MERIDEN, Conn.—Small credit unions in Connecticut are set to receive marketing assistance for the rest of 2015 thanks to a partnership between the Connecticut CU League and a marketing firm specializing in credit union promotions.
"In conversation with CEOs one of the major areas we recognized was a limitation for credit unions was that a CEO of a small credit union is wearing a lot of hats, so in addition o being the CEO and HR person and the compliance guru," CEOs also are often in charge of marketing efforts at small CUs, said Jill Nowacki, president and CEO of the Connecticut league. "A lot of times that's the hat the CEO is least comfortable wearing. They don't necessarily feel like they're the best resource for doing that."
Together with its small CU task force, the league began looking for ways that small CUs in the state can collaborate. The result is a partnership between the league and South Carolina-based Your Marketing Co., which specializes in credit union marketing. The partnership applies to credit unions with assets of $25 million or less that do not have conflicting fields of membership, and will provide free creative services as well as general branch collateral and statement stuffers.
"A credit union who serves the bakers in Greenwich is not competing with a credit union that serves healthcare workers in the northeast corner of the state," said Nowacki. "But they both want auto loans, so why not have them use the same creative concepts to get the word out there?"
About 39 Connecticut CUs are eligible for the marketing assistance, which will primarily be print-based.
"These are primarily SEG-based credit union that aren't looking at mass marketing; they're looking at more niche marketing," said Nowacki. "A lot of the requests from credit unions have been for print promotions specific to what could be included in direct communications that they have with their members or in lobby posters or break-room posters, because many of these credit unions are on-site. They're partnered with the SEGs they serve in many cases, so they have the opportunity to be putting posters up in the break room of a company where their membership is employed."
The first campaign, launching this month will focus on auto lending and encourage members to refinance their loans at the credit union if there is an opportunity to save money. About 25% of eligible CUs are expected to take part. The second campaign, set to run starting in July, will focus on home equity loans. The third campaign's focus has not been determined yet, and Nowacki said the league will reach out to CUs to determine if credit unions are still interested n loan promotions or want to move in another direction.
What's Small, Anyway?
In order to be eligible for the marketing assistance, CUs must have assets of $25 million or less—half of the asset level NCUA uses for its definition of a small credit union.
The reason behind that differentiation, Nowacki said, is because the median-sized CU in Connecticut is just $18 million.
"Right now, over half of our credit unions are under $18 million in the stae, so part of [the decision to stick to $25 million or less] came from a numbers situation where we were looking at hitting a critical mass, but not necessarily overwhelming Your Marketing Co. with the number of potential clients they might have coming in."
She added that as credit unions grow above $25 million they are more often "broadly competing against one another, versus the credit unions who are more specifically SEG-based without overlapping fields of membership."
Your Marketing Co. is donating the creative component of the campaign, and print materials are being underwritten by the league, which has on-site resources for oversized poster printing and more. Some additional services—such as small customizations to the creative collateral or additional printing services—are available to credit unions for a small fee, said Nowacki.
More than 800 miles separate the Connecticut league's headquarters from Your Marketing Co., but Nowacki said that while the company may not technically be local, "I really see them as local to the credit union industry. They've been a strong supporter of a number of different credit union initiatives across the movement and are certainly knowledgeable about credit unions, and that was really appealing to us."
Definition of Success
With promotions set to run throughout 2015, the league plans to keep in close contact with participating CUs to track growth and success throughout the campaign. The real challenge, however, will be combatting a declining member base in the state.
"Throughout 2014, we lost about 1% of credit union membership statewide," said Nowacki. "Part of that may have to do with the declining population of Connecticut, but the population declined at a rate of 0.1%, whereas credit unions declined at 1%. Nationally, one in three Americans is a credit union member, but here in Connecticut we're at 24%, so it's less than one in four."
The league has adopted a consumer-facing brand for the state's CUs promoting a shared vision of consumers choosing CUs as their best financial partner. "In order to get to that place where we're realizing that vision," said Nowacki, "we need to have all credit unions positioned to increase awareness of all credit unions for consumers."
