Can Coop Credit Union Advertising Work?

Coop advertising or national brand advertising for credit unions continues to be a big debate. My problem with all the efforts I have seen is that it focuses too much on touting credit unions. What do I mean by that? It highlights the virtues of credit unions without linking those virtues to tangible benefits for consumers. If we are going to grow the credit union membership in the US we have to get people to experience the credit union. Just talking about it is not enough.



I say, forget the advertising that focuses on the virtues of credit unions and the power of membership instead focus on driving members to credit unions. What if we took all those dollars and gave every new member $500 just for trying the credit union for 6 months. That would cut through the clutter of all the advertising messages and make an impression. And we would actually get members in the door at a credit union.



Why can't credit unions get together on a coop message? Because the true "experience" of any credit union is unique to that credit union. We may all be from the same family but just like my nine siblings, not a single one is exactly same and that is important. My friends are not always my brother's friends and vice-versa. Same for credit unions as one credit union's membership is not necessarily going to like another credit union's experience.



Leagues, CUNA, NAFCU, CU Times...if you want a national campaign, then focus it on getting consumers to a credit union. The rest of the efforts are all nice but not really that effective. Hey, let's be honest, we think credit unions are cool and all that but most consumers are not thinking about their financial institution when the advertising would be seen. They are worrying about traffic, listening to the kids, or getting a snack during the commercials (if they don't have TiVo or DVR). We have to agree on finding a way to have effective advertising that is driving people to an experience. We can't create a brand is totally based on having an experience with advertising. Advertising can supplement and grow the brand. It can't develop the brand with consumers who know nothing about credit unions. It just won't work no matter how creative the message.