Loading ...
Read Shared iDiz anywhere! We’ve put the best articles from two years of SharediDiz in this handy portable edition. Email us your name and address to get your free copy!
Sure, I liked it when Amazon started showing me what others bought based on items I have purchased, and when Pandora started picking the music in our office based on bands and musicians we prefer. But now it seems as if every site wants to profile me and make recommendations based on little more than a few clicks.
Brainlock, creative block, brick wall. No matter what you call it, everybody hits it at one time or another. But before you keep staring at the wall or start banging your head against your desktop, here are a few tips that might get those creative juices going once again:
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.
You’ve probably heard that creativity comes from the right side of your brain, and analytical thinking from the left. Well, scientists tell us it is way more complicated than that.
When you try to solve a problem, you start with the obvious and familiar. That is mostly a left-brain activity, trying to see if there is an immediate answer. If no answer comes quickly, both sides of the brain start working. The right side starts sorting through any relevant memories and serves them up to the left side, which looks for patterns and alternatives. Once a connection is made by the left side, the right side has to shift gears from random gathering in order to focus on that fleeting thought. These shreds of thought are pulled into a new single idea – that “aha!” moment.
Chris Blough (CEO of Wayne County CU) had a brilliant quote on Liquid Lunch,
“Small Credit Unions need to be like jet skis. We’re not the Titanic. A jet ski would see the iceberg.”
If you were opening a new restaurant, would you consider letting your customers decide what to pay? According to an AP story in USAToday, Panera re-opened an existing restaurant as a nonprofit in Clayton MO, asking their customers to use the honor system to pay for their meals. Cashiers do tell customers a “suggested” price, and there are workers at the door to explain the concept that it is “not a handout,” but people decide on their own what to pay.
Would you agree to do anything someone on Twitter told you to do as long as it was legal? One poor schmuck has.
That’s right. David Perez, a 29-year-old ad agency recruiter, has agreed to wear a pair of glasses complete with a webcam, and follow the Twitter commands of followers for a full 6 days. Think of him as an internet puppet and the audience is pulling the strings. If anyone tells him to jump into a fountain, he will and you’ll be able to watch in real time.
Perhaps it is the nature of Social Media that causes it to build buzz, but Facebook continues to hold the top dog spot. If you have no other SM strategy for your credit union, then you should start here.
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.
For those of you who were unable to get to Washington DC for the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council Conference, here are some of the bits of wisdom I wrote down:
You may not pay much attention to what your social media friends are posting, but creditors are. If your settings are “public”, what you are discussing is available to companies that want to sell their products – that includes banks, credit unions, and credit companies.
This past week, two of us at iDiz and regular contributor Kelley Parks had the distinct pleasure of being included in a series of interviews by Denise Wymore – Culture Consultant, avid blogger, speaker and writer – on the topic: What will marketing look like in 2020? Denise has done a great job of interviewing different people within the industry and presenting their thoughts about the future. It’s a worthwhile read, and we’re not saying that because we were included. (Okay, maybe we are just a little.)
I’ll admit failure is my worst fear. Well, behind something happening to my loved ones and perhaps spiders. It’s the fear of ridicule, criticism, and poor choices coming back to haunt.
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: