MIAMI BEACH, Fla.–Are credit unions wasting money on their $100-million national “Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union” brand awareness campaign? One person suggested that could be the case.
During a Q&A session at CO-OP’s THINK 19 Conference here, Seth Godin, the author of 19 books, including Purple Cow, that examine the post-mass market marketplace and who had earlier delivered a keynote address, was asked about the “Open Your Eyes” campaign being championed by CUNA, for which the association is seeking to raise $100 million.
Open Your Eyes is specifically aimed at raising consideration among consumers of credit unions as a provider of financial services. Godin was asked for his thoughts on such an awareness campaign.
Evangelists Needed
“Real growth comes from when your customers evangelize for what you do,” he responded. “If you can make it safe for them to evangelize what they do, they will do it. You don’t have enough money to touch enough people who say, ‘I don’t know you but will now consider you.’ What you do have is 110 million people who can talk about you.
"Think of anything you’ve heard of, TED Talks or other brands, you learned about because other people were talking about it,” continued Godin. “It’s not because they ran Super Bowl ads.”