PALM DESERT, Calif.–Credit unions can’t stop talking about branding. They conduct research, author white papers, host focus groups and debate marketing strategies, all to get to the core of what the credit union’s brand is all about. But what credit unions think doesn’t really matter, according to one expert.
Even worse, it’s the members for whom everything is “fine” that are most at risk of leaving.
“Branding means whatever I think is right, not what you think. Branding is just our impression of something,” said Scott Stratten in remarks to the California and Nevada leagues’ REACH Conference. “You had thoughts and assumptions and biases when I walked out here, and now it’s up to me to either prove it or disprove it.”
Addressing what he calls “Unbranding,” by which he means companies need to “stop marketing and start engaging,” Stratten that all the marketing and advertising credit unions do isn’t really what matters. What matters, he said, is what the member and prospective member experiences and perceives when it comes to the credit union, and credit unions in general.
“Your front line changes your bottom line. The people who deal with your members change the brand of your credit union every single interaction,” he said. “Notice I didn’t say transaction. There is no such thing as a neutral brand interaction. And (the front line has) to know they change the brand. It’s little things that add up to the big things. When I see your credit union name, what do I think? If the last time I walked in someone treated me OK or not so good, that’s the impression of your brand.”
To make his point, Stratten, who admitted he is a long-time customer of TD Bank (he lives in Toronto) and not a credit union member, drew on his own experiences with that bank. He said he noticed TD Bank was giving away flat-screen TVs to new business accounts. As he has had his own commercial business with the bank for some time, he said he asked if he qualified for a TV. He was told no, and that’s a mistake, he told the meeting.
'That's Backward'
“We treat the pursuit of new members differently than how we treat the pursuit of current members,” he said. “That’s backward. If you think word of mouth is the best way to get new members, shouldn’t you be focused on how you treat current members? Yes, then give them the TVs.”
Every member/customer of any business is always in one of three states: Ecstatic, Static, or Vulnerable, according to Stratten.
“The issue here is, where you think most of your members are is not where they are,” he said. “Most are in Static, and that is actually worse than vulnerable. The reason the middle is the problem is this is where the F word lies: It’s fine. They’re fine. Fine is where business goes to die.”
The big problem with members who are “fine” with their relationship is they don’t really show up in the member review or satisfaction systems most credit unions have in place, said Stratten, who is the author of two books: “Unbranding: 100 Branding Lessons for the Age of Disruption,” and “Unmarketing Second Edition: Everything Has Changed & Nothing is Different.”
“The worst type of member complaint you can have is one you do not hear,” Stratten said. “If you do not hear it, you cannot fix it. Members do not expect perfection, but they do expect accountability and ownership of an issue.”
About the 'M' Word
Switching gears slightly, Stratten also spoke to a subject that is practically mandatory fodder at credit unions: Millennials.
“If you didn’t know, the Millennials are coming,” joked Stratten, referring to the overload of focus on the demographic. “When we say Millennials, we don’t even know what that means. Millennials are between the ages of 18-36. Millennials, when we say Millennials, working with you, hiring you, selling to you, what we mean is people younger than us and we don’t like you. The sooner we all admit to that, the quicker we all move on.”
Stratten told REACH Millennials don’t even like being called Millennials, a statement confirmed by the fewer than a handful of Millennials in the audience.
But whether a member or prospect is a Millennial or a Boomer, Stratten reminded credit unions they share a characteristic as consumers in that they perceive the CU according to their last interaction. “Branding happens in real time,” he said.