BOULDER, Colo.–There aren’t too many credit union videos that require the services of a “chicken handler.” But that’s just one of the unique aspects of a video that received more than 100,000 views in social media that was created by Elevations Credit Union here, which used chickens, eggs, a goat, its own employees and more in a fun and quirky production aimed at building its own brand, while also raising funds for local nonprofits.
Elevation’s “Community Egg Lending” social media campaign not only helped raise $1,500 for those local groups, it got members involved and boosted “localism” and the credit union difference.
Below, Susan Green, SVP-marketing with Elevations, participates in a Q&A with CUToday.info to talk more about the campaign, the credit union’s broader branding goals, and that key question of importance—what’s it like working with poultry.
CUToday.info: Explain the broader strategy or thinking behind the “Community Egg Lending” social media campaign?
Green: In 2017, Elevations launched new TV ads that speak in grand terms about our higher purpose of being a trusted part of the community. To tell the lighter side of our story, and to leverage our long history of fun, engaging videos that we promote through social media, we launched a new episodic video series on YouTube we call “Adventures in Localism.” The first video was called “Hey, Neighbor”, the second was “Community Egg Lending,” and the series, which features our front-line staff in humorous fictional situations–think “The Office” in a bank setting–emphasizes the values of localism and community. We plan to do a new episode about once a quarter at least through 2017.
Our objectives are awareness and engagement with members, non-profit partners and the community, but there is also a huge staff engagement element.
Susan Green, Elevations CU
CUToday.info: How did this campaign/vote work, and how did you go about selecting the local food service organizations that were involved?
Green: Over the years, we’ve found that the magic framework for launching new YouTube videos is to promote via contests that ask participants to vote for their favorite worthy cause, which results in donations and also awards an individual winner or two with something cool and local. So a little bit of altruism and a little bit of self-interest. We also try to ensure the worthy causes relate to the video, represent all the communities we serve and have their own social communities with which they can share the campaign. Since it was launched around Thanksgiving, the theme for “Egg Lending” was around food banks and the individual winners received $500 for a “Friendsgiving” party they could host themselves.
CUToday.info: What type of participation did you see in terms of voters and participants?
Green: We have a long history of doing fun, engaging videos on social media and typically see about 10,000 views when we launch something new and then the views grow over time. Our hope was that the “Adventures in Localism” videos would garner more views and engagement than anything before, and the results exceeded our goals. The campaign produced over 100,000 views on Facebook and YouTube--making it one of the most-viewed credit union videos ever--1,437 entries, more than 200 new Facebook fans, and high engagement across our social media platforms.
Not only did members comment on how fun the video was and share with friends and family, but so did our staff. We even had quite a few former staff comment on how fun the video was and say how much they missed Elevations. We also don’t think it’s just coincidence that our member satisfaction score at the branch where we filmed reached an all-time high after launching the “Egg Lending” video.
CUToday.info: Given the theme, have you had members actually looking to borrow some eggs?
Green: Members who have spoken with branch staff say they think it’s hilarious. Several tellers have been asked if we actually lend eggs. Most were definitely joking, but others may actually have been serious.
CUToday.info: Obviously, the Community Egg Lending Program video is quite creative and well done. Some questions related to it, beginning with how did the idea itself come about?
Green: While developing our overall brand approach for 2016, we worked with our creative agency, Cultivator Advertising, to come up with the “Adventures in Localism” video series idea. We wanted a way to tell the lighter, funnier side of our story on social media, since our TV ads tend to have grander messaging about what we believe in and we don’t want to appear to be too full of ourselves.
“Adventures in Localism” is the latest in a long history of fun, engaging YouTube videos Elevations has produced and we are always eager to try something new and take things to the next level. Below are links to some of those in roughly chronological order.
Has your bank ever bought you flowers?
Has your bank ever bought you dinner?
Has your bank ever bought you books?
Has your bank ever bought you lunch?
CUToday.info: This video takes some creative chances, which credit unions are often reluctant to do. What was the discussion like related to the risk(s) involved?
Green: We have a really solid brand that we’ve developed and enhanced over the years, and we have a long history of sharing fun, engaging videos on social media. So we were confident about taking the chance on this new approach, but obviously wanted to make sure we carried it off. The production was more involved than anything we’d ever done before and the concept was quirkier, but it came out even better than we imagined.
CUToday.info: Who pitched this idea, and who wrote/filmed/produced the spot?
Green: Our creative agency, Cultivator Advertising, wrote the scripts and also provided creative direction during the shoot. Futuristic Films provided the production crew and director. Our internal marketing staff helped recruit the “actors” and managed a long list of logistics before and during the shoot. They all did an amazing job.
CUToday.info: Are these CU employees who are featured? If so, how were they selected and did they receive any kind of training?
Green: Everyone in the “Egg Lending” video is a frontline staff member from our branches, business development and wealth-management teams. We asked for nominees from managers, captured short iPhone videos of each as a “try-out” and then hand-selected people based on their fit for each role. Many of the “actors” were a bit shy about being on film, but based on the result, we definitely have some budding stars and our hope is to get even more staff involved as the series continues into 2017.
CUToday.info: Was this filmed at Elevations?
Green: Both “Hey, Neighbor” and “Community Egg Lending” were filmed over two days at our huge flagship branch in Boulder, which has lots of different spaces we could use. Members were present and conducting business while we did the shoot and seemed to get a kick out of what we were doing. We had staff from all our branches come in to participate, and future videos in the series may be filmed at other branch locations. We want viewers to recognize staff they see in the branches and the “actors” have definitely had lots of positive, fun comments from members about seeing them on YouTube.
CUToday.info: The old adage in TV and movies is you don’t want to work with children or animals. In this case, obviously, chickens are the theme. What was it like working with chickens, and how well do they take direction? Was the goat upset to have only one scene?
Green: We actually had a “chicken handler” who brought and managed about a dozen chickens we used in the video. He was responsible for getting the chickens in place, calming them down, switching them out when they got tired, and most importantly, cleaning up. But some of the best shots were when the chickens were out of control. Same with the goat: we got the shot we used on the very first take, but he was even harder to handle and needed even more clean up. Despite the mess, having animals in the branch that day created a lot of buzz and there were lots of smiles and laughs.
CUToday.info: How long did it take to film the video? And any lessons learned here in the event Elevations ever works with chickens again?
Green: “Hey, Neighbor” and “Community Egg Lending” each took a full day to shoot and were filmed back to back on two successive days. We probably won’t use animals again for a while, but one of the 2017 concepts is about bee keeping, which could be even more unpredictable.
CUToday.info: How was this video used and where has it appeared?
Green: The video was unveiled at our Fall Managers meeting, shown at the following all-staff meeting and at our fall planning conference as a command performance for the board of directors. We published it on YouTube and promoted it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, via email and on our homepage. It received over 100,000 views on Facebook and YouTube during the contest period and that number continues to grow.
CUToday.info: What else might Elevations have planned? Is this a one-off, or will we see a creative sequel of any kind?
Green: As stated previously, this is the second in the “Adventures in Localism” series and we plan to continue with a new video in the series about once/quarter at least through 2017. We have started a following and people are already asking when the next episode is coming.
CUToday.info: Any advice for other credit unions considering taking a similar risk?
Green: Take chances, but stay true to your brand. Members love seeing their credit union staff being human and humorous and video is a great medium to show that.
The Community Egg Lending video can be found here.