CUs using MySpace to reach young members

MADISON, Wis. (6/18/07)--Like a lot of young people, Kristin Zalewski has a MySpace profile.

A few months back, she showed it to her boss at Brewery CU in Milwaukee, pointing out how many views her profile had received. When he saw how much attention one could get on MySpace, he said it would be a good marketing tool for the credit union.

Brewery CU's MySpace profile has been up for about four months, and has received 659 views and 45 "friend" requests. Most of Brewery's friends are local businesses and other credit unions, and the Brewery staff is hoping to make more.

Zalewski, who works as a member service representative, told NewsNow that the credit union would mention the MySpace profile in its next quarterly newsletter, inviting members to visit it.

Brewery CU isn't the only credit union that has tapped into the MySpace network to advertise.

Fox Communities CU, based in Appleton, Wis., launched a Myspace page in mid-April and has made 499 friends. To date, it has had more than 2,000 hits from the page's target demographic group, which are users aged 20 to 30 years.

"We think it has been successful," said Amanda Brown, marketing coordinator. "Having a MySpace has been awesome."

Some of Fox Communities' MySpace friends include local celebrities such as Bucky Badger, and Brett Favre, and many visitors in the 20 to 30 age range.

MySpace appealed to Fox Communities because it is free, and is a great way to target its demographic, Brown said. "The message can be spread across so fast (through MySpace)," she said. "You can't do that any other way."

Currently, the profile has blog entries with tips about student loans, home equity loans and home buying. It also features a YouTube video with Fox Communities CU commercials. Credit union staff also writes articles about youth issues that appear in a local magazine. They are posted on Myspace.

Brown said the credit union would be continually updating, and adding more to the profile. "We'll try to get more friends," she said.

Mike Quinlan, marketing director for Motor City Community CU (MOCCU) in Windsor, Canada, was looking for a way to reach the younger generation. After performing some research, he decided that MySpace was something to check out.

"All credit unions are currently facing the challenge of reaching a younger market, and I realized that if I wanted to introduce twenty-somethings to our credit union then I'd have to go to them," he said. "I didn't want to do just another marketing campaign. I wanted a way to connect with this generation."

MOCCU launched a MySpace profile page last July with an awareness campaign, including an opportunity to win an iPod. The campaign's goal was to reach 100 new friends. After four days, this was accomplished. Now, the credit union has 208 friends.

Hershey FCU of Hershey, Pa., is another credit union that has launched a MySpace profile to attract young members to its credit union.

Hershey's MySpace page includes a blog with entries about why it's important to join a credit union. Its biographical information fields includes a "heroes" field that lists several key pioneers in the credit union movement: Pierre Jay, Edward Filene, and Alphonse Desjardin.

Wheatland FCU, of Lancaster, Pa., has a MySpace profile and provides a link to it from the credit union website's home page.

Using MySpace as a marketing tool has some advantages. For smaller credit unions, such as Brewery CU, a $30 million asset credit union with 7,000 members, it's an inexpensive way to advertise while reaching a large crowd.

"MySpace is a good way to get the message out without breaking the bank," Zalewski said.

Resource Links

Youth Products

Brewery CU on MySpace

Wheatlead FCU on MySpace

Fox Communities CU on MySpace

Hershey FCU on MySpace

Motor City Community CU on MySpace