Vista FCU, United Airlines ECU redefine cooperation

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. and CHICAGO – Talk about playing up your assets. Vista Federal Credit Union and United Airlines Employees Credit Union have pooled their resources to drum up some new members. During a three month summer membership campaign, new members referred friends and opened accounts at both credit unions for a chance to win a free trip for four to Disneyland r Resort Paris. “We wanted to come up with a promotion that would really encourage people to join. So during a brainstorming session we came up with the trip to Disneyland Paris, which was generously donated by our sponsor company,” said Vista FCU Vice President of Marketing Jeff York. “But we really wanted to give them free airfare so we started calling different airline credit unions to see if they wanted to run a joint campaign.” UAECU answered the call and tapped its corporate sponsor to toss in the free airline tickets. In addition, UAECU internally developed the promotional pieces that would be used for both credit unions. “It really was not that difficult to make the decision to partner with Vista FCU,” said UAECU Marketing Manager Jennifer Divelbiss. “Disney is a corporate account of our sponsor so we really didn’t want Vista FCU to promote another airline and more than that we recognized that this was really a great opportunity and fabulous for our members.” York added that the joint effort also kept costs down for both credit unions. “We were each left with just covering the postage, printing and spending money for the winners,” said York. To keep Vista FCU staffers motivated during the campaign, the credit union also ran an internal promotion offering the grand prize of an all expenses paid three-night stay at the Las Vegas Paris hotel. UAECU employees got into the Disney spirit by decorating branches with a Parisian flair and wearing Mickey Mouse ears. “With our sponsor downsizing, our goal was to encourage new members to join,” said Divelbiss. “Not only did everyone have a great time with this but almost 3,200 new members joined.” York says the promotion just exceeded his expectations as well with over 4,300 new members joining Vista FCU. “It is always gratifying when we can work with other credit unions on mutually beneficial initiatives,” said York.