Links in “Marketing”

When it comes to advertising, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has its eye on financial institutions. And with the coming holiday season and the spike in advertising that frequently accompanies it, expect the CFPB to be on the lookout for all kinds of false claims, but for one kind in particular. AffirmX's Jane Pannier describes what the CFPB has identified as deceptive and/or abusive to consumers and the guidance they've published to combat this issue. [9/30/14]

The trick? Hide $50 every day for members to find and put the clues on your Facebook page. That's what Great Lakes Credit Union did which allowed them to achieve their "objective of building an even closer bond with [the] area" and get some local media coverage to boot. [9/26/14]

According to this article, if you want your credit union to get some air time, you've got to do one thing: hijack the news, or "newsjack." Just as Oakley, a sunglasses company, capitalized on the news of trapped Chilean miners by providing them each with a special pair of Oakleys for their sensitive eyes as they emerged from the mine, your credit union "needs to be there front and center to capitalize on the initial media rush" for any "financially related story." That's newsjacking. [9/18/14]

ABA is running a radio ad this week calling on Congress to end credit union tax exemption. [9/8/14]

Last year Twitter implemented a rule that restricted how financial institutions could promote themselves on the site. However, it now appears that its enforcement of that rule has been relaxed as the number of “promoted posts” appears to be increasing. Credit unions remain skeptical. [8/27/14]

In an interesting twist, First Premier Bank, an issuer of credit cards to low-income and credit-impaired consumers, is suing CardHub, a consumer education website, that provides consumers with information about credit card products.  First Premier, which is known as an issuer of high-rate, high fee credit cards, is claiming that CardHub is in violation of trademark law by using the bank’s card information on its website. Or is it just that the comparison of its terms to others looks really bad? [8/22/14]

Marketing group Advisors Plus gives some interesting advice on how to grow your membership: focus on checking account acquisition. They've found that this simple method results in a growth in new members, deeper member relationships, and is the "lynchpin" for cross-selling programs. [8/13/14]

The Federal Trade Commission is opening up for comments on its Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) as part of its efforts to review all of the Commission's current regulations.  [8/12/14]

Last week, four credit unions were called out by Rohit Chopra, an assistant director at the CFPB, for not properly disclosing deal terms for products and services marketed to university students. It turns out that two of these credit unions, Indiana University Credit Union and Purdue Federal Credit Union, don't even have marketing agreements with their local universities. [8/11/14]

Sometimes low rates and fees are just not enough to attract new credit card applicants. Combine those features with a well-oiled marketing campaign and you’ll likely see better results. [7/28/14]