Web 2.0 in Financial Services
Aug 15, 2008 
VRL KnowledgeBank | By Ray Cain
Common Wealth Credit Union launched its Young & Free Alberta campaign in late 2007, with the goal of extending its reach among the youth demographic. While the campaign is based around a free account for 17-25 year olds, it has been designed to have a much broader appeal. The idea was to put the brand first and the product second. Tim McAlpine of Currency Marketing, who designed the campaign, says that he looked at what young people are currently connecting with and aimed to find a link back to banking.
Inspired by the popularity of reality TV talent shows such as Canadian Idol and American Idol, the initial phase of the campaign was a video contest in which candidates vied to become Common Wealth's spokesperson for young people. The spokesperson would be Common Wealth’s "eyes and ears on the ground" and help the credit union create relevant products and services for the youth market. Applicants’ video submissions were posted on YouTube, and three finalists were selected by the credit union. The winner would be chosen by popular vote, submitted via the Young & Free website. The finalists launched multimedia campaigns to attract votes which included the use of podcasts, blogs, Facebook groups for their supporters, and mainstream media coverage. The winner of the contest, with 49% of the vote, was 19-year old Larissa Walkiw, from St.Albert.
The Young & Free site features daily blog posts from Larissa on all sorts of topics, video and photo collections on YouTube and Flickr, and a user-generated calendar of what’s happening in Alberta. The "Free Stuff" section has a list of free (or almost free) things available to youth in Alberta including specials, coupons, and two-for-one deals. Free advice is provided in the "Makes Cents" section, a collection of links and resources to help users make sense of their financial lives. Another section introduces the Young & Free account.
Common Wealth's approach is to let the Young & Free spokesperson and other Young & free members drive the site’s content and the direction of the campaign. "The approach fits the culture," says Kim Crockett, Common Wealth's Product Development Manager. "So often we are accustomed to working out a gameplan. But in this case we have turned so much of the creativity and value over to the end user – the Young & Free member – to what do they want and need. They will drive a lot of this. We will adapt and adjust. I wouldn't want to say that its scary, but it is uncharted territory."
To allow Young & Free to take on a life of its own, and minimize the potential risks that this level of openness implies, Common Wealth has made Young & Free somewhat separate from its regular activities. Crockett explains that the way that the young community wants to take the campaign may not be suitable for the broader credit union and its other member segments such as small business members or seniors. A degree of separation allows the campaign to fully serve the specific community it is intended for while protecting the credit union from concerns over how this might impact on its overall service proposition and brand.
After just the first 2 months of the campaign there were close to 1,000 new Young & Free accounts and transition of existing customer accounts. Crockett says that on other measures, results may not be visible for a couple of years. One very important measure for example is how well the credit union retains these new members and continues to serve them as they move through the customer lifecycle.
