Credit Unions Risk Millions in Mangled Marketing
Are you aware that your beloved Credit Union is very likely frittering away your money?
The brief: What’s worse is that it’s not some secretive dealings they’re engaged in, it’s happening right out there in the open. Take a look at the outside of your local branch. Step inside and grab a business card from one of the tellers or branch managers. Check out your group’s website. What you’re more likely to find than not is that you credit union is over spending on ineffective or (even worse) destructive branding practices.
Take a look at the following real-life credit union logo.
(fig. 1) Health Care Family Logo
Now take a look at this organizations signage.
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(fig. 2) Health Care Family SignageÂ
Finally, take a look at its web site.
(fig. 3) Health Care Family Web Site
What do you experience when you look at the above examples? Does quality, professional management come to mind? Does safety and security come to mind? I’ll bet that for most of you, even in the best situations that not much comes to mind at all. Perhaps for some of you, you might be a little confused with what your credit union is trying to convey with it’s confusing, decorative logo and marketing materials.
Is it a blunder? You might be thinking, what’s the big deal? Well, I’ll give you 951,645,200,812 reasons to consider. Yes, according to Callahan and Associates Peer-to-Peer (March 2011), there are over 91 million Credit Union members in the US, with assets totaling over $951 Billion.Â
Credit Unions operate in much the same way as small Mom and Pop shops except for one major difference. Credit Unions make marketing and branding choices using other people’s money. This means that administrators and executives have no direct incentive nor are judged by the performance of specific marketing and branding activities. The reason for this is because most small organizations lack formal training in proper marketing. Often these organizations use cookie-cutter template-style promotional materials that they can customize with their logos. While some think this is saving money, I’ll illustrate why it’s no longer excusable to behave in such a manner.
According to Callahan’s, there are 7,442 US based Credit Unions in operation all with their own unique logo, signage and marketing materials. Here’s the big question: How do logos get produced by credit unions? Who is responsible for creating the marketing strategy and tactical plan for the organization? More importantly, what credentials do these decision makers have in making such decisions as logo color, logo style, typography, supporting imagery, etc. I’m simplifying for the sake of time, but you should get the idea. The stark reality is that most Credit Unions are managed by very friendly, competent financial folks who’ve never had professional marketing experience outside the dysfunctional setting of a credit union.
It’s long overdue that Credit Unions adopt a more rigorous, professional method for marketing and branding their organizations for the benefit of the members who’ve entrusted them with their hard earned money.
Let’s look at the above example. The Credit Union chose a multicolor logo and applied it to a multicolor signage atop its front entrance. It’s safe to say that a 1 color logo would be just as ineffective as the multicolor version above yet cost thousands less in print and signage fees annually. Let’s be clear, I’m not saying the logo is effective (it’s repulsive) but even giving the Credit Union the benefit of the doubt, they are far more than they need to in delivering their message. A 1 color logo only require 1 color printing, meaning less money is spent on ink, wasted paper, and set-up labor. If the average wash-up (the fee a printer charges to clean his press) is $45 per color, then each time this Credit Union prints a business card or brochure, it’ll cost a minimum of $180 rather than $45 for 1 color (blink ink). Now for fun, let’s say half the US credit unions print in at least 2 colors (e.g. black and green) and order 1 small print job a month (e.g new employee business card). Here’s how the costs ad up:
A custom (not from a template) 2 color business card costs a minimum of $80. A 1 color business card costs $45. If 3,721 credit unions order 1 set of 250 2-color business cards a month, the total amount of money spent annually would be $3,572,160 (3721 x $80 x 12). Divide by 2 and you’ll see that a 1 color card would save the credit unions a total of $1,786,080 annually.
My argument here is that most Credit Union professionals don’t grasp effective marketing and yet they direct thousands of dollars each year on poor quality communications based upon no professional criteria or plan. The result is likely $100’s of millions wasted each year as a result of broad scale ignorance and lack of professional marketing. My solution to the problem is that if the person responsible designing and printing credit union communications has no marketing experience then they should never be allowed to print in color. Better yet, they should not be allowed to print anything.
A smart Credit Union might use this approach as an advantage over other thoughtless institutions. Imagine differentiating your Credit Union from others by how frugal you are so that you can pass on the saving to members in higher interest payments on savings account or lower costs of loans, etc.
Credit Unions are a vital source of financing for millions of Americans, it’s about time they chose professional marketing practices to waste less money and become a better asset to their members.
