SAN JOSE, Calif. — If you're willing to be inconvenienced alittle bit, Kathleen Litman says nearly any credit union can affordto produce a high-quality, professional television commercial.

Litman, vice president of marketing at $1.3 billion TechnologyCredit Union, has produced four 30-second spots in the past twoyears for about $30,000 total.

How did she do it?

Connections, baby!

“We advertise in some business publications that cater totechnology professionals, and one of my publication contacts isalso an actor,” Litman said, “so I asked him for advice.”

Through that contact, Litman connected with a young Los Angelesproduction company that was willing to work for cheap in order tobuild a portfolio.

Additionally, the company's three partners had numerousconnections in the industry, which saved Litman additional money bygiving her access to entertainment professionals on hiatus,off-hour production and studio time, and homes that were borrowedand used as sets.

The downside? Considerably more time spent coordinating andmanaging the product, and the stress of sometimes having to settlefor Plan B.

“It was a bit of an adjustment, because I had to learn thatthings in the entertainment business don't work the same way theydo in the corporate world,” Litman said. “It didn't matter if Iyelled and screamed. If a location fell through, it fellthrough.”

Tech CU produced two commercials in 2006, “Mortgage” and“Click”, which promote mortgage lending and account security,respectively. Both were produced for about $12,500 each, Litmansaid.

This year's commercials, “Closet Space” and “Entourage”, promotehome equity lending and business services. They cost more, about$17,500 each.

“I knew from the beginning I'd have to pay more if wanted to usethem again, so we renegotiated,” she said, adding, “I think westill came out pretty good.”

Tech CU purchased airtime on NBC, the highest rated network inthe San Francisco Bay area. Litman said she couldn't afford primetime, so she carefully selected air times during programs hermembers and potential members would be most interested in.

Although Tech CU has a community charter, the majority ofexisting and new members are technology professionals who work inthe greater San Francisco Bay area. The marketing pro selectedupscale sporting events like golf and tennis, as well as newsprograms, to capture her target audience. Litman said she spendsabout $10,000 per month for airtime, with her commercials runningat least once a day.

The 2006 commercials ran from July through December of lastyear. The credit union took a three-month break from television thefirst quarter of 2007, then re-ran the 2006 commercials in Apriland May of this year while producing the new ones. “Entourage”debuted in June, and “Closet Space” debuted last month.

All four commercials are considered branding pieces. Althoughit's nearly impossible to track the effectiveness of brandingpieces, Litman said, that approach does allow the commercials alonger shelf life. In fact, Litman said she planned to run“Mortgage” again soon.

Why would a billion-dollar credit union go to such lengths topinch advertising pennies?

Until a few years ago, Tech CU was a SEG-based credit union thatenjoyed strong relationships with active sponsor groups. Thoserelationships paid off in the 1990s, during the tech boom, and thecredit union grew considerably.

After the ensuing tech bust temporarily devastated the San Joseeconomy, the credit union expanded its field of membership toinclude six counties in the Bay area, to insulate the credit unionfrom further industry losses.

Long story short, board members and executives had never maderoom for a comprehensive advertising budget before, and wereshocked at the high cost of production, particularly fortelevision.

Thanks, in part, to the money she saved, Litman was able toafford additional television commercials on a local CBSstation.

“CBS caught me on a good day. They pitched guaranteed ROI, froma commercial with just text and a nice message. We've got two greatrate specials going on this month, so we're giving it a try,” shesaid.

Litman admits that her California locale gives her better accessto the entertainment industry than others, but encouraged creditunions to search for creative production solutions in theirmarkets.

“You hear that credit unions are getting more and more intotelevision, but we all take different approaches based on ourmarket and budget. Still, I think we've done something fairlyunique in that we didn't use an agency, but we still producedsomething with a big institution feel,” she said.

“We were fortunate to tap into a hungry young company thatneeded to make a reel. It was a win-win situation, and I'd like tothink part of it was a result of good old credit unioningenuity.”

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