very relevant for doing generational marketing."
In The Know to Grow
What: Credit Union Journal's
When: April 27-29
Where: Hotel del Coronado, San Diego
Who: For CU professionals desiring to grow their operations
Why: Because if you don't grow, well ...
