Credit Union Science Fiction

Forget next year’s media budget or your five-year strategy. Let’s gaze deeper into that CU crystal ball than we ever have before. What’s the distant future of finance? What are credit unions going to be doing 25, 50, or 100 years from now? Virtual CUs Correct me if this has already happened, but is there…

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A more accessible website is better for everyone, not just people with disabilities.

Web Accessibility? It’s Not So Scary.

Accessibility is on everyone’s mind lately — we’ve fielded a lot of questions recently from our credit union clients about web site accessibility and ADA compliance. It’s a big and technical topic, but where do you start getting a handle on it? Check your Attitude Accessibility is not a “yes” or “no” question, a switch…

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we all know that colors can be part of a brand

Are my brand colors special enough to trademark?

This weekend my wife asked me to pick up some Excedrin when I went to the store. As I was putting the package in my cart, I realized that the package I picked up didn’t actually say Excedrin on it. It had the exact same color scheme and layout, but a different name. That’s when…

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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…

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no, you cannot copyright an idea

Copyright confusion & trademark tribulations

I thought it might be good to clear up some confusion over the differences between copyrights and trademarks when it comes to marketing. Basically, a copyright covers the expression of an original idea (but not the idea itself), and a trademark is a distinctive sign of identification. The first is automatic upon creation, the second…

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do you really have to remind people that you're not responsible for the entire internet?

Big scary lawyer warning

Be honest — how many of you have web sites that show a Big Scary Lawyer Warning (BSLW) like this when a member clicks a link to another site? OH NOES! You are leaving the ABCFCU web site! ABFCU has no control over and is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other…

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make sure you're not selling Sea Monkeys

Are You Selling Sea Monkeys?

Remember Sea Monkeys? When I was a kid, colorful ads in all the comic books promised you could send for cute, goldfish-sized magical aqua-pals that would hatch instantly, and then frolic entertainingly. Of course, the reality was that you got a packet of brine shrimp eggs. Brine shrimp basically look like hideous little swimming roaches,…

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