being in the know, being in on a secret, makes a person feel special.

Being “in the know” makes you feel special

During Prohibition, speakeasies were supposed to be secret. You had to be “in the know” or know someone, in order to get in the door. Today, prohibition may be long gone, but speakeasies aren’t. There’s a speakeasy in East Village New York that’s hidden behind a phone booth in a hot dog joint. You heard…

Read More
too many credit unions have crappy websites, and frankly, we’re tired of it.

No More Crappy Websites

We’re going to be very, very blunt here. Way too many credit unions have crappy websites, and frankly, we’re tired of it. • Potential new members are Googling your credit union and looking at your website. They want to get an idea of what you’re like, and generally pick up your vibe without ever having…

Read More
Change is more likely to happen when you least expect it, even if you see it coming.

Five things I believe about Change

I’ve seen a lot of change in my life. As a preacher’s kid, we moved every few years — new school, new friends, new town. As I got older, my interests changed from bikes to cars, from boy scouts to girl friends, from high school hallways to college campus. After graduating, I moved from single…

Read More
emotional beats rational every time

The 1-2 punch is knockout marketing

Most people are not engineers, or scientists, or accountants. They are emotional, not logical. Heck, most people don’t even like doing math, especially when it comes to money. Put a dollar sign in front of a number or a percent sign behind it, and most people’s eyes start to glaze over. Behavioral studies using brain…

Read More
If you want buy-in, first you need to hear what they think.

Build a Brand Strategy before a list of new names

When a Credit Union Board and/or Executive Team decides that it is FINALLY time for a name change, too often they make a major mistake: They start coming up with names. That’s a natural reaction, to be sure. After all, the people around the table certainly know the history of the credit union and have…

Read More
Are you sure you know what you know?

Marketers often don’t know what they don’t know

Those heart-warming, emotionally-moving ads you are running? Only about 19% of consumers notice them. You say your ads are more thought-provoking? 33% of the people may have paid attention. Are you more focused on creating well-designed, eye-catching visuals? You reached about 50% of your audience. If you truly want to get their attention, you have…

Read More
why does a credit union need to trademark anything?

Registered trademarks: do you need one?

For many years, we’ve been working with a wonderful trademark attorney, Amy Wright, who has advised us and and several of our clients on the ins and outs of getting a trademark. We sat down with Amy and asked her to share her knowledge of trademarks with our CU marketer friends. ———————– Diz: Amy, why…

Read More

It’s not just a Name Change, it’s a Game Changer.

Download our free white paper, and you’ll learn how to survive and thrive when pushing the rebranding button: • Why your staff, members and Board need to be part of the process • How to work with outside experts to get the quality brand you deserve • Why you need to build a Brand Strategy…

Read More
When does it cross over from simply sharing to gaining from someone's expertise?

On ditching RFPs, picking brains, and drawing lines.

Is it really okay to pick someone’s brain? I recently met up with a friend who works at a local credit union to get his take on all the changes that CUs have experienced over the last few years. He listened to what I had to say, agreed with some of my observations, and challenged…

Read More