The Secret Sauce of Marketing Cannot Hide the Taste of Spoiled Meat

By Bo McDonald

One day last year I was having lunch with the management team of a credit union at our routine lunch “hangout.” The food is mediocre. Our normal server is abrupt and rude. However we typically work from the credit union branch right next store. It’s hard to pass up the location…but…

During the particular lunch that comes to mind, one of the members of our party ordered their usual beef kabobs. Upon arrival, the beef looked grey and had a pretty potent smell (and not in a good way.) Sure enough, the beef on the kabob was rotten. It was covered in a pretty thick sauce, I’m guessing to disguise the foul odor. Of course the order was sent back. But my mind immediately related the incident to questionable marketing efforts.

Many businesses, organizations, and even some credit unions try to cover up their own rotting meat. The “rotting meat” I refer to at credit unions is poor service, lack of competitive products, and an overall lack of interest in taking care of members. Some folks find it easier to disguise those issues with a “secret sauce” of marketing. Throw some money at a campaign, tell the public how great we are and that they need to some see us for their next auto loan or mortgage.

Occasionally if the message is good enough some poor sap will wander into the branch and inquire about this great offer. They sit in front of your loan officer, and midway through the process their sniffer goes into overload. They smell something? They smell the rotting meat. The loan officer is more interested in watching the clock and counting down ‘til 5 than making sure the member in front of them is being served. The rate that was advertised on the billboard turned out to be “too good to be true” and the member is confused. “But your billboard said…” “True, but the fine print says…” Gotcha!

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