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Posted by Christopher Stevenson
When I was perusing Yahoo Finance yesterday, an advertisement for Bank of America caught my attention. It wasn't that the advertisement was particularly engaging or that the design was fantastic, it was a little addition to their ad that made it intriguing. Take a look.
Do you see it? Right there in the middle. "It's FDIC Insured." The FDIC is no longer banished to the farthest reaches of the advertisement; it's front and center. Really, the ad might as well say, "WE'RE SAFE! WE'RE SOUND! Trust us. Would we put your money at risk?"
Why does it matter? Because B of A is trying to steal credit unions' thunder. CUs, as the conservative FIs in an otherwise wild and wooly financial services market, need to be out there be touting their safety. Some credit unions are doing a great job of it. Take Ent, for example. In the Denver Business Journal's Power Book, they ran this ad:
The entire ad focuses on the credit union's sound financial principles, peace of mind, and looking out for the members' best interests. The problem is, this kind of ad is few and far between. Every CU should be out there telling people that they are the safe, conservative option. Not only are CUs insured, but because of the conservative nature of CUs, they're less likely to have to make a claim. Can B of A say the same thing? No way. It's time to leverage our advantage.
I know everyone is saying CUs should be touting their safety and soundness right now. I've said it myself and you may think I'm beating a dead horse. But here's the thing, CUs aren't doing a very good job of promoting their advantages. They need to or the big banks will weasel our advantages away with ads like the one above.
