DUBLIN, Ohio-For $14,000 in member incentives, Ohio Healthcare FCU increased loan growth by 20.3% last year, and that's after a 2011 during which it grew loans 8% year over year.
The $14,000 Is what OHFCU spent on prize money for the "Great Loan Escape," which drove $18.3 million in loan volume in 2012. The across-the-board loan campaign awarded cash prizes-including a $5,000 grand prize-to those who took out loans of at least $2,500, as well to members who had existing loans above that amount.
"We are very, very pleased with the program," said Marketing Director Jaime Crooks, who said $18,900 was spent on the effort overall. "We like to do something different every year with our loan offers to keep members interested and talking about the credit union."
Encouraging members to talk about Ohio Healthcare wasn't difficult, since the Great Loan Escape had a lot of moving parts-including web voting that impacted who would eventually win the grand-prize-to keep members involved all year long. There were weekly $25 winners selected from any member who went online to a special Great Loan Escape microsite (greatloanescape.com) and answered a weekly trivia question correctly. One weekly winner was chosen from among correct answers. Crooks said the questions educated members about the $51-million credit union's community endeavors and other promotions.
"Each month via a random drawing we also covered the monthly payment for one Great Loan Escape participant, up to $500," said Crooks.
The Grand Prize
For the grand prize, Great Loan Escape participants were given the opportunity to go to the giveaway's microsite and answer the question: "Why should you be chosen as our Great Loan Escape winner?" The answers were posted on the website and the public was invited to vote online for on the ones they liked best.
While ultimately the grand-prize decision fell into the hands of a judging panel of CU staff, members were encouraged to influence the judges' decision by getting their friends and families to vote during the two-week online poll in December.
"We chose the grand-prize winner in December based on how much support the member generated for their answer through online votes and by what they said," said Crooks. Two runner-up awards of $1,000 were given away, as well.
Crooks believes the campaign demonstrates how a credit union can generate a lot of public interest and make people aware the credit union offers loans without spending a lot of money. "We did no media advertising at all-no TV, no radio, no print. We just used our website, branch signage, and visits to our sponsors. Of course, we counted on a lot of word-of-mouth."
Great Escape, Crooks explained, was a theme used to convey to members that they could get out from under some of their loan debt, and that resonated she said.
"Credit unions always look for ways to return value to their members in the form of better rates and fewer fees," added Crooks. "We wanted to take that philosophy a step further by giving our members the opportunity to win a tangible debt reduction or a break from their loan payments."
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