Credit Union Branding
Remember your past. Build on your present. Brand for your future.
Rebranding a credit union is tough. Everyone has an opinion, and most aren’t afraid to state it. For every member that identifies with their shared history, there are others that see a need to update their brand for the future. And both have a point. But time keeps moving, and credit unions have had to…
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How many seconds to get a human?
Two extraordinary things just happened to me: An actual human picked up the phone when I called a large corporation with a technical problem. The human quickly resolved my problem. A few days ago, I found myself locked out of my Square account. (Among other things, Square allows regular folks to accept credit cards.) I…
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Slaying the Sludge Monster
He’s covered in sticky tentacles of frustration, endless inescapable globs of pointless paperwork, ridiculous rules, and cruel barbs of rejection and fees. The Sludge Monster is clogging up your membership growth, and he’s costing your credit union members and money left and right. So what is sludge, anyway? Sludge is anything that creates friction, frustration,…
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Bringing people together in a No Front Porch World
Front porches used to be the ideal gathering places. People used to sit outside to cool off, greeting neighbors walking by and inviting them up for a face-to-face chat. It was a great way to bring people together, catch up on community news, and share some iced tea. Then air conditioning killed the front porch.…
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Maybe you just need to reboot your CU?
A credit union is kind of like a computer. Multiple components interfacing with processes that all have to work together to get anything done. Competing demands for limited resources that are trying to do too many things at once. Lots and lots of data to process, that everyone wants immediately, if not sooner. With all…
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Where do you get great content for great content marketing?
Content marketing is a great way to move away from interruption marketing and build relationships and trust. But where does all the content come from?
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How to build the credit union you’ve always wanted
Bricks, mortar, steel and glass are okay. They just aren’t the right materials to build the credit union you’ve always wanted. One-of-a-kind CUs are built on more fundamental components. Elements that give your credit union the rock-solid foundation it needs. A strong, but flexible space that provides a base for everything you want to do.…
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Why daily details matter
I recently read an article about the rise of cupholders in cars. It turns out to be a more interesting and important topic than you might think. And there are lessons every marketer can learn from the Great Cupholder Revolution. In a nutshell, cupholders in American cars started entering the mainstream in the 1960s, as…
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How to Nuke the Numb Numbers Monster
The Numb Numbers Monster has two heads facing different directions; one that makes all kinds of brand promises, and one that actually does the opposite. Fortunately, you can train the Numb Numbers Monster so that both faces sing the same song, but first you have to answer one big question: Do your CU’s numbers match…
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Beating the Blah Brand Blob
The Blah Brand Blob is a close cousin to the Bankthink Behemoth and the Monster of Meh. Huge, fuzzy, and sprawling, this gelatinous glob tries to be everything to everyone and slowly smothers growth under a flood of ignorable messaging, lukewarm shades of boring blue, and halfhearted, tedious mission statements. But you can turn your…
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