“You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.”
- Jerry Garcia
By Christopher Morris
While I was gearing up for the launch of the National Credit Union Foundation’s new logo and website recently, I came across the above quote in a book about branding. It struck me for a few reasons. First, I’m a music geek and while I’m not a “Deadhead,” I certainly own more than a few of the Grateful Dead albums on vinyl. Regardless, whether you like the Dead or not, it’s clear they carved out an impressive niche in the musical landscape.
More importantly, the quote is powerful. Think of a few the biggest brands consumers flock to – Apple, Pixar, Google – their brand perception is absolutely unique. In the credit union movement, we all strive to be the best, which is important. But if you want to stand out and be successful, focus on things that differentiate you from your competitors and others.
Garcia’s quote was particularly timely and relevant to my work at the Foundation as it reflects the fact that no one does what the National Credit Union Foundation is currently doing, at least on our scale. We’ve carved out our unique niche as the charitable arm of the U.S. movement, kick starting credit unions’ efforts to strengthen the financial well-being of everyone in their community.
For example, we’re a catalyst through national and scalable programs such as:
- Biz Kid$ to teach kids how to make and manage money;
- REAL Solutions efforts to build member financial capability through experiential learning, financial counseling and more;
- Credit Union Development Education (DE) Training to ignite passion and instill knowledge about the credit union difference; and
- CUAid to uniting resources to help credit union people during disaster;
We have a wide reach and collaborate with credit unions, state trade associations and foundations, government agencies, and other partners as an aggregator, connector, and leader working to improve people’s financial lives through credit unions.
There’s no touch of grey there. The Foundation is the only one of its kind within the industry.
But enough about us. Is your credit union “considered the only one who does what you do” in your financial services landscape? I hope so.
Start with your purpose and your structure. It’s already unique. You exist as a not-for-profit cooperative to help improve your members’ financial lives.
How else are you different? Take a look at your field of membership, financial education, community programs and partners, great rates, low to no-fees, member stories, and so on. There is a reason we refer to it as the “credit union difference.”
Now share that unique story. Make sure your members know how distinctly amazing your credit union is. Your community. Your staff. The media. Lawmakers.
Remember that the Grateful Dead were one of the few bands in music history to have such dedicated fans (well, followers really) that a new word was coined: Deadheads. You too have a unique word for your audience: Members. Do they sing your praises? Do they follow you even when they move? Let’s hope so. You might not have members tattooing your logo on their arm, but your impact on their lives could still be just as permanent and memorable.
Christopher Morris is Director of Communications with the National Credit Union Foundation. For info: www.ncuf.coop.