For a little over a year a revolution has been slowly buildingin Lowell, Mass. and Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union is at the center ofit.

“We wanted to try to understand how a person entering thefinancial marketplace feels and that person could be 16, 22 or animmigrant,” said Mark Cochran, CEO of JDCU. “When it comes toconversations about money, unfortunately, many view it as being amystery, having anxiety about it or feeling powerless. We'veprovided financial education for years but it's been more anincremental case-by-case basis. We wanted this to be more of amovement where we could give people the tools to feel in control oftheir money, rather than money controlling them.”

For years the credit union has been offering members of all agesa mix of community workshops and financial education classes. Inaddition, for students, JDCU offers college scholarships andopportunities to gain work experience with its high schoolbranches, said Michelle Silveira, senior vice president atJDCU.

“We had an off-the-shelf program for teens, but it just didn'tconnect with the kids,” said Silveira. “So we talked with our adagency about how to make something educational that would be fun,unique and online.”

Working with brand development and marketing communications firmRaoust+Partners, the result was Money Strong, a complete financialeducation program aimed at helping younger members and those withcredit challenges build their money confidence. Built around theidea of empowerment, MoneyStrong has become a young, fresh, hip movement designed tomorph into what's going on in locals' lives. According to OlivierRaoust, CEO of Raoust+Partners and chief creative of Money Strong,it wraps financial literacy, support, products and services, localevents and encouragement in one program.

“It has been embraced and spread virally throughout the region.It is producing results that are far above the most aggressiveexpectations set by Jeanne D'Arc. But, more importantly, MoneyStrong has also become a vehicle for positive change in the livesof those in the area that need to resurrect their credit. That isthe ultimate definition of service to the community and givingback,” said Raoust.

With four high school branches, JDCU initially developed MoneyStrong with an eye on building deeper connections with youngmembers. Student advisory groups served as focus groups to discoverwhat made area teens tick, from identifying their needs and music,clothes and colors they liked to favorite local hangouts. A multi-media mix using billboards, radio and movie theater ads,word-of-mouth guerilla marketing campaigns and social mediachannels helped build awareness of the new microsite,moneystrong.org.

“Instead of generic concepts, we involved the young adults andhigh school students in the process and really listened to them,”said Raoust. “What appeals to a boomer audience may not resonate asclear and loud with younger audience so we had to represent JDCUthrough a different prism to reach that audience.”

He said the local neighborhood feel has been built intoMoney-Strong's DNA, so everything from the bold colors used on themicrosite to the high school branches featuring murals depictinglocal hangouts came directly from those conversations. In additionto offering relevant financial advice and tools online, MoneyStrong also offers customized products such as a 7% APY for thefirst $500 deposited in a primary savings account, a credit-builderVisa card, and auto and personal loans, where members who maketheir payments on time have the opportunity to get their rateslowered each year for three years.

“We wanted kids to start saving, so the 7% rate was a way toencourage that, and we know that there are many teens who don'thave credit, want, say, a car loan, but they get turned down ormust have a co- signer. Now they don't have to be denied, and astheir credit history improves, their rate goes down. Down the roadthey'll always remember we were there for them and stay with us,”said Silveira. “We quietly launched the products in January, have132 loans and 111 are building credit and the average Money Strongnew member age is 23 years old. We're hitting the mark of what wewanted to do. To get that momentum going is awesome for us.”

She added that now that JDCU has made inroads in buildingawareness, the focus this year will be to keep locals engaged inlearning.

“We're still in a learning phase but we're on the right trackbecause I think now they see that we respect their opinion and arewilling to change,” said Silveira. “We don't talk down to them andwhen they walk into a branch they're thrilled that we're takingthem seriously and not treating them like little kids.”

Silveira said that word of mouth about theJDCU has been spreading not only among the younger set but alsothose who are looking to become more financially savvy.

“We realized pretty quickly that wanting to feel empowered aboutmoney is something that's relevant to everyone, not just youngermembers,” added Cochran. “There are people older than 18 who mayhave lost their jobs, made mistakes and need credit repair, so whynot give them another chance.”

To that end the microsite offers two paths–one for students andthe other for those who are interested in building their creditscores.

“It's still in the initial stages and the response has beengreat– almost a sense of disbelief, that there must be a catch,”said Cochran. “So right now people are pleasantly surprised butholding back a little. This is still a process, one we're sharingwith our members, and we're seeing that people are getting the wordout about Money Strong.”