Of Rorschach and “The Video”

I am here to confess my sins when it comes to the masterful CU Difference video that debuted last week courtesy of Larissa Walkiw, who is the Young & Free Alberta spokesperson. The video, which I first saw Thursday on the CU Brand Blog, is making big waves.

But an exchange on the CU Skeptic Blog yesterday has brought me in touch with a real problem with my personal reaction to this video, and my sense is that others might be falling into the same trap when viewing this terrific piece of work.

The problem? Essentially, “The Video” became a Rorschach test for what I think the movement lacks.

In looking at the video, I thought it had great potential as a CU viral campaign. In my fantasy, we’d take out the Common Wealth CU and Y&F references and throw this thing on out our web sites. And boy howdy, the young folks would literally melt down servers and bust down doors to join credit unions in response.

At long last, the average age of members would plummet, and the CU Nip Tuck we’ve all imagined would happen!

There’s just one little problem with my fantasy: this video is a specific marketing message that is intended for a specific audience … and that audience is living in a financial service system that is quite a bit different from the one here in the States. (Thanks to Tim McAlpine, I understand that now.)

Taking that thought just one step further - as a marketing message, there’s no way to know five days after rollout whether this video is effective. Unless I’ve missed something, it remains to be seen whether Common Wealth’s ultimate goal - to put fannies into the Young & Free Checking Account - will actually work out … and whether the video is helpful in achieving that goal.

So let’s take a step back here and take a couple of useful lessons from the video based on what we know:

First of all, Larissa is a very talented young woman, and a gifted communicator. But in our rush to praise her, let’s not deify her. There are other Larissas out there waiting to be discovered. All they need is an opportunity.

And that leads me to my second point: the true genius of the Young & Free Campaign lies in its risk. Think about it: Common Wealth literally handed the keys to their brand over to a 19 year old. How many credit unions CEOs, boards and marketers are willing to take that chance?

And perhaps that’s the real issue, and why so many seem to be Rohrschaching this thing. After all, it would be easy for Larissa & Common Wealth to edit their video to fit our perceived needs, but would doing so make our individual credit unions any more palatable to people 25 and under?

High Fives for the Close of Another Year

Wow - yet another year is about to sail right out the door! At this time of the year, lists of the biggest news stories and happenings seem to pop up in the media. Here are a few outstanding credit union happenings & award-winning performances from NC and elsewhere, in no particular order. I welcome your input on your personal CU highlight list for 2007 …

•  Much of the subprime mortgage mess has emerged in the headlines the past few months, but the Center for Responsible Lending in Durham studied the problem carefully long before most people were aware that a crisis loomed. Self Help CU’s Martin Eakes testified before the Senate in February this year, and a number of credit unions stepped up with specific product solutions to the problem in the months that followed. It’s great that we have such passionate advocates for consumers in the NC CU movement!
• State Employees’ Credit Union and Local Government FCU were two such credit unions that developed specific solutions to help refinance members out of these mortgages made by other lenders. As a result of their efforts, “Home for the Holidays” will have a special meaning for more than 500 NC families.
• While those 500 families no doubt love their credit union, a more fun marketing effort happened this year for people who love their hoopty! Carolina Postal Credit Union’s I Love My Hoopty campaign and blog generated a lot of attention, and gave owners of beat up cars everywhere a virtual hangout.
• Matt Davis, the Credit Union Warrior, gets the nod for most creative and cost-effective marketing campaign. Matt created a series of videos to run in conjunction with the credit union’s Football Pick ‘Em contest. As part of the video pitch, Matt encouraged credit union members to sign up for e-statements, offering a chance to win a cash prize. Members increased e-statement participation by 35% in a little more than two months, signing up more than 1,000 members. Total dollar cost of the campaign? A little less than $2,300 - which was the cash prize!       
• Team Little Guy, the rascally band of twelve credit union runners, ran the 208-mile Blue Ridge Relay Race in September. Thanks to the generosity of credit unions and credit union people, TLG raised more than $70,000 for the Micro Community Grants program of the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation! The TLG blog, which chronicled the team’s preparation for and running in the race, received more than 12,000 hits in three months.
• Cooperative award - to the multiple credit unions who linked up with Carolina Postal Credit Union to support Operation CU Troop. Thanks to the efforts of credit unions of all sizes from Charlotte to Reidsville, the holidays will be a little brighter for troops stationed overseas.
• Coolest Social Media Campaign - Young & Free, produced by Currency Marketing for Common Wealth Credit Union in Alberta. We’ve blogged about Y&F in this space before, but check out the site - as they have announced the Young & Free spokesperson - now the real fun begins heading into 2008!
• Coolest CU blogs: Hopewell FCU (OH), Piedmont CU (Danville, VA), Tinfoiling (Mt Lehman, BC CU CEO Gene Blishen) and Verity CU (WA). Credit unions entertaining the idea of starting a blog should check these folks out!  

That’s just a few of my personal favorites from the year that is wrapping up. Feel free to share your own highlights & award list in the comments section!

Finally, I heard a great song performed at a holiday concert this past weekend. It’s a Kwanzaa song titled Eya Ache.  The term Eya Ache, while not directly translatable, means “to bring forth one’s good.” Thank you for bringing forth your good through your work in the credit union industry. Your efforts have great impact on the lives of millions. For this fact and for you, I am very thankful.

