(This story originally ran on the CU Soapbox.)

Paul J Lucas, national marketing and branding consultant and frequent CU Journal contributor, wanted to share some thoughts on brand management for credit unions. Visit Paul's website at pauljlucas.com,email at paul@pauljlucas.com or call (202) 320 5759 to learn more.

Going into 2010, the top brand challenges for credit unions will be:

1. Misunderstanding what a brand is and why it matters. It is important to have a brand strategy that is embraced by the entire organization. If your staff doesn't get it you can't expect your members to embrace your brand.

2. Lack of understanding in the marketplace that credit unions are ideal primary financial services providers - not just a good place to get a vehicle loan. This means that credit unions must explain both the credit union concept and their own specific brand stories.

3. Communicating that shared branching and ATM networks are competitive to the national presence of large banks. This is critical to a credit union's ability to compete against multi-branch banks (and credit unions). Yet most members have no idea what "shared branching" means or how competitive large ATM networks are compared to many large bank systems. Do not assume members know what "shared branching" means, or how to use it.

4. Bad advertising and marketing that obscure the brand and fail to communicate the credit union's benefits can erode brand value.

• Your marketing/messaging must be clear, straightforward and benefits oriented.


• Creative does matter - effective creative gets you noticed and it clearly states the benefits of using your CU.


• All messages must be consistent building blocks for the brand: advertising; signage; brochures; newsletters; statement messages; eLerts - every member touch point.

5. Overemphasis on reaching new members at the expense of building more productive relationships with current members. Build brand loyalty inside-out! Your current members are the best prospects for increasing product and service penetration. That is key to building a successful, stable financial services organization

6. Letting impatience trump consistency. Throwing together ads, products, announcements, etc. without taking time to tie them to your brand strategy is counter-productive.

7. Constantly changing things in search of the "magic bullet." Changing offers, ad mediums, products, etc. in search of the one magic key to prosperity is a death spiral. There are no magic bullets beyond consistency and brand clarity.

8. Thinking business development reps will quickly and easily grow assets. Business development reps are only as good as they are managed and credit unions do not usually have experienced, effective sales managers on staff. Business development reps who are unskilled and untrained can do your Brand more harm than good.

9. Working with a marketing budget that is too small to achieve marketing goals. Some annual marketing budget benchmarks:

• 0.25% of assets at a minimum for small institutions.


• 0.50% for a larger SEG, near community or small market community CUs.


• 0.75 to 1.50% for large/urban community charter CUs.

10. Remembering that credit unions are chartered to lend money! That requires becoming a competitive retail marketer.

Labels: Credit Union News, CU Soapbox, DigitalMailer, Generation-Y Marketing, Marketing, marketing on a budget

Click Here to Read the Full Version of "10 for '10: The Top 10 Branding Challenges Your Credit Union Will Face Next Year"

This article originally ran in on CUSoapbox.com

Paul J Lucas, national marketing and branding consultant and frequent CU Journal contributor, wanted to share some thoughts on brand management for credit unions. Visit Paul's website at pauljlucas.com,email at paul@pauljlucas.com or call (202) 320 5759 to learn more.

Hard Knocks - BIG Lessons

Late this summer HBO aired this year's "Hard Knocks" show about the Cincinnati Bengals National Football League training camp. Watching the series it became apparent that the basic building blocks of a winning team are universal - whether you’re on the football field, growing a
company or building a successful credit union brand.

David Levitin, a neuroscientist and author of "This is your brain on music" estimates that it requires 10,000 hours of practice to master any craft. Studies of professionals from composers, to NBA players, to ice skaters show that it takes roughly three hours of practice a day, 20 hours a week, for 10 years to achieve the level of expertise we associate with world class. The next time you're tempted to think a top athlete was born lucky think about all the hard work it took to turn luck and talent into success.

Remember the old joke: one man stops another man on the street to ask, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" The other man answers, "Practice, practice, practice." As managers it's much easier and a lot more fun to fall in love with hot new ideas than to keep slogging away at the same old basics day after day. The challenge is that those new ideas won't start yielding results until they become those old basics you keep slogging away at.

A successful organization is seldom built on innovation. Watching the Bengals prepare for the upcoming season I identified eight critical elements in their quest to become a winning team:

1. Leadership - without it numbers 2 through 8 are just exercises in frustration


2. Preparation


3. Focus


4. Execution - especially doing the little things right constantly


5. Follow-through


6. Accountability


7. Getting everyone working off the same strategic plan


8. Having the right people in the right places

Are you sitting there thinking you could have written that list off the top your head? Bottom line, knowing what needs to be done and making it happen are two very different things. Most successful CEO's I know would willingly mail their annual business plans and strategies to their competitors. Why? Because they know it's what you do every day in the trenches that counts.

So ask yourself:

A) Does your staff consistently up-sell the values and benefits of your credit union?

B) Do you have a brand strategy that everyone clearly understands, right down to knowing how their individual efforts help drive your brand efforts?

C) Can every staff member name the values, benefits and features of your CU?

If they can, keep up the good work.

If they can't, it's time to get in the huddle and make it happen.

Labels: Credit Unions, CU Soapbox, Marketing, Special Reports

Click Here to Read the Full Version of "Guest Author Paul Lucas: Hard Knocks - BIG Lessons"

by Ron Daly

There's been a lot of buzz and hum about credit cards recently. And why not? Credit is a sore subject to some, a point of pride for others, and for folks that never had it? Could go either way, really.

So, let's highlight some credit card stories of the past few days:

• One of the biggest stories: The Heartland Systems break-in. I wrote a piece for the CU Soapbox on the hack about a week ago (click to read), and new horror stories just keep popping up. Wired Magazine has been keeping tabs on the accounts affected (click here to read) and CreditCards.com say the effects have hit financial institutions on all levels and in many states (click to read).
  
• More and more, banks and credit card companies have been driving up the rates (click to read).

Have anything else to share on credit cards? Our comments section is always open.

Labels: Credit, Credit Cards, Credit Unions, CU Soapbox, Heartland Systems, Loans

Click Here to Read the Full Version of "Who's Holding All the Cards?"