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One of the great things about credit unions is the sense of community they foster. We’ve worked with several on projects that involved them giving back to their communities. Some spearhead volunteer projects or hold an open house where they have activities for the kids, giveaways, music, and free food. Others sponsor local sports teams or charity races.
Every year, Forbes magazine rates the 100 largest banks. This year, by chance, the two banks ranked 2nd and 3rd on the list are both in Kansas City, MO. Even freakier, they are run by cousins. Seems that back in the 1800s their great-grandfather owned several banks, among them UMB Financial and Commerce Bank (though they had different names back in the
mid 1800s).
Ever find yourself wondering if renting is cheaper than buying? Cable is cheaper than having satellite? 
I don’t lose any sleep over it, but I do think about it. Like leasing a car… it used to be a very popular alternative to buying. But then when people turned their car in they got hit with all those mileage fees and the whole experience became a nightmare.
Shopping may not only be our biggest achievement, it may be a reason for us to feel optimistic about the future. Now perhaps that just sounds like some weak rationale to hit the mall, but I’ll leave it to a trained zoologist and former editor at The Economist to combine lessons from all of human history, including our beginnings, to explain why.
More notes from the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council Conference:
Economic Insights – Bill Hampel, SVP/Chief Economist, CUNA did an outstanding job of making economic stats understandable:
• Credit unions have been collateral damage in the financial crisis (but be sure to tell members about share insurance to put them more at ease.)
• Home prices in most of the country have hit bottom, consumer confidence back up to 50% (was 20% at one time).
• 2nd quarter of year is when jobs will start coming back, but likely 4th quarter before consumer confidence is back.
• People will be wanting to pay down debt in future.
• Spread is good between loans and savings right now. Should be September before Fed changes rate.
• Low growth economy; good time for “poaching” members.
• Look for 4% loan growth in 2010 and 6% in 2011.
• Rising delinquencies do not necessarily mean major modifications are needed. At 1.8% delinquency rate for CUs (compared to 5.37% for banks).
• Net loan write-offs have gone from .5% to 1.2% this year, forecasting .8% in 2011.
• Credit card charge offs @ 4.29% (compared to 10% for banks).
• Savings growing 8% this year, 6% next.
• Net worth is more important than net income.
• Net income to average assets: 2008- 31 basis points, 2009- 15 basis points, 2010 estimated at 40 basis points.
• It’s OK to let capital ratio fall — Net capital to assets: 6.5% in 80s, 11% in 90s, should be 9.6% this year (as a reference, 6% is when the auditors show up, 7% is considered well-capitalized).
A group of my friends (all in our mid-twenties) were sitting around reflecting on the financial crisis. We discussed our disdain for how the government handled the issue. We’re infuriated that our tax dollars were used to pad the pockets of those responsible for the whole fiasco. We’re disgusted by the murmurs of reform and oversight that were quelled by apathetic law makers and powerful lobbyists. The status quo is unacceptable. We demand a change.
Remember those Kraft Macaroni and Cheese commercials a while back, where kids exclaimed “It’s more cheesier”? I cringed every time I heard this phrase, and so did thousands of other writers and English majors.
People are holding onto cars for 9.4 years instead of trading them in, the highest number of people ever are carrying library cards, and DIY has picked up 30% of the home repair market. Getting value out of every purchase has made durability the latest “trend” in our cultural values.
63% of people in the U.S. would recommend a brand that supports a good cause, according to the 3rd annual Edelman goodpurpose Consumer Study. That number was only 47% in 2008, representing a major shift in consumer attitudes in one year.
If you don’t have something that interests me, I’m gone.
So get to the point.
Don’t waste my time blathering on and on, adding copy, bullet points and fine print until my eyes glaze over. Just give me enough to let me decide if there is something there for me.
In a day when marketing budgets are lacerated and traditional media is inept, the question we all face is, “How do you break through?” It’s time to get innovative in the way we connect in our marketing. So, here are 5 of my favorite, inspirational stories where a marketer found new and creative means to dispatch an idea:
I have a theory that you cannot have a conversation with someone from Richmond without one person mentioning our local grocery store, Ukrops. You see Ukrops is a store so embedded into Richmond’s culture that when word got out that they may possibly sell out to a larger chain, it left us all stunned.
A while back I wrote an article that attempted to explain Twitter and how it should be used for CU Marketing. In the article I danced around a very important point that I probably should have lead with. We, the younger generation, are not freaks eagerly ingesting any and everything that happens to appear on a trendy social media site. We are just as discerning as the rest of humanity and very good at tuning out any and all shameless plugs.