A Scatterbrain Summer Isn’t All Bad

Did you survive another week? Every day feels like Tuesday, am I right? How many times can we talk about the weather on Zoom calls? When was the last time you ironed? I wonder how long I’ll be able to keep my flying status with Delta. I should order some new socks, just to change things up. QR codes are really making a comeback. Why am I sleeping so much?

I have a lot of important and extremely non-important things on my mind – and these are some examples of my brain’s attempt to occupy itself as the coronavirus continues to rattle our lives and the economy. I’ve come to accept how difficult it’s been to focus on one issue for too long, so I wanted to share two things that fever dream/work me has been tossing around.

Open Your What?

Marketing the benefits of credit unions has always been an interesting and challenging venture. We’ve yet to see a perfectly clear message and marketing execution that resonates with the general public to take action to join your credit union.

We know CUNA recently relaunched its “Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union” campaign after pausing it for a couple of months in the early days of the pandemic. Checks calendar … months later, we are still in the thick of rising infection numbers, death rates have gone back up, hospitalizations have increased and, depending on where you live, economies are shutting down again.

The campaign, which was first announced at CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference in 2018 and officially launched in January 2019, consisted of several awareness goals including to dispel myths about credit unions among the general public. Two common ones are that consumers believe they must belong to a specific group to join a credit union and that because credit unions are local, they won’t be able to access their money when they travel.

As of this writing, the campaign is operating in 24 states at the halfway point of the three-year project. And, let’s face it, accessing money when traveling really isn’t going to be a marketing strategy that will attract new members for the foreseeable future.

It’s easy to critique and criticize public relations and marketing efforts. Right now: 1) I am not sure it’s helpful during this pandemic and 2) I’d rather lend a hand.

This coronavirus emergency is going to be with us for a long time. Events in 2021 are already being cancelled. Not that this is credit union-related, but it is a potential sign of what’s to come. The Geneva auto show in Europe announced the cancellation of its 2021 event due to “lack of interest from exhibitors” as the main reason for the show’s cancellation. We should expect other 2021 dominos (conferences/events) to start falling soon.

Embracing the fact that the pandemic is as dangerous and disruptive as it is could be a smart way to go for the “Open Your Eyes” campaign. Here’s my short letter to the CUNA marketing team:

Dear CUNA people,

With this round of the country going to hell, may I suggest another pause in the “Open Your Eyes” campaign? I believe you could keep most of the main themes and goals of the original campaign by changing it to “Open Your Eyes and Wear a Mask;” promoting credit unions, combined with caring and the safety of everyone, might be a good idea going forward. I’m fairly confident that big banks would not develop a marketing message like that. They’d probably create something like that weird Disney video promoting that they are open and come on in at your own risk, and we’ll gladly take your money.

If your target audience isn’t going to wear a mask and do what it personally takes to stay safe for themselves and others, they might not be alive to join a credit union. Good luck to you.

All my mask-wearing best – Michael

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Our team has made note of just how serious the credit union world has taken the issue of DEI. Honestly, it’s one of those rare times we get to look at the industry from a 30,000-foot level and watch a transformation occur.

The ripple effect of CUNA’s announcement in early June that the “time is now to do more” in the fight against racism has been really a joy to watch. Back then, the CUNA Board of Directors passed a resolution to publicly acknowledge its stand against structural racism and now NAFCU is fully on board. NAFCU President/CEO B. Dan Berger wrote an open letter on LinkedIn announcing the association’s stance.

“No amount of days, weeks or months passing is enough to remedy, rectify or heal the level of pain and suffering that hundreds of years of racism has inflicted on the Black community,” he said in the letter. “Even so, that is not an excuse to do nothing. It is our duty, especially for those of us who are CEOs, leaders and policymakers, to make sure we take action within our communities, our schools and our companies. We must make pronouncements against hate and we must do so unequivocally and everywhere we see it, not just when men and women are unjustifiably killed or when acts of hate are captured on camera.”

In between the announcements by CUNA and NAFCU, credit unions like VyStar Credit Union in Jacksonville, Fla., announced Allie Braswell as its first vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. Teachers Federal Credit Union in El Paso, Texas partnered with Credit Union Strategic Planning to help with the credit union’s DEI efforts. Filene Research Institute launched a new Center of Excellence for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. WOCCU, CUES, the NCUA and several others have announced new and industry-changing DEI initiatives.

And since the beginning of this year, CU Times has published 20 stories about DEI. I just wanted to point all of this out because I couldn’t be more excited about the important changes happening in and around our credit union world concerning DEI.

So far, 2020 has been a year of change – good and bad. During this tumultuous year, let’s all do our best to change for good.

With those things out of the way, my brain has more questions: Who decided what size a legal pad should be? Does anyone own a pencil sharpener anymore? Remember how bad Styrofoam coolers were?

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