SAN DIEGO– Pragmatic idealism will be the playing field of the 21st century, and credit unions are well-positioned for that if they take full advantage, according to one person.
Max Schorr, the co-founder and community director of GOOD, which bills itself as an integrated media company for people who want to live well and do good, told credit unions attending CO-OP’s THINK 16 Conference that the challenge is to figure out how to Make things happen “at the intersection of brand DNA, society’s needs, and what get’s people engaged. What does that mean?”
Max Schorr speaking to THINK 16.
What that means, said Schorr, who called credit unions a “best-kept secret” but who also compared CUs to the “DMV,” is an opportunity moving forward for those secret financial cooperatives.
Schorr said he didn’t buy a comment that had been made earlier in the THINK program by speaker Gary Vaynerchuk that the “mobile phone is the most important thing in the world right now.”
“I completely disagree,” said Schorr. “I think people are the most important thing in the world, and the difference is what your purpose is, which is why you have an amazing role to play in the world right now.”
Schorr urged credit unions to gather the “incredible stories” of members to whom credit unions have given loans and publicize them.
Born in 1980, Schorr noted that he is a Millennial who graduated from college feeling “like I had to choose between get a job or make a difference, and that choice sucked.
In 2006 Schoor joined with what what was initially a start-up magazine GOOD, which has gone through some iterations since that time and is now part of a broader media platform, although it is published quarterly.
“When we started GOOD, people asked why,” said Schorr. “GOOD is a new voice in the media; it embraces this generation’s merger of capitalism and idealism. We seek to provide an entertaining, cultural, thought-provoking platform for those who wan to do well by doing good. We engage and challenge the people, ideas and institutions, driving change in America.”
When GOOD was launched it included a “Choose Good” option in which $20 of the subscription cost would go toward one of 12 groups that did “good” work that it had selected. It accomplished its goal of signing up 50,000 people and raising $1 million for those organizations. The first print issue was themed “We Love America,” with a front page that read, “America: Love it…Or Fix it.
Schorr said the GOOD website now sees 10 million visitors each every month. He added that it places an emphasis on appearances, “Design is a very, very important part of who you are. Design has to be as good as the intentions.”
Like many magazines, times were bad for GOOD in 2008 and it struggled with staff layoffs and an evolving editorial mission.
“We started with content that was entertaining and relevant,” said Schorr. “Now, thanks to Facebook, this is the content that gets shared more than any other content. Content that creates a positive and strong emotional response; that’s what people want to be associated with.”
'Our Country Needs You'
Schorr said credit unions should be taking advantage of a “pragmatic idealism,” which he called the “playing field of the 21st century.”
“I think your issue as important (as the work GOOD has done). How do you work together? Our country needs it, and you know it,” said Schorr. “At the end of the day the brand DNA and the product need to meet the promise.”
Schorr said he has watched as social media platforms have been used to build social coalitions to get people behind various causes. Credit unions can do the same thing, he said, before cautioning “it’s not so easy, though. It takes some work.”
“What is your brand DNA?” asked Schorr, before answering, “People first. This is the best brand DNA possible. And money. There are a lot of negatives around money now. What’s exciting is you know as well as anyone that both money and cellphones make good servants and bad masters. You are servants of people. You should do it in one voice. I believe one voice can happen for credit unions, because I think we need it. The story is the reality. This is the exciting thing. Your best kept secret is now our secret weapon. The story is a damn good one and it will inspire people.”