In the midst of the financial crisis, credit unions should do more than simply deliver a message about credit union safety. Credit unions should also promote that they are trusted financial partners, stresses the Michigan Credit Union League, which is expanding its $1.5-million statewide "CU Difference" cooperative advertising campaign by $700,000 over the next six weeks to emphasize that very point.
The league is also making the new campaign materials available to other credit union leagues and individual credit unions affiliated with CUNA across the country.
"In tumultuous times, when people are seeking answers, looking for someone they can trust, credit unions stand out," reminds league President Dave Adams. "It's up to us as industry leaders to figure out how we can pool our resources to get that message out."
Positive response to the league's new advertising proposal came quickly, Adams said. "Our member credit unions are lock step with us. I think their mood is somber, realizing how serious the financial crisis is. But they have a positive feeling about the huge opportunity for credit unions."
The Michigan league gained commitment for $400,000 from its member credit unions and is adding $300,000 from the league and its CUcorp subsidiary to drive a campaign that emphasizes credit union strength and growth, and portrays CUs as trusted lenders, advisors, and financial partners. The campaign's theme is "Love + Trust = My Credit Union."
"We want to move quickly to deliver that positive message, encouraging people to consider switching to a credit union," said Adams.
Adams acknowledged that the additional funding for this year's campaign is a "big" request of its membership, and MCUL is asking for more support. The league hopes to expand next year's cooperative advertising budget by 30% to stress the new "trust" message.
"Even though margins are tight and credit unions are challenged on the bottom line, we are asking our credit unions to think big right now," Adams said. "We hope to spend about $2 million next year and we are in the process of lining up funding for that."
The new CU Difference campaign focuses on "real people telling their real stories about how their credit unions have helped them with their lives," Adams explained. "The campaign will be very flexible so that it can use current events, such as the financial crisis, to emphasize what matters most to consumers and how credit unions can help them."
The campaign consists of two phases. The first phase is radio advertising in October that will run statewide for six weeks, and the second phase will include a customizable radio, web, and collateral campaign in 2009.
The radio ads and web-based videos will be housed at www.lovemycreditunion.org, a site that will also permit credit union members to post videos and blog entries to tell how credit unions have made a positive impact on their lives. Information about the campaign can be found at www.cudifference.mcul.org.
"Given the great positive message opportunities facing credit unions, we wanted to make all of our campaign creative ads available to any state league, group of credit unions, or individual credit unions outside the state of Michigan, as long as the ads do not allow tags by individual credit unions," said Adams. "This is an opportunity for credit unions individually or collectively to promote the credit union brand. For a modest investment, collateral materials and website plug-ins will be customizable for individual credit unions that support the campaign."
According to Adams, the MCUL program is the largest voluntarily funded credit union cooperative advertising campaign in the nation. "It's phenomenal the amount of support we were able to generate in two weeks," he said. "This shows that credit union cooperative advertising works."
More info: www.mcul.org; www.cucorp.com.
