Posts by Brian Wringer
What happened in Vegas
Last week, I attended the 2015 MAC Conference in Las Vegas. As always, it was an incredible experience, as you would expect from gathering the best and brightest of the CU marketing field under one roof. The highlight, of course, was collecting two MAC Awards for logos we designed for Park View Federal Credit Union in Harrisonburg,…
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Stop making things so gosh-darn hard
Why were these tasks so onerous? Last night (and early this morning) I helped my wife activate a new cell phone. A couple of weeks ago, I finally signed up for BlueIndy, an electric car sharing service. Last year, we refinanced our mortgage to take advantage of a lower rate. I tried to order a pizza…
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Collaborate to reinvigorate
White Sands Federal Credit Union (based in Las Cruces NM) was planning to launch a new logo in a few months. Their internal design staff had designed their new logo and brand colors, but they wanted help translating the new look into the real world with an updated website and print materials. It was also an opportunity to…
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Five ways to make a small CU roar
According to this article by Glenn Christensen on CU Insight, small credit unions are notably less efficient with their marketing dollars. The numbers are gloomy, but not all that surprising. After all, the cards are stacked against the pipsqueaks in many ways, not just limited budgets — marketing time, attention, money and (dare we say it?) talent are all…
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Think big. Now think bigger.
If there’s one thing I wish I could shout into every credit union marketer’s ear, it’s this: “THINK BIGGER!” With every project. Every product, every campaign, every thing you do, every step of the way. It will make all the difference in your results, your experience, and your success. Think about the biggest possible picture…
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A great web site is a process, not a project
Your new, fantabulous, mobile-friendly website is launched, the accolades are pouring in, and your CEO is beaming like a proud parent. Time to relax with a few margaritas, declare victory, and move on to something else, right? Wellllll… sort of. With a brochure or newspaper ad, you know there’s an end point. Once the ink…
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I’d rather have the dirt shower
If you’re a motorcycle enthusiast, MotoGP weekend is a great time to be in Indy. In case you didn’t know, MotoGP is the premier international motorcycle race series, similar to Formula 1 for cars. MotoGP means the absolute best riders in the world and the absolute latest and greatest in motorcycle technology. And since 2008, one of…
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CUs: people are searching for you, not your products
Here’s a remarkable little fact about organic search that is specific to credit union websites: Well over 99% of the clicks coming from organic search are simply variations on the credit union’s name. (For example, “ABC Credit Union”, “ABCFCU”, or “ABC CU”.) In other words, people who find credit union web sites via search are very consistently searching specifically…
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Those pesky misbehaving humans
I’m currently reading a very interesting new book called Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard Thaler. Thaler is an economics professor who became inordinately interested in those curious, messy, illogical, maddening creatures called “Humans” sometime in the ’70s. Economists then – and now – prefer to deal with the far more predictable actions of rational, logical beings.…
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Language lessons
In many parts of the US, a significant portion of the people speak another language. Even if these folks are also fluent in English, using a “native” language can be a great way to connect and build trust. Here are a few recommendations for developing and maintaining multilingual marketing materials and websites: Use professional translators,…
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