By Frank J. Diekmann
Back in the primitive days before the Internet, when being online meant literally waiting in one and surfing was limited to the ocean, I was working as a reporter when I was assigned my very first story on something called a “credit union.” This was a time when my familiarity with credit unions was generally limited to the spelling, and then only if you spotted me a few letters.
I’ve never forgotten that very first CU story assignment, nor the first person I ever interviewed: Richard Hartley. I was reminded recently of Richard and his patience with a reporter who didn’t really have a clue, when news came that Mr. Hartley had passed away. And if you don’t recognize his name and you’re a member of one of the CUNA Councils, you should, because he’s responsible.
At the time there was no Googling what a credit union was or how they worked or what made them different from a bank. Forget Wikipedia, there were only encyclopedias, and even if you found one the “Credit Union” entry was barebones. So, if you were a reporter looking to conduct your first CU interview, you tried to fake that you had some idea what you were talking about, which was no easy matter when the person on the other end of the phone had far more knowledge than you did. Imagine logging into a Zoom call today and it’s your job to ask probing, insightful questions of a thoracic surgeon. “So, hey, how’s that thoracic thing coming, and do you actually work with Thor?” It kinda went like that.
Bluff Not Called
If Richard knew right away that I was trying to bluff my way through the interview, he didn’t let on. At the time he was marketing director with Mission FCU in San Diego, which had bought a local institution, a model train store known as Frank the Trainman, and turned the site into a branch. (Frank the Trainman was actually Frank Cox, and many credit him with introducing model trains as a Christmas-time tradition.)
That was the story I had been assigned, the gist of which, as I recall, was how the credit union could have packed up the store’s history and heritage and sent it the way of the Pullman car, but instead Mission Fed incorporated some of the history—including model trains that still ran—into the new branch. (The building was iconic, and is shown at right.)
It was the beginning of an enjoyable friendship with Mr. Hartley and a terrific introduction to credit unions.
But first, a little history. For anyone new to the movement, you need to understand that for much of CU history marketing was not considered what today we would call “of strategic importance.” Most CUs were small and had no one dedicated to marketing. And why would they? For most of their lives credit unions were heavily regulated; the government all but set deposit and loan rates (leading to an infamous joke, at least in the banking industry, about the “3-6-3 Rule”—take money in at 3%, loan it out at 6, and hit the golf course by 3). With most FIs offering the same “plain vanilla” rates, the only way to differentiate was with giveaways—giving birth to the infamous cliché about a “toaster with every new account.” But that’s not a joke, it was a real thing—you got the four-slicer for the longer-term CDs.
Not the ‘Creative’ Types
If there was any marketing being done at a credit union the job fell either to a teller with spare time or the manager, who had most likely come up through the accounting department. If you’re thinking to yourself that must have led to some less-than-inspiring “creative,” as someone who judged many a marketing awards competition back in the day, let me just say that newsletter in which someone had patiently used a typewriter to peck-out a holiday message in the form of a Christmas tree would often take home a ribbon.
But as deregulation set in and the credit union world began to gradually open to a lot more flavors than just plain vanilla, some of the more aggressive and innovative CUs realized effective marketing could be a difference-maker. And Richard Hartley and Mission FCU were among them.
I found myself in regular touch with Richard and a half-dozen other emerging credit union marketers who were always winning the top awards in those competitions. It was a different era in credit unions—marketing was an emerging field, somewhat similar to analytics today. Those marketers’ work may be viewed now as dated and not as sophisticated as the digital-only, CRM-driven, segmented messaging of 2021, but it was often frequently imaginative and was cutting edge at the time (which is the only way it should be measured) and it blazed a path for everyone working in credit union marketing today.
Richard Hartley would go on to be chairman of a marketing group CUES had formed. When the association abruptly announced it would be exiting that business, Richard was peeved, and he poked me in the chest after the announcement was made and vowed, “I’ll be damned if this is happening on my watch.” That led to the creation of the CUNA Councils, which you can read more about here.
The Real CU ‘Difference’
Reporters obviously love good quotes and good sources, and Richard was both, but he was also more. He had a great sense of humor and perspective and was just plain enjoyable to be around. When I would attend what used to be known as in-person conferences, I would usually be one to call room service for dinner so I could make deadlines, but if Richard was at the meeting I would always attempt to finagle a sit-down if he had a free evening.
As a reporter who had been covering banks, he not only introduced me to what credit unions were, he offered an introduction to just how credit union people are different, inviting me once while I was in San Diego to dinner at the home he shared with his wife, Rose (who also worked at Mission FCU, included a stint as interim CEO).
Richard and Rose would retire from the credit union and I was not alone in giving him a hard time for perhaps being the first person in history to leave San Diego to retire in Waco, Texas—a move totally understandable, as he had grandkids there.
Over the years Richard stayed in touch with many in credit unions using Facebook; in fact he dropped me a nice note not long before his death.
His son said on Facebook, “He passed peacefully at home, sitting in his comfortable chair, with Rose nearby as always. He gently closed his eyes and was gone.” That seems like the way everyone should go—I guess he was a marketer right to the end.
A Pair of Lessons
Before all of us are gone perhaps we can take a few lessons from the CU life of Richard Hartley. One, if someone (like some naïve reporter) doesn’t know what a credit union is, take time to explain it. And two, ask yourself what you’ll be damned about if it happens on your watch, and then make sure it doesn’t.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief of CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info. Mr. Diekmann is also author of the new book, ‘501 Name Tags: Everything You Need to Know About Business Can be Learned at a Conference & Forgotten in the Trade Show.” For info: www.501nametags.com.