Opening Eyes & Dispelling Myths

We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in front of us to raise consumer consideration of credit unions. It’s not that consumers haven’t heard of us – in fact 98% of consumers have – it’s that one-third don’t know enough about us to consider choosing our products and services. This is our consideration challenge, something we need to take on to make sure credit unions have a bright future.

The Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union campaign is the first iteration of the larger effort to increase consideration of credit unions among American consumers. This Awareness initiative grew from several needs in the industry, but its main purpose is to increase the consideration of credit unions among consumers.

Credit unions have held steady around 7% of market share for the last two decades. In that time, community banks have been swallowed up by big banks, and big banks have merged into mega banks. It’s a trend that leaves credit unions extremely vulnerable if we don’t proactively connect with consumers to share why we’re different – and better – than traditional banks.

A lot of us in the industry have known for years that something like this is needed. From my position as a credit union CEO I’m concerned about my bottom line, but I also see the wider picture. My credit union will hurt if our industry at large suffers. We all need to put our cooperative principles first and work together to promote the credit union difference and create top of mind awareness so that when consumers are looking for a financial product or service, credit unions are in the consideration set.

We can all agree that it’s important to reach consumers and dispel industry myths. I think the Awareness initiative is our best shot at achieving this goal. I believe in it. And I want to set the record straight on two big misunderstandings I keep hearing.

First: “This isn’t going to impact my credit union.” Some may think their credit union won’t be affected by Awareness. That it’s such a large-scale campaign their institution will be too far removed from it. This is simply false.

The purpose of the initiative is to raise the consideration of credit unions across the board. We want to dispel the myths associated with credit unions and drive more Americans to consider us when shopping for a product or service. That’s good for the industry’s brand, but even better for all our individual businesses as consumers contact their local credit union to meet their needs.

Second: “I already have a marketing plan, so I don’t need to participate.” This campaign is designed to seamlessly coexist with and elevate whatever marketing agenda you’re already running. It’s the “air-cover” and is designed to promote the credit union category. It does not displace a local credit union’s brand – it complements it. You have the option to continue with your normal marketing content, or you can incorporate Awareness materials into new and existing advertising.

The bottom line is this is not just another marketing plan. It’s an industry-wide, national effort to increase our share of the marketplace pie.

The reality is that Awareness isn’t just another advertising campaign. It’s something that credit unions have never attempted, and its potential is enormous if we all work together on it.

I’ve been involved with this program since the beginning. I’ve seen the strategic research that is the foundation of the initiative. We determined from market research that Americans have heard of credit unions but are often carrying around myths about the industry that deter them from joining one. I also know that Open Your Eyes content has been market-tested to our key demographics – millennials and heads of households – to ensure the most effective engagement.

In January, the Awareness initiative went from planning and expectation to reality. We launched Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union in Minnesota! North Carolina and South Carolina followed in February, and there is so much more to come.

Now, this week in March, over 5,000 credit union advocates are in Washington, D.C. participating in CUNA’s annual Governmental Affairs Conference, where attendees will experience Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union as if they were everyday consumers. The initiative will also be a feature discussion from the mainstage on Tuesday. I can’t wait for everyone to see, hear and experience the amazing progress we’ve made since the last CUNA GAC, and I know we continue to fundraise and gain new contributors as we work to spread the campaign across the country.

I’m excited for the day we launch in my state of California, but as we continue to prepare I’m focused on dispelling the myths about the initiative and getting more of my peers to join us in the biggest, boldest consumer-facing effort credit unions have ever attempted.

Teresa Freeborn is president/CEO of Xceed Financial Credit Union and Chair of the Creating Awareness Advisory Group. She can be reached at tfreeborn@xfcu.org.