“I went to school on Tom’s ideas!”
Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com
A Clear Eye.
On customers, brands and marketplace success
by Tom Asacker
“I went to school on Tom’s ideas!”
Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com
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"It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea."
A former client forwarded me the following video, which was created by a 19-year-old Canadian, and asked for my thoughts. Take a look. And then read how I responded.
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My response: I think it's a great example of citizen-created content. It demonstrates the passion and creativity of an amateur (btw, the root of amateur is lover, to love). It's also an exemplar of marketing communication done right. It weaves information and entertainment together to both engage and educate. Agencies could definitely learn a thing or two from this talented young woman.
That being said, it won't do a thing to advance the standing of, and increase memberships in, U.S. credit unions. Why not? Two reasons:
1. It fails to address the biggest consumer adoption issue; namely that most people don't realize that they can become a member of a credit union; and
2. The differences illustrated in the video are not apparent in real life. Most credit unions look, sound, and feel like a bank. And you know the old adage about looking and acting like a duck, right?
The funny thing is that credit unions are trying to look like banks to overcome issue #1. Some even refer to themselves as a bank. But that only serves to weaken their collective "brand" and force them to compete head-to-head with banks. Can you say Catch-22?
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"Tom is timely, thought provoking and all about the new brand vision packaged as a Seinfeld stand up. I went to school on his ideas."
- Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com and CEO, Eons.
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Hi Tom,
Thanks for your positive comments about Larissa Walkiw's video. I am from Currency Marketing, the agency responsible for the Young & Free Alberta campaign that this is a part of. (www.youngfreealberta.com)
You say "That being said, it won't do a thing to advance the standing of, and increase memberships in, U.S. credit unions."
Very good point. This was never intended to increase membership of US credit unions. This was created to promote one Canadian credit union product, not an entire movement.
You say, "It fails to address the biggest consumer adoption issue; namely that most people don't realize that they can become a member of a credit union."
Canadian credit unions have unlimited fields of memberships. This is a non-issue in Canada.
You say, "The differences illustrated in the video are not apparent in real life. Most credit unions look, sound, and feel like a bank. And you know the old adage about looking and acting like a duck, right?"
Canada has only five chartered banks, all of which are approximately 500 times the size of the largest Canadian credit union. No Canadian bank offers free services to anyone. In fact, there is no other credit union in Alberta offering a free chequing (checking) account to anyone under the age of 18. This is a huge differentiator in Alberta and Canada.
Just thought I would jump in and clarify a few things.
Tim
Posted by: Tim McAlpine | February 11, 2008 at 02:12 AM
Thanks for the insight into the Canadian financial services environment Tim. And kudos on your excellent work!
Posted by: Tom Asacker | February 11, 2008 at 07:17 AM