CLIFTON, Va. -
His keynote titled, Postcards from Growthville, USA, is a hint of what to expect. In his travels about the country, Lucas has advised credit unions and CUSOs in developing membership growth strategies and product and marketing strategies that really work. He sends out those postcards from cities and towns where he visits CUs both mega-big, large, medium and small. They all have the same need: grow or stagnate, with no room for in-between, he said.
Lucas was Vice President of Global Marketing & Business Development for 1st Advantage Federal Credit Union from 1995 to 2000. 1st Advantage is one of the largest credit unions in the world, ranking in the top 1% in membership and top 3% in asset size serving a truly global membership base with households in all 50 U.S. states & 27 foreign countries.
During his five-year tenure at 1st Advantage, in a very competitive geographic region of 72 local credit unions and 27 commercial banks, he reversed a two-year negative growth curve to grow over 30% net growth average. During this period he also maintained an average loan-to-share ratio of 87% while growing net capital assets from 7.8% to 10%.
Since then, he's helped many credit unions and CUSOs to obtain similar results. Lucas is a CUNA Diamond Award winner for marketing excellence nationwide. He's also a multiple Maximum Award winner for marketing excellence within the state of Virginia and was selected in 1998 by Virginia Business Magazine as the Maverick Brand Manager of the Year. Lucas is the Credit Union Journal's monthly marketing columnist.
"The marketing message today has to be crystal clear," said Lucas. "It's about getting rid of the clutter, losing the too-cute approach and getting to the benefits. It's essentially about delivering just the message the member (or potential) member is waiting to hear," he said.
Now, most marketers think they know their own markets, but how confident are they in that? "What I'm going to leave attendees with are useful ideas about how to build and sustain niche relationships," said Lucas.
Lucas' presentation will come with lively music, photos and graphics that make for an audience that remembers the message because the medium is as entertaining as well as informative. He calls it "old-yime marketing, for today's market."
Over the course of his career, Lucas said that he'd seen a lot of well-intentioned programs fall short of their targets for a variety of reasons, including poor planning, lack of commitment or failure to believe and follow-through. Lucas always gets right to the point, and he is a popular (in demand) speaker at CU conferences and CU strategic planning sessions because he keeps his promise. His up-front point of view can't ever be confused with "market-speak" or loaded with jargon and buzzwords. Lucas demands clarity, creates total re-branding programs and marketing initiatives that are clear, concise and effective.
Help jump-start your own CU or CUSO's outreach for new membership and learn how you can increase the number and type of products and services your existing membership uses.
