Blogging for Gen Y: Time to Get Involved?
Apr 10, 2008 
Credit Unions.com | By Dane Coalson
The newest industry trend aimed at targeting Gen Y is creating a credit union-affiliated blog. Is this method effective? At this point, it is difficult tell, since even the oldest credit union blogs have been around for less than a year and most are still in their infancy.
Perhaps the most elaborate Gen Y blogging initiative in the industry is the independently branded “Young and Free” campaign from Common Wealth Credit Union in Alberta, Canada. The campaign was launched last October and an online video competition was held to allow the public to choose a spokesperson for "Young & Free." Their elected spokesperson, Larissa (age 19), works with the credit union, but has completely infused the campaign with her unique personality and controls the content herself.
Take a look at their site
What "Young & Free" Gets Right
- No overbearing corporate presence
- References to the credit union are slipped in subtly
- Doesn’t disguise the affiliation
- Although there is some financially-oriented content, it doesn’t take center stage
- Informal, completely random “fun” content
- Videos
- Pictures
- Has an authentic young and personal feel
- Generates interaction through weekly polls and comments
- The parent credit union offers a specific youth product designed for the audience
- Unique site personality and creativity
- Watch their excellent video: The Difference Between Banks and Credit Unions – Part One
Common Wealth’s Results: Common Wealth, working with a marketing and PR firm, managed to garner media attention and create large amounts of publicity around the program. Common Wealth set a goal of increasing their 17-25 year old membership by 10% over the course of the year, and they have nearly met this goal within 6 months of launching the program. Since the program’s inception, over 400 new Gen Y accounts have generated over $2 million in deposits.
Don’t Rush into the Blogosphere Yet!
The "Young & Free" campaign required a substantial allocation of resources and resulted from Common Wealth’s firm strategic commitment to reach out to younger members. This is a full time program, supported a young spokesperson whose primary responsibility is to generate content for the site and also receives support from a team of several other individuals. The program is also promoted by an outside PR firm.
Common Wealth has made a dedicated effort to the "Young & Free" program, and it seems to be paying off for them, but a program of this magnitude is beyond the reach of many credit unions. A more basic blog is unlikely to garner the attention and results that this program has. For many credit unions in the industry, it might be better to wait until the long-term results of blogging initiatives can be identified before creating blogs of their own.
There is no single magic bullet that will allow credit unions to reach Gen Y consumers, but it is clear that those who make a determined effort, through a wide variety of means and resources, are much more likely to attract these critical members.
