learn how to help your credit union thrive in the business of lending.

Innovative Ideas to Increase Loan Growth

No matter how big or small your credit union, whether it’s SEG or community based, every credit union marketer is searching for new ways to encourage encourage loan growth. Loans are an obvious choice because they’re both profitable for the credit union and fulfill a substantial member need. Download our free white paper to learn…

Read More
The brain seems to work best thinking in threes.

The Rule of Three Rules

Your focus group and creative team has come up with 47 different ways why your your credit union/your product is superior to the competition. Your eyes glaze over at all the possibilities, that by using this amazing list in your marketing, you will astound the world with its obviousness, bring in monster results, and probably…

Read More
Marketing can be seen as telling your brand's story to an audience that wants to listen.

Is Your Marketing Worthy of a Sequel?

I recently watched 3 movies in a row (the only way to fill time flying across an ocean), and the best one was Despicable Me 2. It was simple, mindless entertainment that made me laugh out loud (which meant I got some funny looks from other passengers.) I assume it was my memories of the…

Read More
Just by their overuse, the lack of original thought BECOMES OBVIOUS.

7 cliches way past their expiration date

I understand that when a phrase gets repeated enough, it can become a cliche. It can also become part of company’s culture – serving as a form of shorthand for CEOs and office managers – especially when anyone is talking about branding and marketing. And while cliches may have started out as a new way…

Read More
As long as they feel they're getting some real benefit in return.

Would your members pay a premium?

We’ve written before about the idea of charging for CU membership – what you’d have to do to make yourself feel like an exclusive club worth joining, a la Costco and Sam’s Club. We know people will pay club membership fees – AARP, AAA, social clubs, professional associations – as long as they feel they’re…

Read More
Market who you are, not what you'd like to be.

If you work in advertising, are you “being paid to lie”?

I believe in honesty. Not just in my personal life, but in business too. Of course that might be difficult to believe since I work in advertising/marketing. After all, it’s a business I’ve heard described as “being paid to lie.” And trust me, we’ve had clients who’ve wanted us to do just that. Mostly though,…

Read More
It's creative, kitschy, classy, unorthodox, and I loved every grass-roots moment of it.

Dream big for your next community event

ArtPrize is a chaotic, jumbled mess of classic and pop, amateur and professional art surrounded by mobs of people and spread out over (mostly) downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. It’s creative, kitschy, classy, unorthodox, and I loved every grass-roots moment of it. For 19 days every year, Grand Rapids turns their downtown into an oversized art…

Read More
next time you want to "teach" your members, try being a storyteller instead. 

Are you telling stories or storytelling?

My brother-in-law tended to exaggerate things a bit when he was a kid. From what I hear, there was always some truth behind his tales, but it was the embellishments that made everyone grin and shake their head. His family knew he wasn’t lying, he was “telling stories” – which, of course, isn’t the same thing…

Read More
your obsession with kitten videos and British sit-coms just make you real.

Incredibly bad marketing advice

We’ve always tried to give you good marketing advice in order to help you grow your credit union. But where’s the fun in that? Besides, it’s late, and I want to go home, so here is some incredibly bad marketing advice instead. Enjoy. 1) Your logo isn’t sacred. Tweak it as much as you want.…

Read More
change the objective of your marketing from selling to helping

Would your members pay for your marketing?

What’s that you say? Pay? To receive our direct mail, emails and statement inserts? Uh, I don’t think so. Okay, then let’s look at this a different way. Would your members be willing to pay, say $5, for some information that would teach them how to save $50/month on a car loan? Absolutely. Over the…

Read More