Last year, SPIRE Credit Union President/CEO Dan Stoltztransformed himself into the legendary character King Boreas of theRoyal Family for the St. Paul Winter Carnival.

Along with fulfilling his full-time duties at the FalconHeights, Minn.-based credit union, Stoltz made more than 300appearances as the head of the Royal Family. The St. Paul WinterCarnival began in 1886, when the event's first King Boreas wascrowned. Stoltz' official title was King Boreas LXXIX.

SPIRE has assets totaling $826 million, and serves members inMinnesota and Wisconsin. Its website proclaims the credit union is“driven by Midwestern values.”

Stoltz' local appearances as King Boreas were primeexamples of how credit unions can leverage personal contact –something that is critical to community-based credit unionmarketing, according to several executives – to build business.

“The one thing I love to see when you're out [is someonesaying], 'We see you everywhere,'” Jimese Harkley, philanthropy andcommunity relations manager for the $1.4 billion America's FirstFederal Credit Union in Birmingham, Ala., said. “There's nothingthat a piece of paper or an email can do that replaces face to facecontact.”

America's First serves residents of eight counties inAlabama.

For America's First, community involvement includes sponsoringevents that are staged by local chambers of commerce. It alsoentails working in area schools to encourage students to startsaving money early – and those students often come to the creditunion when they are older and have their own financial needs.

“It's amazing how many of them come back and say, 'You came toour class,'” Harkley said.

Community-based credit unions face unique challenges that othercredit unions may not face, according to Andy Reed, president/CEOof Texas People Federal Credit Union in Fort Worth, Texas. Forinstance, he said, select employer group-based credit unions caneasily approach prospective members because they already work forthe company that the credit union serves.

That leads to a warm relationship, he said, adding that othercredit unions must work harder to establish that warm relationshipwith prospective members.

Texas People was established as a SEG-based institution in 1946,when it was chartered to serve employees of the Texas and PacificRailroad. Later, it was chosen as the credit union for twoadditional railroads, to which it responded by changing its name in2003. With assets of about $22.2 billion, it now serves residentsof 16 zip codes in Texas in addition to employees of the UnionPacific Railroad.

Casey Carlson, vice president of marketing for SPIRE, agreedwith Reed, stating that if a credit union is SEG-based, someintrinsic loyalty is already present among employees.

“Communities are large,” Reed said, adding that credit unionsmust choose to use their marketing dollars wisely. “Marketing tothe community is very new for my credit union.”

To succeed, community-based credit unions must utilizelocation-based, targeted marketing by approaching people in aspecific area with offers that will appeal to them, he said.

Otherwise, marketing money will be wasted, he added.

“It's very possible that you will choose unwisely,” he said.“It's easier to prepare a promotion and send it to a millionpeople.”

And with a marketing budget of only $33,000, Reed's credit unionhas little money to waste. He noted he has been working with acompany to market auto refinancing to prospective members. “Whatdrives people to credit unions is that they're looking for loans,”he said. “We gain their membership through refinancing.”

For a while,community-based credit unions were able to capitalize on banks'poor image, according to Steven Black, vice president for Boeing Employees Credit Union in Tukwila, Wash.

“Credit unions enjoyed that opportunity,” he said, adding thatsince consumers trusted credit unions more than banks, theinstitutions could market themselves based on that trust.

However, consumer confidence in banks has rebounded a bit, hesaid, noting that now, credit unions must find another way todifferentiate themselves based on values and trust. For BECU, thathas meant offering digital services as much as possible and usingmember data to provide better services.

“People are making decisions a lot quicker,” Black said.

The credit union is open to all residents of Washington Stateand has assets of more than $14 billion.

Aside from Stoltz's year-long commitment as King Boreas, SPIREis committed to remaining active in its communities, Carlson said.For instance, the credit union holds an annual meeting/ membershipappreciation event at which all attendees receive $25. The 2016 eventattracted 3,300 people and featured a local sportscaster as akeynote speaker.

Carlson said the credit union has also used traditional media inits marketing, including TV, radio and billboards. Finally, thecredit union is a founding sponsor of a minor league baseball team,the St. Paul Saints.

The community involvement appears to be working.

“Our efforts have helped SPIRE build strong brand awareness,” hesaid, adding that in a recent brand awareness study of financialinstitutions, SPIRE finished fifth in its market.

“Community-based credit unions really have to work hard to gainand maintain brand awareness on a community level,” Carlsonconcluded.