Training Day: How Merced Schools Credit Union Got "The Third Degree"

When Third Degree challenged the 2009 CUNA Marketing Conference attendees to put their gloves on and fight for the credit union difference, we also asked them to put their names in the ring for the chance to attend a free strategic training day session at our agency.

The winner was drawn, her name was announced, photo snapped (after we quickly shoved a red boxing glove on her hand and told her to smile), and Dana Sanders, the marketing manager at Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union from Merced, California was booked for a two day trip to the "oh-so-pretty" metropolis of Route 66 fame, Oklahoma City.

"The OKC" as we call it, may have not been an obvious destination for a credit union marketing pow-wow, but it soon became a surprisingly eye opening, strategy brewing, conversation starting and food consuming (which is always a Third Degree priority) visit for Dana and her marketing teammate Nanette.

Like Boot Camp (But With Danishes)

9:00AM We begin our day with a short meet and greet. Third Degree is housed in a converted warehouse space in the entertainment district of Bricktown. It's very open and organic, no walls, no cubicles, no barriers.

Dana and Nanette (who we quickly realize are two incredibly outgoing and enthusiastic gals) stop along the tour even more often than usual to chat and ask questions of our team, especially our creative folks! Our guests ask about the creative process, if we like the open concept, and where we like to shop. We feel like we've already known them forever.

The conference room is the last stop where we all sit down (around the most tempting plate of pastries ever), roll up our sleeves and get down to some real discovery.

9:30AM We start with a white sheet session of what we've learned. We sent homework ahead of time with questions for the management team, including the CEO of the credit union, so we would have a strong grasp of their 'here and now.' One day is not a lot of time, so our goal is to identify some clear challenges and opportunities for MSEFCU during the morning half of our session.

Facilitating the session is Mickie Lara, our executive vice president, Tara Street, our creative director and Jentry Miller, our media buyer. As we start to cover the walls of our conference room with oversized sheets of MSEFCU background, objectives and positioning, it is clear that this credit union is feeling the pain of a tumultuous economic climate and a new competitor that is aggressively encroaching on their membership field.

What The White Sheets Are Telling Us

10:00AM With marker stains on our fingers and a sugar rush fueling our back-and-forth dialogue, the walls around us begin to tell the MSEFCU story. In a nutshell, the situation is this:

CHALLENGE: Three-hundred sixty-seven million in assets, four branches, a school employee field of membership and in a California town that has gone through some tough economic times. Side effects include high unemployment and home foreclosure rates. Add in a larger competitor entering the market with the same FOM, and things get even trickier.

OBJECTIVES: To be known as the "hometown" credit union, leveraging their 55 year history with an unparalleled involvement in the community. To increase penetration of school employees, increase student members, and to be more of their members' primary financial institution.

OPPORTUNITIES: MSEFCU needs a brand refresher and awareness push, a website overhaul, better tracking of member information. We recommend more grassroots efforts to get the most bang for their buck, shoring up their financial literacy program for schools, getting the message out there that MSEFCU is seriously committed to helping the community, and making sure they have strong positioning in the branches as they get lots of lobby traffic.

Sharing Our Approach (And Our Speech) Patterns

11:00AM Whew! We need a quick break, stat! We are surprisingly still on track with our training day schedule, even with all the intense white sheet discussions (plus an off-topic discussion about our team member Jentry saying y'all a few times, which was incredibly novel to the ladies from sunny California).

11:15AM Y'all could really use some good internal communication habits, for example, would be how we broach the subject of getting MSEFCU's staff all on the same page. We share our Third Degree internal meeting rhythm philosophy, most specifically our daily huddles. Tara gives them a specially designed huddle pad that focuses on one priority, one stuck, and one bit of news to share to take back to their team.

11:30AM Now Jentry steps up to show that she's got more than local charm, but a refreshing perspective on content distribution. She gives us a rundown on media consumption trends (just as a warm up) and then really lays it on us, listing a slew of traditional and nontraditional media ideas specifically for MSEFCU, including some great ideas for reaching the Gen Y student population. It's a lot to digest, so we suggest taking a crack at digesting some old fashioned, fried onion Bricktown Burgers around the corner instead. We'll package up the media report, along with all of the days findings, in a discovery document Dana and Nanette can take back to MSEFCU with them. Right now, lunch is calling.

A (Mini) Brand Workshop

1:30PM Time is flying and it's time to get the creative juices flowing (and the post lunch calories burning). We move our meeting to our agency diner, with its retro style and big, red sectional couch. The couch may not be helpful when it comes to the calorie burning, but it's a great place to convene when you want to get creative. This part of the day is all about tapping into MSEFCU's personality, to help them start telling their own unique story.

What's the first way to start defining the MSEFCU personality? You ask them what kind of tree they would be, of course. Well, not exactly, but close. We ask if MSEFCU were a famous person, who would they be? From Paula Dean to Orville Redenbacher (hmmm, maybe we are too focused on food), the answers embodied ideas like:

• Family Values
• Hometown
• Dependable
• Humble Beginnings
• Budget Wise

And a key takeaway from the afternoon exercises is the feeling that MSEFCU is bending over backwards to help people in this economy.

2:30PM The compass bearing exercise is one of these activities. It requires the group to corroboratively fill out a statement template that resembles one of those Mad Lib games with all those blanks to fill in. Tara leads the group through this exercise, ultimately boiling down the input into a single statement. When used correctly, this statement can create directed action, like a launching pad, for all positioning and marketing efforts going forward.

THE MSEFCU COMPASS BEARING STATEMENT

To Merced educators, students and their families: Merced is the hometown banking alternative that offers straightforward products and services for any stage of life. Because only Merced SEFCU will bend over backwards to help our members through good times and bad, as the credit union that is always on their side.

Pictionary: Not Just For Parties

3:30PM So we have a lot of ideas thrown up on the walls. And now our agency diner, just like our conference room, is covered with white sheets. Someone's going to be cleaning up in the morning. But Tara is not done yet. She starts drawing her famous doodles, stick figures, and schematics, showing Dana and Nanette some ideas of how they can take the personality traits uncovered today, combined with some of the conceptual assets MSEFCU already has in place, and turn them into images and headlines they can potentially use going forward.

4:00PM Last but not least, we wanted to paint a picture of how a comprehensive financial literacy program could be an effective marketing tool. Credit unions like MSEFCU often have financial literacy as part of their mission. Third Degree brings Banzai, an online "Life Scenarios" program, to credit unions who want to be positioned as financial literacy champions for students, teachers and parents who are potential new credit union members.

Saved By The Bell

4:30PM After a long day of discovery, the only thing left on the agenda is a great dinner. We hit a local hot spot with a gourmet twist on comfort food, and of course, overdo it. Can you say you've eaten a pecan encrusted ice cream ball the size of a large cantaloupe? Well now Dana and Nanette can. They can also say they've experienced a training day to remember, and that while getting "the Third Degree," might be intense, it can also be invigorating, inspiring, and filling to say the least.