Social Media Spotlight … Young & Free Alberta Gets Ready to Announce Winner After Wildly Successful Campaign

(Note: this is an update to a previous post about a Social Media Campaign that is both eye-catching and innovative.)

The applications have been processed, video blogs recorded and the votes tallied in Common Wealth Credit Union’s Young & Free campaign! Young & Free, developed and rolled out a few months ago for Common Wealth by Currency Marketing, enjoyed wild success - much more I’m betting than even the credit union and Currency envisioned.

The campaign was created to call attention to Common Wealth’s free checking product for young adults under the age of 25. The concept is for applicants aged 18-25 to record videos sharing why the credit union should hire them on as a spokesperson for the credit union, as well as a blogger about the social scene in Northern Alberta. Blog readers then got to vote on who they thought should be the spokesperson.

All told, 11 people submitted video applications. From this pool, three finalists … Shane Lamotte, Larissa Walkiw and Paula Mickelson emerged. During the voting period last week, the finalists nabbed a ton of attention on local news and radio programs, and thousands of people visited the blog site to watch the videos and cast their votes.

I wonder how much money it would have cost Common Wealth to garner that kind of media and public attention in a more traditional advertising campaign?  

The winner will be announced Monday, December 10th on the Young & Free site. I suspect that Currency’s Tim McAlpine will have plenty to say about this campaign once it concludes (and he has the chance to catch his breath!). When we hear from Tim, we’ll pass along that information.

Kudos to Tim and Currency for the concept, and to Common Wealth CU for taking a very public chance on this Social Media Campaign. Anyone in credit union land giving serious thought to Social Media should spend a few hours scanning the Y&F site!      

In the South, We’ll Use Duct Tape on Anything …

… even a viral marketing campaign as it turns out. Yours truly got the “press kit” for Carolina Postal Credit Union’s “I Love My Hoopty” campaign … which includes the bumper sticker and duct tape.

So what’s a Hoopty? Well, this video should give you an idea …

So what’s a cheap, clunky car got to do with a credit union? Well, plenty in CPCU’s case. Marketing Diva Deb McLean said the idea came from members, who would come in looking for a small-dollar loan to get a “Hoopty” for delivering the mail (a lot of rural mail carriers don’t get the government issue mail wagon).

So the credit union decided to have a little fun with a term that is well understood and appreciated by their members (it’s easy to cut through the clutter when there isn’t any clutter to begin with …). 

CPCU has also started a blog for all things Hoopty. This blog piece is brilliant - behind every clunker car anyone has ever owned lies at least one great story that looks a lot funnier in the rear view mirror. The Hoopty stories, photos and videos submitted by members will be compiled on the blog, and winners will receive a prize.

Diva Deb says the point of the campaign is not to make a lot of Hoopty loans, but to have fun and to build relationships with members. Check out the blog at http://www.ilovemyhoopty.blogspot.com/ (and feel free to share a Hoopty story here or on the CPCU blog).  

Social Media Spotlight … Man, Those Canadians Have Got It Workin’!

The Partnership Symposium wrapped up last week in Indianapolis, and what a show it was! The folks at Forum Solutions (the Forum CUSO) and Trabian combined to produce a conference spotlighting current innovators and future trends in credit unions.

The contingent of credit union folks from Canada really grabbed a lot of attention during the symposium. Lydia Johnson of Vancity Credit Union did a terrific presentation on the credit union’s Statement of Values and Commitments, and how this document colors all the business decisions they make. Far from empty rhetoric … the values and commitments document shapes not only what products and services Vancity will offer … but also who they are willing to serve and do business with. (In other words … they say no to people and organizations that do not line up with Vancity’s values statement.)

Tim McAlpine of Currency Marketing also delivered the goods in his presentation. Tim announced a campaign he helped develop with Alberta’s Common Wealth CU. Dubbed Young & Free, the campaign is designed to promote Common Wealth’s free checking product while giving young people 19-25 a chance to get hired as a Common Wealth employee/blogger/vlogger/social gadfly for a year. (Edit to add: there’s excellent coverage on Tim and Y&F at the CUES Nexus blog, and at Currency’s CU Brand blog.)

Common Wealth CEO Jeff Mulligan is a blogging and vlogging actively on the site, and its clear from this video post that he is not afraid to poke fun at himself.

The Young & Free blogsite has the distinguishing characteristic of actually giving young people a voice. Kudos to Common Wealth, Tim and Currency for designing a campaign that will do its talking by listening. (And for a young adult audience, I have to believe that’s very refreshing.) I look forward to keeping up with this campaign!

There’s an old joke that says Canada is famous for cold fronts, hockey players and not much else. But the Partnership Symposium made it clear that Canada is exporting some real food for thought in the credit union industry.

CUNA Continues Viral Push with Little Guy Campaign

CUNA just christened another viral video starring the “evil banker” star of an earlier business lending video. This time, Uncle Big-Bad is out on the street lobbying against CURIA, and for higher bank profits and fees.

It’s funny - and all too true. Check it out …

(Edit to add: right after I posted this to the blog, CUNA released another video and announced a third is on the way. The second video is posted below, and I’ll post the third when we get it.)

(Edit August 3: Here’s the third video …)

CUNA is also producing “situational cartoons” in the ongoing bank vs. credit union struggle. These cartoons are sent out by email, in hopes that receivers will get a laugh, and then become senders of the same email. Here’s the latest one …

I like what CUNA’s doing and hope they’ll keep it up. Feel free to share your own thoughts on this by posting a comment.