I could never lie as a kid. At least not successfully. I was so bad at it, all you had to do was take one look at my face and you’d know. Every time I tried to cover something up, all I managed to do was get deeper in trouble.

Read more on I could never lie as a kid…

Credit unions. Just when you thought you knew them, something like this happens.

My daughter graduated from college and has moved to northern California for a wonderful full-time job training dogs to become service dogs. She’s got health insurance and a 401(k). But she needs a car.

Read more on Don’t Chase younger members away!…

Ever hear of Simple? Ally? Bluebird?

Much has already been written about “The Future of Consumer Banking” and “What Will Happen When Walmart Starts Banking”. Well, I guess we have at least three distinct answers now.

Aside from the zoomy tech and the direct, personal copy style, what I find most interesting about all of these “unbanks” is the idea that they all started with a blank sheet*. Each sets out to reboot and redefine what consumers want and should expect out of banking services, and they all go about providing it in slightly different ways — from the ground up, each visibly pursues a different audience. (And, by the way, each is chock-full of great ideas you should get busy stealing.)

So let’s do a thought experiment. Close your eyes and imagine…

First, get everyone out safely of the building. Hustle them down the street and issue big bags of popcorn, party hats, confetti, and kazoos.

All set? Count backwards from ten and then… imagine blowing up the credit union.

Now imagine how you would build a new credit union, fresh and new and better in every way, and completely up-to-the-minute. No creaking old tech or crusty leftover policies and procedures. How will you make it even better and cooler than Simple, Ally, or Bluebird? What would you call it? Who would your new members be? How would you make money to sustain operations? What would you do better than anyone else? How would you honor your heritage while losing the baggage?

Now open your eyes. The credit union you imagined is the one you should be working to build right now.

Read more on Blow it up and start over…

How did your last Auto Loan campaign do? Was it a big success?

How about the one before that? Sometimes there’s no real rhyme or reason why a campaign works or fails. Is it the creative? The offer? The timing? Or pure dumb luck?

Read more on Your attitude is one of the keys to your success…

The line between a lie, a half truth, a white lie and a lie of omission is very faint. I’d be willing to bet that every one of us has told more than a few.

Read more on Do you mind being lied to?…

Whenever we talk with a potential new client, we head over to NCUA.gov and check out their numbers. It’s all public data, and not all that detailed, but after perusing a few hundred of these, we’ve learned how to gain some insights into a credit union’s situation and “attitude” just from poring over ratios and making a few calculations. (Most of these numbers can be found in the FPRs.)

Read more on Five numbers that make you wonder…

From time to time, I get these strange, disruptive thoughts. Unconventional. Aberrant. But they’re banging around in my head, and I have to let them out…

What if overdraft fees were actually reasonable?
According to this article, overdraft income is down because of opt-in regulations, yet the average overdraft fee is still $29. As marketers, we hate dealing with fees, but we are going to be called on to increase non-interest income.

Read more on Disruptive thoughts…

The other day, I saw a very interesting phrase as I was skimming a series of random business articles:

“Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.”

My first reaction was “Well, duh.” That’s a pretty obvious thought.

Read more on What if an alien biologist landed on your desk?…

As an advertising copy writer, I’m a failure. I’m incapable of  writing fluff, and I’m not much of a spin doctor. I doubt I’ll ever get rich writing gushy catalog copy or political doubletalk. In short, I just can’t spew marketspeak worth a hoot.

Read more on The marketspeak menace…

Admit it, that’s what you really want to do, right? But there aren’t a lot of paid positions with organizations that focus on Saving the World. So you took a job at a credit union where you can help make the world a better place.

Read more on How You Can Save the World…

Every time some newly manufactured economic crisis appears (we’re getting used to this, aren’t we?), I’m struck by the contrast between “real” money and value and the complex shadow world of high finance, where nothing is real and value disappears.

Read more on There’s always a place for real value…

In recent months here at iDiz, I’ve noticed an increase in the requests for marketing recommendations for the youth market. Maybe marketers have realized that one of the best places to get new members is the children of their current members. It’s vital to get your credit union name out there and known to kids before they turn 18 and graduate from high school.

Read more on Give the gift of a financial education…

That’s the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And I understand there’s quite a lot of controversy surrounding its creation.

As a consumer, the Bureau sounds like a great idea; an agency to protect us everyday consumers from financial traps. It’s due to start offering its services in July, that is, unless its opponents stop it or strip it of its powers.

Read more on The birth of the CFPB and a branding conflict for CUs…

Have you read the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson? It was a best seller a few years ago and it begins with the story of Greg’s failed attempt to climb K2. When he failed however, he found himself in a small village in Pakistan and while there, he became inspired to build schools for impoverished children. Greg founded the charitable organization called Central Asia Institute (CAI) and since 1993, claims to have built more than 50 schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. The book has been read and loved by millions (it has more than 2400 reviews on Amazon.com) and Mortenson goes around the country giving talks and trying to raise money. (My sister saw him speak and thought he was terrible, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t good at building schools.)

Read more on Remember that you’re always making a first impression…

“Alignment is…when…the thing that matters the most to you is also the thing that matters the most to the other person.”

Seth Godin has another great post that points out how successful brands are built on alignment; when both sides of a seller/buyer relationship want the same result. And when they both align, not only is there an opportunity for a long relationship, there is often very little pushback in other areas of the relationship. Here are a few of Seth’s examples of brands that are in alignment with their customers:

Read more on Alignment isn’t just for your car…