Credit Union Partnerships in Action – 4 Ways Collaboration Worked
by: Meghann Dawson, Instructional Design Manager, Credit Union National Association
Michelle Laursen, participant and winner of the CUNA Marketing Management School’s CU*SWAG T-shirt design contest, held in partnership with CU*SWAG, won big. Three free registrations to the 2012 CUNA Marketing Management School (one for herself, two for her colleagues), national recognition for her creativity and her credit union’s support in her efforts and leading the way to “destroy the box” as advocated by PTP NEW MEDIA. Michelle, along with her fellow contestants, were given one simple objective: Create a T-shirt design that, in some way, pertained to the 2012 CUNA Marketing Management School and reflected the exclusive nature of the school.
What worked for us and can work for you:
1. Let your audience shape your message. In being flexible and non-aggressive, the CU*SWAG T-shirt design contest, in particular, drew more people to the conference out of sheer interest rather than relentless ad badgering. And having an audience come already interested, they receive the message more positively. Sometimes the best marketing strategy is to let your audience create one.
“Our thought was to make one great design that gets our point across. Being marketers, we felt that was important to put our best foot forward in one piece.” Michelle Laursen, Senior Marketing Specialist, US Federal Credit Union
2. Creating partnerships, being nimble in your efforts. In partnering with another trusted credit union brand, not only is the collaboration of ideas important, exposure and credibility is gained. The trust and support created by partnering with CU*SWAG for the T-shirt contest, allowed us to connect with our audience in a different way and undoubtedly had a major impact on the contest participation.
“Once again, we see the power of people in another amazing design contest. There is so much innovative and creative talent in the industry.” James Robert Lay, Tailor of Conversation, CU*SWAG
3. Competition: The life of a marketing professional. Pushing your audience to “destroy the box” creates excitement and temptation to go where no one’s gone before! Providing the platform for marketing professionals to pursue their competitive desires was very well received.
“Sometimes you only get one shot to make an impression, so we tried to keep that in mind.” Michelle Laursen, Senior Marketing Specialist, US Federal Credit Union
4. Recognition for a job well done. Recognizing innovators, credit union’s that are allowing their staff to participate in “destroy the box” contests… should be recognized for their efforts. Michelle Laursen, winner of our T-shirt contest, gained three free school registrations, her winning design was printed on the conference CU*SWAG shirt that all attendees will be given on-site along with recognizing her and her credit union in PR and e-mail communications. Recognition is the greatest reward.
All in all 72 T-shirt designs were submitted, setting the all-time record for any CU*SWAG T-shirt design contest. T-shirt designs ranged from scenes of the Eiffel Tower, to gambling, to VIP press badges and even Elvis. Not one design idea was repeated. From 72 designs, 15 finalists were selected to be featured on the voting page. Then, after a whirlwind voting period, over 1,700 votes (another record-breaking number) were cast, making Michelle’s T-shirt design the standalone winner of the 2012 contest.
Meghann Dawson is an instructional design manager for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). She is responsible for designing, developing, and implementing educational programs for CUNA’s institutes and schools, as well as in CUNA’s on-line virtual classroom. In 2011 she became the Director of CUNA Management School, the longest continuing education program of its kind in the credit union industry. www.CUNAverse.com
About CUNA
With its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) serves 90 percent of America’s 7,400 state and federally chartered credit unions, which are owned by nearly 93 million consumer members. Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives providing affordable financial services to people from all walks of life. For more information about CUNA, visit www.cuna.org or the CUNAverse blog and follow @CUNAverse on Twitter. For more information about credit unions, visit www.aSmarterChoice.org and follow @asmarterchoice on Twitter.
