Sep. 4, 2008 at 11:14am

Do good and profit or just sit on our assets?

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Differentiation is Key
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Referring to a topic I touched on in my post Bad Times Marketing, I have found some additional support to share with you.

Organizations around the world successfully copy credit union’s principles that many of us seem to have forgotten – like making money by doing good. Let’s call it social marketing.

You may be asking yourself,

Aug. 25, 2008 at 2:32pm

Have you got the gooey blues?

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Talking to Members, The Power of Creativity
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When member satisfaction surveys rank us high for customer service, we must be doing a great job, right?

Not necessarily.

Aug. 20, 2008 at 1:10pm

Phelps philosophy can benefit credit unions

Posted by Melina Young in Increasing Assets, New Members
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A few weeks ago I was reading ESPN magazine’s edition on golden child Michael Phelps.

Aug. 14, 2008 at 10:42am

Brand strength can make a difference

Posted by Guest Blogger in Differentiation is Key, Strategic Communications
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What’s in a brand? Sometimes consumers immediately think of a company’s logo as being the brand. While the logo is certainly a big part of it, a brand consists of so much more.

Jul. 9, 2008 at 9:11am

Las Vegas: land of lights, gambling and time shares

Posted by Melina Young in Talking to Members, The Power of Creativity
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That’s right. Time shares.

My husband and I just got back from a “free” vacation to Las Vegas from a time share company. They paid for our hotel and gave us free show tickets in exchange for 90 minutes of our time.

You all know the deal. The plotting and planning with your significant other to ensure neither of you gives in to temptation and actually buys. Why do we need to conspire like that?

Jul. 2, 2008 at 9:09am

Bad times marketing

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Differentiation is Key, Integrated Marketing
Comments (6)

Bad times creating marketing cuts? Not so fast!

The economy sucks. Organizations around the nation are saying “it’s time to cut our losses and save our marketing bucks until ‘le bon temps roule.’”

Jun. 25, 2008 at 1:16pm

Where did credit unions get their name?

Posted by Jamie Chase in Credit Union History
Comments (7)

“Throw me a Kleenex, please,” I said to Melina, blushing, holding my right hand in front of my nose to hide a tiny drip of snot, pointing to the box of tissues with my left hand. She knew that I meant I needed one of her Puffs tissues, but I didn’t say Puffs. I said, “Kleenex.”

Imagine a world where consumers said, “I’m going to my credit union” when they were actually driving to their bank, or making payments online was called “online credit unioning.”

“Credit union” - what a name. Where did it come from and how can we turn it into Kleenex?

Jun. 10, 2008 at 1:22pm

Three iPhones later Virgin Atlantic stinks of gas

Posted by Jamie Chase in Choose the Right Target Audience, Talking to Members
Comments (5)

I’m on my third iPhone. It’s a great product and I love it. (Sometimes I even sleep with it.) Even better than my romance with the product is Apple’s “in it for the long-haul” commitment to the relationship. My second and third iPhone were free. They were on-site, instant replacements.

The Apple customer service experience was great because:

Jun. 3, 2008 at 1:23pm

Don't get whipped by narrow focus

Posted by Melina Young in Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
Comments (16)

A few days ago, while eating Chinese takeout at Jamie’s house and speaking philosophically about credit unions, I remembered one of the most profound concepts I have ever heard. It came from Dr. Neill, one of my professors at the University of Washington Tacoma. I’ll never forget the point he made when we were discussing the importance of effective mission statements.

Dr. Neill asked us to think about a company in the early 1900s that sold buggy whips. If this company’s leaders could glimpse into the future, they would see the dwindling need for buggy whips and they’d potentially change their products.

May. 29, 2008 at 1:26pm

Value of a blog

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Integrated Marketing, Strategic Communications
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In the National Association of Federal Credit Union’s “TFCU Online” article author Kate Arcieri talks in great detail about credit union blogging best practices.

As a communications consultant and one of the people posting to The Credit Union Difference blog, I have been trying to estimate the value of a blog visitor and a blog commenter.

Plenty more in the Archives