Marketers Deserve Some Respect

Mike Welch’s column in the Nov. 6, 2002 issue (“Time for credit union marketers to refocus”) was of great interest to me. As a credit union marketer with 23 years of experience, I too, have seen many changes in how marketing is perceived in our industry. I agree with Welch that some credit union marketers do not receive much direction from their CEO and other operational managers of the credit union. They are left to figure out on their own what and when to market, often with no real strategic objective. However, I believe these marketers are in the minority. Several years ago, the CUNA Councils produced a valuable tool called “Career ExCELL”. It describes in detail the technical and functional skills needed for a professional marketer as well as other operations professionals. The marketers Welch mentioned and their CEOs would benefit from using this tool for recruitment, coaching, career pathing, performance assessment and many other applications. As a member of the CUNA Marketing Council for the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to network and share ideas with more than 500 of the brightest, most professional marketers in the credit union industry. These marketers have a profound effect on their credit union’s loan, deposit and membership growth. These marketers are focused on results-not just awards. Like many other managers in credit union departments, marketers wear many different hats. We are expected to be experts in advertising, strategic planning, political relations, media relations, community relations, member research, Web design, product development, product management, sales, branch merchandising, promotions, market segmentation, telemarketing, business development, and public relations. Yes, we still plan the open houses, annual meetings and anniversary celebrations. (When I attended the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism-Public Relations Sequence, those responsibilities were part of public relations.) With such a full plate of duties, it is obvious we cannot all be experts in every area. Please forgive us if some of us do not know the proper format for a news release or the correct person to mail it to. As one of my associates says, “marketers must have the thickest skin around because everyone outside of marketing thinks they are experts at what we do and they don’t mind telling us.” Mary T. Olson VP of Marketing/Business Development Delta Employees Credit Union Chair, CUNA Marketing Council