By Ray Birch
WASHINGTON—The reaction from credit unions to CUNA’s aggressive request for $100 million in funding for its new awareness campaign has been largely positive, according to the trade group. But it also acknowledges that the campaign and contributions could extend beyond the current three-year target.
As CUToday.info reported here, CUNA is asking credit unions for an aggressive $100 million in contributions over three years to fund the launch of its credit union awareness program, “Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union.”
CUNA President and CEO Jim Nussle, who announced he and CUNA were seeking to raise the money during remarks at CUNA’s America’s Credit Union Conference in Boston, told CUToday.infothe trade association might consider adjusting the request in the future if necessary. Nussle said CUNA plans to outline to credit unions how the success of the campaign, and the impact of CU dollars spent, will be measured and communicated.
The $100 million figure would be a big bite of the apple for America’s credit unions. It actually exceeds the total assets of most CUs, with CUNA data showing that as of Q1 2018, 4,027 of the 5,644 (71%) federally insured credit unions had assets of $100 million or below.
While he said collectively the reaction from credit unions has been positive, Nussle admitted not every CU sees it the same way.
Three Different Reactions
“I have heard three different reactions—like the tale of the three bears, and I don’t mean to be glib about this. But one says it’s too much, another says it’s not enough, and the third says it’s just right,” Nussle said. “This has been the reactions.”
But the predominant reaction, according to Nussle, has been that the request is on target, with CUs recognizing it’s going to take a lot of money to have the big impact on consumers the campaign hopes to achieve.
Jim Nussle speaking to credit unions at ACUC.
“Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union” is a CUNA-backed initiative to increase consumer consideration of the industry. Based on data-driven research conducted by CUNA that has included numerous focus groups, the campaign aims to position credit unions as America's preferred financial services provider. Credit unions were most recently given an update on where the research stands and why the messaging has been selected during the CUNA Marketing Council’s recent annual meeting, which CUToday.info reported here.
The effort got its launch after Nussle joined CUNA three years ago and said he frequently encountered people who had no idea what a credit union is.
The Investment to Date
CUNA has invested over $2 million to fund the initiative to date. As CUToday.infopreviously reported, the initiative is designed to combat two primary myths among consumers: they can’t join a credit union and they can’t access their money.
To date, according to those involved in the Open Your Eyes initiative, it is designed to be social media-based, which was expected to help keep a lid on costs. But Nussle said the same group of credit union professionals and marketers who developed the campaign carefully looked at the potential media expenses and the goal of influencing a very large number of consumers, and came up with the campaign dollar figure.
He said that many credit unions who have already shared their support for the contribution have said that a smaller media buy might not have the desired impact.
Moving the Needle
“We don’t want to waste any dollars, but we want to move the needle,” said Nussle. “There have been efforts in the past where it may have felt good to someone who said, ‘Wasn’t that nice that we put out a commercial,’ but the commercial did nothing to move the needle. We believe now is the time for us to move the needle. We want to own our future. So we want to start with $33 million a year. If we get there and discover there is a new figure we need to consider, we are willing to do that. But I certainly think this is a very doable and reasonable dollar figure for the first cycle.”
Nussle emphasized that CUNA wants to make the campaign sustainable.
“We would start with a three-year effort that would constantly refresh,” he said. “We would ask for years one and two and three, and then next year ask for that third year again. And we’ll measure and demonstrate the return on investment every year. This way the contribution could be reviewed in a cycle, and credit unions could consider it in a cycle, and see how it is working. This way we have a sustained effort rather than having to convince everyone to contribute every single year, year after year.”
Contributions will be voluntary. Nussle said CUNA will reach out to its member credit unions with a suggested amount that is based on a credit union’s size and ability to contribute.
Details Being Worked Out
While CUNA is still ironing out details, Nussle said the trade association expects to work with the leagues on contribution collection.
Nussle reiterated that the $100-million figure is not overly aggressive, despite the fact the campaign will largely use digital media.
Nussle said the goal is to generate sufficient impressions to compete with what banks are spending on advertising.
“We are being outspent by banks by about 43 to one when it comes to marketing dollars,” said Nussle. “Our strength is the ability to aggregate our forces because we are cooperatives. If we can get everyone to cooperate together and do a marketing effort together, that would be an advantage the banks would not have. And the other advantage we have now that we did not have five to ten years ago is that we have the ability to target our message to the exact person we want to communicate with. If you are already a credit union member we are wasting our money if we are communicating to you with this campaign. Consumers, especially those under 30, don’t watch TV like they used to. So, to target a younger audience we have to use more digital marketing. The good news about that is digital is cost effective and surgical.”