SAN DIEGO — As debt-strapped consumers make adjustments to their household spending habits, will credit union marketing messages also adjust? Will the industry return to its historical mantra of thrift?
Philip Heckman, director of youth programs at CUNA's Center for Personal Finance, said concept of thrift never left credit unions, even though the word has fallen out of vogue. Credit unions never stopped teaching and preaching thrift, he said. It's just been called financial education.
However, thrift might have a shot at being the next retro trend.
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"If thrift wore clothing, it would wear a fedora," Heckman said. "Thrift takes you back to our grandparents' era, but it has a connotation of extraordinary prudence, and now that people are thinking and talking about the Depression, it seems appropriate to perhaps harken back to those days."
Jeffry Pilcher, financial brand strategist and publisher of the online publication The Financial Brand (www.thefinancialbrand.com), said effective lessons in thrift aren't preachy or sales based, but practical.
"Providing tips on how to save money not only benefits existing members, but could attract non-members who may be searching online for local, consumer information," he said.
Pilcher suggested credit unions dedicate a portion of their websites to listing where the cheapest gas in town can be found, or where teenagers can find free or cheap things to do.
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