WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – When it comes to credit union marketing,less can sometimes lead to fabulous results. “Marketing campaignscan look good, but if it doesn't work it's not a good one,” saidCEFCU Vice President of Marketing Sue Yoder. Yoder says what hasproved successful for CEFCU has been differentiating itself fromthe competition. A simple black and white print ad of an oversizedasterisk with the tagline “Sure it looks harmless. CEFCU Visa Card.Outstanding Value. (asterisk not included)”, that ran for aboutthree weeks has helped double credit card application volume bynearly 82% – exceeding the marketing goal by 26%. “I think thereason it worked so well was because it was very focused, memberoriented and visually distinct,” said CEFCU Marketing ManagerJennifer Flexer. “We showed them why we're different. The biggestmistake is to get lost, you have to give people reason to stop andread your ad.” A similar strategy worked well for San Antonio-basedFirstMark Credit Union's year-long membership campaign, which urgedmembers to tell their neighbors, family, friends and employeesabout the benefits of belonging to the credit union for a chance towin a getaway. Prizes ranged from a trip for two to Cancun Mexicoand a trip for two to South Padre, to four tickets to Fiesta Texasand $100 spending money. A targeted mix of outdoor, direct mailstatement stuffers, lobby posters and counter cards, helpedincrease membership by a whopping 8.98% compared to the nationalaverage member growth of 2%. “The competition from banks and creditunions here is incredible, so for us the outdoor ads made a bigdifference and are a must,” said FirstMark CU Vice President ofMarketing/PR Jennifer Griffith. “We can't compete with brick andmortar so we focused on promoting our convenience and service –from debit/credit cards and e-statements to ATMs and bill pay- itall helps people understand who we are.” Marketing professionalsagree that while there is no one-size-fits-all answer to marketingcampaigns that click, proper research is a great foundation.Quarterly surveys help FirstMark CU check the pulse of both itsmembers' and employees' wants and needs while gauging how thecredit union is doing in terms of service. “Our member satisfactionrate is 96.5% and we pride ourselves on that and that isincorporated into why members should come here,” said Griffith.“For us, we have a three pronged approach to gathering information.In addition to our quarterly mailed survey we send out emailsurveys to find out whether members like the site and providepostcards to our drive-thru members to check our service. We gettons of responses and that makes for a good way to keep in touchwith what is going on in our organization.” Yoder agrees and addsthat “marketing cannot exist in a vacuum- it boils down topositioning and working with all the talented people at the creditunion to deliver the right message to the right member at the righttime.” Over in Vacaville, California the mix of research andsimplicity drive most Travis Credit Union campaigns. Recognizing atrend that free bill pay appealed to more profitable households andcould strengthen member relationships, a free bill pay campaign hasboosted the credit union's online banking from 1,800 to 6,500.Travis CU Vice President of Marketing Cathy Rios says it tookmonths of research and two separate attempts to show management andthe board with specific supporting statistics and surveys that thetiming was not only right but also what could be lost if the creditunion got into free bill pay too late. The campaign itself featuredsomeone jumping into the air and the words “Wow free online billpaying.” Rios said the simple message and listing reasons whymembers should sign up made a big impact. “I can't stress howimportant it is to do the research. If the campaign fails ask why –don't just keep doing what's always been done. Ask what is theproblem and usually it boils down to either the message isn'tsimple enough or it's not targeting the right people,” said Rios.Rios adds there is a lot to learn from campaigns that don't go asplanned. For example, Travis CU in an effort to lure indirectlenders to use other credit union services had sent letters tomembers about the benefits of membership and included a coupon fora $20 gas card. Rios says members didn't even nibble. Rios, withfeedback from a friend who happened to be a member, realized thatthe campaign's biggest problem was that the information in theletter was so complex that members were never even getting to thecoupon part. “Sometimes it is hard to remember to just keep itsimple and from that humbling experience we started to brainstormfor ideas that would get members to really read our message,” saidRios. The result was a switch from form letters to sending a“car-in-the-box.” Boxes containing a small florescent car attachedwith a postcard thanking members for their loan and inviting themto bring the postcard to any branch to pick up their free $20 gascard proved to be a hit. “The information on that postcard wasidentical to what was in the letter but the fun package helped usentice members to open our mailing,” said Rios. “We started outsmall and in a two month period about 37 households opened about 51new accounts with us resulting in a 447% ROI-all because we kept itsimple and fun.” [email protected]