More Ads Coming Out of More Credit Unions - Will It Mean Business or Backlash?

by Ron Daly 

The New York Times did a run-down of credit union ads and the new face of credit union marketing Friday of last week.  The article (in my opinion) goes back and forth between "about time" and "really?" in terms of tone. There are some praise-worthy notes and some jabs that feel a little more like condescension than reporting. But maybe that's just me. 

This was accompanied by a "Bucks" blog post with videos and PDF versions of "anti-bank" campaigns from different CUs around the country. 

I really liked the above ad from America's First FCU. It's got an "anti-bank" element to it, but it ends on a high-note and isn't vitriolic. One aspect of many of the ads featured are actors pretending to be bankers. Really? You really can't come up with one single real-life example of "bankers behaving badly"? Watch the video below:

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Remind me: When's the last time a group of credit union employees tore up the highway in a Lambo? 

There are folks who are concerned all this "bank bashing" is counter-productive. One such person is Jason Sherrill, who wonders if this method of advertising has lead to more people being against financial institutions altogether...and to consequences such as the Durbin amendment. 

I want you to tell me what to think about all this. Are these anti-banking campaigns going to have a negative effect on membership and on our credibility as an industry? 

I set up a simple survey via our online survey tool that will collect your data and I'll print the results when I have an "n group" of 50 voters. 

Talk to me, credit unions. What say you?

Go to http://tinyurl.com/soapsurvey1 and tell us what you think.

[Thanks again to friend-of-the-blog Jeffry Pilcher and The Financial Brand for bringing these stories to our attention.]