Brand Killers - what not to do to your credit union.
I am also posting this in the How-To section because I almost titled this post “How to kill your brand”
Here is the background. I have been over and Denise Wymore’s site (which I love) and we have been discussing what she calls Pirate Marketing and I call Ghetto Marketing. The conversation has been great. We have been talking about all the crap that people do to their credit unions. Sometimes it is just the cheap and easy way to communicate - but usually it just communicates how cheap the credit union is.
To me, things like photocopies on colored paper scotch taped to your credit union wall makes me think, as a member, that the credit union is on hard times. This makes me wonder if this is where I want my money.
Because we have been having so much fun, I want to expand and create a whole section called Brand Killers.
I will be out and about, taking pictures, retelling stories and giving basic examples of what NOT to do to your credit union. I know there are a lot of folks like me out there that have their list of horror stories. PLEASE feel free to share. Getting this out in the open will only help to make us all stronger!
Now, I will not be outing bad credit union marketing. I dont want to embarrass anyone. You may recognize your lobby or your website or your whatever. I will do what I can to protect the innocent and “Not-So-Creative” folks that have been given impossible tasks on non-existent budgets.
I don’t want anyone to lose their job over this. I just want to make sure that we shine a light on this scotch tape problem 
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Dan,
I am about to piss off a few companies here.
I have a friend. He is no computer wiz by a stretch but he wanted to have digital picture frames in his house. But even the little ones were $150 and he wanted bigger ones that were more flexible, and could show video clips of him and his wife on various vacations.
So he and I worked out an inexpensive solution.
He went to a computer liquidator and picked up some salvage laptops for $100 each. He picked up some 17″ lcd monitors that can be wall mounted for $150 each. He cut small holes in his walls that were big enough for his laptop and connected the screens. He ran all the wire into the wall and hung the screens over the laptops making everything clean and pretty.
His cost per dynamic picture frame was $250.
He has each laptop networked to his personal laptop. He can add photos to change what images pop up without taking down the screens. He can replace powerpoint presentations the same way with embedded video. He could also, if he chose to, just link to a flash video online since all the laptops are networked anyway.
He is thinking about getting a projector and doing the same thing at the firehouse (He is a Fire Captain). But I dont see any reason a credit union couldnt use a projector in the same way.
I will see if I can take a picture the next time I am at his house to post here.
Note: I found some other links here to others who have done something similar.
Linux Driven Photo Frame
DIY Digital Picture Frames
And a few companies are even creating monitors with built in video cards and USB inputs. I don’t know if it can do what we are trying to do here - but I dont think it is far from reason that monitor manufacturers will be adding this functionality to their monitors. So you could have a 21″ video picture frame for $200 from Costco. Oh, just found it from BenQ - the 17″ monitor and Digital Photo Frame in one for $390 or you can get a wireless 22″ one from PhotoVu for $1,300. I guess it is up to you 
Well I knew it was just a matter of time
Holy cow Tony! You just did almost all my research on the subject. Thanks! Now where were you when I was in college?
Here’s my plan. I’ll clean out the computer junk in my basement that my wife’s been wanting to get rid of anyway. I know of at least one laptop with a busted screen that could be mounted like your friend did his. I’ll pick up another cheap laptop, and keep my eyes peeled for a deal on some lcd monitors. There’s a custom frame shop a stone’s throw from our CU, the owner is a faithful member, he could help with mounting them nice and pretty-like.
“Plan B”: Our lobby isn’t that big. I could put in a single bargain basement workstation with 2-3 video outputs and output the video to 2 lcd’s(possibly those Samsung usb’s) and one to our drive-thru video system using extra long cables. Then the single box could run three video outputs. I wonder if that will be cheaper than using multiple laptops mounted in the wall. That probably depends on the price of the monitors and mounting costs.
Sorry to think out loud all over your blog, or wait, maybe that’s how it is suppose to work?
Tony -
Well said. It used to be that credit unions could get away with handwritten signs and typewritten notes hanging around. But design and print technology improvements have raised that bar dramatically.
I would add that as not-for-profit, member-centric institutions … it’s important for CUs to understand where they need to look lavish - and where they need to look economical.
Thank you for doing this….
Here’s the link to the brand killers I found in ONE CU lobby recently.
I am protecting their identity as well - good idea.
It helps everyone!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/denisewymore/sets/72157602719512106/
Dan, If you want all three monitors running the same thing, you could just hook up a “Multiplexer” to one crapo computer running the presentation. The VGA cable runs to the multiplexer and then you plug all the monitors into that.
Thats how they do it at the computer stores to display monitors and TVs. You can get a new multiplexer online for about $150 - CableWholesale
It will save you time and money trying to sync up separate video cards.
@Denise - your post made me sad. That was really a red pushpin holding up that poster. A poster frame is only $25! Goodness!
Dan/Tony, excellent thinking on getting creative with your in-branch promotions. As Tony has so clearly demonstrated, you don’t need a $100,000 budget to get a $100,000 look. And that look is what communicates your brand.
It’s the difference between telling the consumer,” We’re serious about this business and we’re doing things professionally” and telling them, “well, we’re just trying this credit union thing to see how it works out but we’re not going to spend a lot of money on it.”
Nice posts!
Good catch, Denise. Let’s hope this is another case of branch personnel putting up posters and collateral without the marketer’s input!
Good post Tony! I’m looking forward to your pictures.
Just this week I was allotting some real money to in-branch signage next year instead of the color inkjet created stuff our members are used to. Fortunately there’s no scotch tape but they could be much prettier and more professional.
What do you think about those big tv’s that every other bank in town seems to have now? I don’t know that we can afford one of those but I was thinking about a few digital picture frames to go on the teller windows.