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Electric cars have been around for a hundred years or so, but until now, they’ve been at the fringes of the automotive world. This fall, the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt will go on sale, and Ford and Mitsubishi are planning to launch their electric cars sometime next year. Oh, and let’s not forget there are at least two companies (Zero and Brammo) selling street legal electric motorcycles right now.
We work with credit unions all across the country, and I’m always amazed by the incredible diversity in business models and in the people. It’s one of the things that makes working with credit unions a lot more fun than other industries.
From the bizarre goings-on at NCUA to the expensive “consumer protection” legislation coming online, the only thing that’s certain is that things are changing fast for CUs. Sources of fee income are shrinking, expenses are rising, and margins are squeezed tighter than ever. Things are getting Weird with a capital “W”. It’s time to think the unthinkable and mull the outrageous.
A former employer recently lost the head of their marketing department and thought it might be a good idea to get an outside opinion of the department before automatically hiring a replacement. Since I had been their Art Director more years ago than I want to admit, they asked me to take a look and make some recommendations for improvement. So I spent yesterday talking to the people in the department and getting a sense of how things were running.
I went grocery shopping last week, and I learned something the hard way. After 10:00 pm, the Kroger supermarket near me closes down all their human-staffed checkouts, forcing everyone to to scan and bag their own groceries.
Be sure to tune in to a very special edition of CU WaterCooler Liquid Lunch on May 17th at 1pm Eastern Time. Denise Wymore and I will be discussing what every Marketer should know about those mysterious graph wielding bean-counters. Special guests will include my CFO BFF and arch nemesis, George Kite, CFO of Call Federal Credit Union along with Denise’s CFO Beau, Mark Sadowski. As a bonus, George will give us a live report from the CUNA CFO Council Conference in New Orleans.
At my old credit union (feels weird to say that), we toyed with all sorts of rewards, incentives and contests. What we generally found is that people rise to the occasion. It didn’t matter the reward – money, time off, a pat on the back, ice cream, or a simple hooray at a staff meeting. If a goal was set, expected, measured and most importantly, communicated well, it usually came to fruition, even if there was a little grumbling. And I always found it fascinating that more often than not we would snake in right at the goal line. Â This, of course, would leave me wondering:
Passage of the health care finance legislation last week filled the news, and the opinion columns are overflowing. Whether you’re ranting, overjoyed, or just plain confused, it’s safe to say that no one knows exactly what the future will hold. We have years of politicking, legislation, and regulation ahead of us before the intended and unintended effects of the legislation become clear.
When you think about it, credit unions are one of the rarest types of organizations — outside of being self-sufficient, they have absolutely no purpose other than making things better for the people around them. Whatever you call it — Goodness, Quality, Grooviness, or Positive Mojo — credit unions sure do manufacture a lot of it.
Over the past several years, more and more credit unions have eliminated certain words from their marketing and identity. Words like “member”, “join” and even “credit union” are now taboo in a lot of places, and internet account access is almost always called “home banking.” And when was the last time you heard “share draft”?
I’m always a little sad when the holidays are over. There’s just something magical about them. I think it largely has to do with the sheer number of traditions, customs and quirky weirdness. When you stop and think about all the rituals from trees to tacky lights, comfort foods to countdowns, and resolutions to religion, the holidays get packed with an abundance of vested practices.
You’ve probably heard the term “eating your own dog food” before. It means that everyone on your team also needs to be a consumer or user of your product, whether it’s dog food or checking accounts.
I had the pleasure of participating in BarCampBank Chicago last week with some great Credit Union people from at least three states, including the Illinois and Michigan state leagues, CUNA, and even one lonely person from a community bank. There was no set agenda, the topics were determined by the group, you literally moved in and out of the discussions, and there was never a lull in the conversation – nicely organized chaos.
I found this stone tablet, dusted it off and thought I’d share. It looked important enough since it was chiseled in stone and all.
I. Thou Shalt Not Forget Thy History:
Credit unions were founded for a reason. Are we still true to that original mission? There’s a powerful legacy there worth knowing and living. It’s a holy grail worth protecting.
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.