CHILLIWACK, British Columbia — Smaller credit unions under $500 million are going Cuckoo to compete with bigger banks–and that is a great thing.
Recently launched by credit union marketing firm Currency Marketing, Cuckoo provides a range of stock marketing and advertising campaigns to help credit unions reach their target markets.
"I've been working with credit unions for 15 years mostly on a custom basis for everything from brand strategy to marketing campaigns and we've gotten so many calls from smaller credit unions but the recurring theme has been that it ended up costing too much," said Currency Marketing President/Co-Creative Director Tim McAlpine. "So we started thinking about how we can help credit unions that don't have the budget for fully original custom marketing, yet still provide the same level of creative captivating, engaging and effective marketing to compete with the big banks, and Cuckoo was born."
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With so many vendors and acronyms in the credit union world, the marketing firm opted to have its campaigns stand out with an irreverent name that would make clients smile.
Cuckoo campaigns (www.cuckoocampaigns.com) feature strong creative concepts that are fully customized with a credit union's logo, corporate colors and information. Components include point-of-sale, direct mail and advertising materials plus great ideas to extend campaign effectiveness. Cuckoo prides itself on producing affordable, original, standout marketing campaigns for credit unions throughout the United States and Canada. Every photo and illustration is a Cuckoo original. The campaigns are licensed according to geographic area, which means that there is no overlapping of campaigns in the same region.
Basic campaign packages start at $6,500 (U.S.) and include agency-caliber creative and campaign collateral. Once the campaign is chosen, a Cuckoo Service Representative works with the credit union and within one month, a fully produced campaign is printed and delivered. So far Cuckoo offers campaigns for retirement, lending, deposits, and member awareness.
"Right out of the gate credit unions have 26 campaigns in different categories to browse through and order online," said McAlpine. "Not only do we make sure that each credit union in a particular city or region has exclusive rights to the campaigns selected for six months, but all the imagery used in the campaigns are completely original–we don't use any stock images."
McAlpine says he's passionate about helping the small credit union exceed sales expectations and thrive in their local communities.
"Credit unions find they save thousands of dollars per campaign, reduce the time it takes to develop marketing materials, are able to afford high-quality design, and directly receive the marketing materials," said McAlpine. "Most credit union managers and marketers think everyone already knows how special credit unions are but average consumers still have a hard time understanding the difference. So what we've tried to do with these campaigns is really focus on what makes credit unions unique and those differences are even more pronounced in smaller credit unions. We're hoping to help them take a bite out of banks."
Since 1990, Currency Marketing has exclusively served credit unions. With an eye on building partnerships that benefit all, the firm focuses on creating positive outcomes that engage, involve and inspire.
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