South Dakota, You … NAILED IT?

I’m a firm believer in working hard at one thing to become the best you can be at whatever it is you want. I’m not sure if I’ve ever believed in the whole Malcolm Gladwell 10,000-Hour Rule, but I think it’s a great lesson for everyone – if you want to be great at something, put in the work and hopefully you’ll reach that goal of being an expert at what you want to do.

For instance, back in the ’80s and into the very early part of the ’90s, I worked really hard to become the best percussionist I could be. My initial idea in the fifth grade was, if I can become really good on the snare drum, I’d get some college scholarships. And, after several years of practicing every single day, I achieved that goal. Once I realized that I didn’t want to become a band director, I quickly abandoned the music profession. Hello journalism school!

I think about this idea a lot, of becoming the best you can be by putting in years of work into one thing, especially when I read stories about organizations paying outside agencies for some specialized help – like creating advertising campaigns, slogans or marketing materials.

I actually use a lot of brain space when it comes to credit union ad campaigns, rebrandings and new credit union slogans. More on that later.

First, I want to talk to you about meth.

According to the South Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey, South Dakota youth “have higher rates of trying meth at 3.8% compared to the national average of 3%.” The 2018 Statewide Drug Statistics report showed 3,694 arrests for methamphetamine. There are 66 counties in South Dakota and, according to that drug statistics report, there were methamphetamine arrests in all but six counties. Oh, and the population of South Dakota? According to 2018 numbers, it’s 882,235 people. As you can see, that’s a lot of methamphetamine arrests compared to the total population. In fact, according to South Dakota Social Services Secretary Laurie Gill, 83% of the state’s 2019 court admissions for controlled substances were meth-related.

As any good state government agency would do, to at least appear as if they are trying to solve a problem, the South Dakota state government hired a marketing and advertising agency to create a state-sponsored public health awareness campaign about the dangers of meth.

Picture this: An old-man rancher wearing a jean jacket and cowboy hat, leaning against a wooden fence, and behind him there’s the open range with an old windmill water pump just over his shoulder. The old rancher is looking straight into the camera at you.

Added to this dusty and almost soothing western-looking poster is a phrase in large, white all-caps letters: “METH. I’M ON IT.”

Three other posters were created for this campaign: One with a younger man sitting in a coffee shop and another with a middle-aged woman wrapped in a blanket and sitting on a rock stating, “METH. I’M ON IT.” And finally, three high-school aged boys wearing football gear with the words, “METH. WE’RE ON IT.”

You should know that this campaign was created by an out-of-state agency in Minnesota. Sure, Minnesota is South Dakota-adjacent. The state paid $449,000 for the creation of the campaign.

I get it that the state’s heart might be in the right place, but the execution of this idea is … confusing? Disturbing? Resigned? Passive-aggressive? I’m voting for mostly confusing.

South Dakota isn’t one to shy away from snarky ad campaigns. Just a few years ago, the state’s big tourism campaign was this phrase: “Why die on Mars, when you can live in South Dakota?”

You can see why people would be confused by a state-sponsored campaign from South Dakota. Do they want us all to be on meth? Do state officials believe the entire population are meth addicts? Or is the phrase supposed to sound like an Arnold Schwarzenegger catch-phrase to say when you’re heading out to catch the bad guys? “Meth … I’m on it!” (Takes off in his meth mobile?)

Of course Twitter, being the sandbox of instant criticism that it is, users did not hold back:

• “omg. I’ve seen bad public health comms, but that is … malpractice?”
• “It really sells you on meth though doesn’t it?”
• “These ads make me want to do meth.”
• “Think they meth’ed up.”
• “Are we sure this isn’t a pro-meth campaign?”

Mostly, the reactions were somewhere along the lines of, “Is this real?” The campaign so far has done one thing all campaigns should do – it got our attention. But, did they get the attention for the right reasons? My initial reaction was that it was a longer and more confusing version of Nike’s famous “Just Do It.” campaign.

Are the people who created this campaign the best at what they do? From my experience in a marketing/PR/ad agency, I’d suspect it’s just a small group of people who are just trying to do the best they can and get it done on time with the billable hours allotted. Are these South Dakota meth experts? I’m going to take a guess and say, nope.

Credit unions have always appeared to be at a strange disadvantage with their messaging due to the inherent, confusing language they were born with of being member-driven and not-for-profit. We’re not part of a labor union (or maybe we are depending on our field of membership.) But really, you can join! Or maybe not. It really depends on a case-by-case basis and if you live or work or worship inside or outside of where we serve. But please, please look into it and let us know if you can join – we’d love to have you!

When we receive announcements from credit unions that are rebranding or launching a new marketing/awareness campaign, we do discuss them on our news calls. What we’ve noticed is more of a focus on words like “together” and “inclusive.” OK, so is your mobile app any good?

There are so many credit union professionals who have put in the work and years into this industry. I’d hope that by now we could find someone somewhere to crack the confusing credit union ad campaign code to simplify who and what CUs are. Membership numbers are going up, yes. But we’re not seeing lasting revenue growth heading our way, according to the latest economic numbers.

My point is, don’t outsource your public-facing campaigns. You’ve hopefully hired the best people – use them.

Or you might get: “CREDIT UNIONS. I’M INTO YOU.” Maybe it’s confusing enough that it just might work.

Michael Ogden is editor-in-chief for CU Times. He can be reached at mogden@cutimes.com.