HOLLYWOOD - Members of First Entertainment FCU will have a little bit of help navigating the credit union’s website, thanks to three “Personal Assistants.”
Roy MacKinnon, First Entertainment’s vice president of marketing, told Credit Union Journal beginning the morning of June 23, members who log on to the credit union’s site can “audition” one of three virtual assistants–known as “The Brit,” “The Starlet” or “The Surfer.”
“The whole idea was to have two sites in one,” MacKinnon explained. “People don’t have to audition a personal assistant, they can use the old-school navigation bar at the top. We wanted to do something different, and I knew video is a possible way to connect with the next gen of members, 15 to 35.
MacKinnon said First Entertainment wanted to “infotain,” or provide information in a fun way. “We wanted to pay homage to our own industry, and reach people who just don’t want to read. We think we might actually be able to get through to somebody with this channel, rather than just copy on the site. We want them to say, ‘Yeah, First Entertainment has home loans.’”
‘Please Pick Me’
First Entertainment gave CU Journal access to a beta preview site to “audition” the three Personal Assistant candidates. Members will be greeted with a notice that states: “Personal Assistants are here to provide you with information (and with any luck, a laugh or two). Audition all three and choose the one you like best. He or she will be close by to offer additional information as you browse this site.”
There are three auditions available for each potential assistant, for a total of nine video clips. Audition No. 1 is labeled, “The Pitch: Begging for Your Attention,” and consists of, as the name implies, each of the actors saying some version of “Please, pick me.” Audition No. 2 is “Talent Bank: Celebrity Impersonations.” Don’t miss The Brit doing a Munchkin song and dance number from “The Wizard of Oz.” Audition No. 3 is “Everybody’s a Writer: Pitch an Idea for a Movie.” Would you believe “I Love Lucy” meets “Star Wars”?
Canadian Inspiration
MacKinnon said his inspiration came from “Julie,” an avatar on the website of Coast Capital Savings in Vancouver.
“She is a virtual representative for the credit union, and has a funny way of relaying its products and services,” he explained. “I read about it in a publication in August of 2006, went to the site and watched it in awe. When I saw it, I wanted my own version that would speak to our membership. It is only natural we would go down the Hollywood road. Our members certainly are more off the wall. We wanted to give people a choice, so they can audition three personal assistants.”
First Entertainment worked with a company based in Omaha, Neb., named Ayres, Kahler & Sacco. MacKinnon said the firm “connected” with the CU, and put on the best proposal of 10 reviewed. “They also agreed to do the video within our budget, where the others had a problem. They have done banks in the Midwest, but we are their first credit union client.”
First Entertainment is in the process of changing Internet hosts. MacKinnon said the servers from its new host will shoot out a different address than most members have bookmarked, so it might take 24 to 36 hours for everyone to see the personal assistants properly.
Most of the credit union’s members are in the Los Angeles area, however, and they should see the audition page when they log on on or after June 23, he said.
Big Future For Online Video?
First Entertainment is pulling out all the stops to promote the new website feature. MacKinnon said it placed a number of posters and materials in its branches, heavily advertised in the trades [show business-related publications], both online and in print, plus it sent out 24,000 e-mails and 30,000 direct mail postcards.
The CU even created a sneak preview site at Goheadlaugh.org, which has had approximately 7,000 hits since it launched June 4.
MacKinnon said one of the things First Entertainment expects to do with online video is take advantage of the Internet’s viral capacity. He said management hopes some of the video bits are so funny or intriguing, people will forward them to their friends.
“In three months, I hope to see our home page hits increase from 100,000 to 200,000, and in six months, I hope we only lose 50,000 of that,” MacKinnon said. “I’d like to maintain a new average, six months from launch date, of 150,000 hits per month–50% more than we do now. I’d like to double membership requests online from 50 per month to 100 per month.
“There are lots of future possibilities if this takes off,” MacKinnon continued. “We have members who want to put up their videos, so we want to host a site where our members can post samples of their work–screenwriting, songwriting, other things, and look for jobs. We want to build an online community at First Entertainment, with a working title of FirstTube.”
After nine months, MacKinnon hopes to see upward trending in new memberships, “because ultimately, that is what this is all about. We want people to join, just because they want to be a part of it.”(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
