By Ray Birch
WATERFORD, Conn.—Charter Oak FCU has no concerns today about telling consumers it’s “like a bank.” In fact, the credit union feels that’s what it needs to do to grow.
Behind a “Members Bank Better” advertising theme that it launched at the close of 2014, the credit union has boosted membership by more than 13% over two years. Charter Oak closed 2014 with 55,758 members and by the end of 2016 it had 63,100.
“We are a very large financial institution—the largest in eastern Connecticut and the third-largest in our state. But that may not mean a lot with consumers. You have to let people know that you have the same services as a bank and that it is easy to join,” explained Anthony Cronin, AVP/director of marketing.
Cronin said the membership and overall growth across the board at Charter Oak in the last two years underscores the value of an ongoing awareness campaign.
“We were founded in 1936 to serve the local ship yard,” said Cronin about the community chartered CU. “But today some people still don’t know you can easily join. As we all know, it’s a common problem credit unions face—many consumers don’t know what we really are. They think that maybe you have to be part of a union or work at a specific employer to join. But worst of all, they think we are not equal to banks in our services.”
Don't Stop Awareness
In 2014 the credit union set out to consistently run advertising that always carried the Members Bank Better tagline. Whether the promotion was simply for awareness, or to pitch a product, the tagline has been prominent in each ad, Cronin said.
“We have run ads that say, ‘Membership is piece of cake;’ ‘Just like that you are a member;’ and ‘Like a bank, just better’,” said Cronin. “All the ads, too, have a call to action.”
Anthony Cronin
Cronin emphasized the importance of not stopping and starting an awareness effort, stressing that the message must consistently be in front of consumers.
“We also believe that you have to use as many adverting channels as you can to reach all demographics,” he said. “We use print, radio, cable TV, bus adds, billboards, online and our website,” he told CUToday.info. “When we just started the campaign, we used heavy print, and many full-page ads to make an impact. We wanted to make sure we grabbed attention.”
In addition to strong membership growth, assets at the $986-million credit union have increased over the last two years by more than $140 million. In that same period, the lending portfolio has grown by $166 million and deposits by $170 million.
“Good growth across the board,” Cronin said.
In 2014, Charter Oak built a 6,500-square-foot headquarters here. However, that alone was not enough to sell the local community on the strength and breadth of services offered at Charter Oak.
What led the credit union to push the button on the ongoing awareness campaign was a study it commissioned an advertising firm to conduct. The report revealed many consumers are unaware of all the services Charter Oak offers, and do not understand what a credit union is.
“When we opened our headquarters, we felt we made a statement that we are a large, strong financial institution. It was a big deal for us. We used it as the way to kick off our campaign, to show people what we are all about and how easy it is to join,” Cronin said.
Keep Things Fresh
Cronin emphasized the importance of credit unions running awareness campaigns and doing so consistently.
“I think you have to today, to let people know what you are all about,” said Cronin, who noted Charter Oak has a “robust” marketing budget. “We are consistent with our message, but we change up the ads to promote different products. That keeps things fresh.”