Lift your credit union by lifting the movement

by: Bill Prichard

A post from March 2014 on The Drinks Business website reported on an industry-wide issue that is certainly not confined to the purveyors of adult beverages:

“The wine industry is ‘losing touch’ with Millennial consumers according to a recent study by Wine Intelligence. Exposed to a barrage of drinks offerings, the report found that wine is in danger of losing Generation Y to other more engaging drinks categories such as beer, cider and spirits.”

If the wine industry is soberly pondering how to engage Millennial consumers, it has certainly been true of the credit union industry as well. Credit unions have a lot of offer consumers; yet, studies (once again) show very low awareness of credit union benefits, especially among Millennials.

So, the wine and credit union industries are holding research data in both fists. And, the data loudly points to something that should be part of every organization’s overall marketing strategy – the need lift the brand of their entire category, along with their own individual brand.

In May, CO-OP launched an industry branding campaign specifically seeking to reach Millennial non-members on behalf of its 3,500 client credit unions. Called “Empowering People. Amplifying Dreams” (www.co-opcreditunions.org), the goal is to educate young consumers on how credit unions can help them to a firm financial footing in life.

In working to attract Millennials to an entire industry, we have keyed in on at least three things.

continue reading »