The Top Commercials of 2012

The Kearley team voted, and (ranked in no particular order) these are what we considered to be the best ads of 2012. Check them out and let us know what you agree with and tell us your favorites in the comments below! 

Volkswagen-"The Bark Side"

The simple and fun answer to last year's Darth Vader Super Bowl spot. This ad left millions barking in their heads for hours after they saw it. 

Google Chrome-"Coffee"

Was it "Dear Sophie" or "Parisian Love" Part 2? No. But "Coffee" continued that same Google tradition of showing how their products and services can have a huge emotional impact. It's not Google's best ad, but it is another great one. 

Coke Zero-"Unlock the 007 in You"

Say it's not real, say it's stage, say whatever you want, this is still a fun ad from Coke Zero. I'm going to be the believer who thinks it's real, but I don't think that matters. What does matter is that Coke made an effective, viral ad that celebrated 50 years of one of the cherished movie franchises of all time. 

The Guardian-"Three Little Pigs"

By the hairs on my chinny, chin, chin, this ad will be remembered fondly far beyond 2012. A twist on a classic tale turns into faux social commentary while never veering from its humorous origins.  

Canal+ - "The Bear" 

A French bear-skin rug directing big budget movies. That's the only thing you need to know. 

Nike-"Find Your Greatness"

Strangely enough, this campaign from Nike flirted with some controversy due to one of its standalone ads. Nevertheless, this ad made everyone watching the Olympics feel like they could recreate it in their backyard. And that is no small feat. 

Sportscenter-"John Clayton"

I myself, and I imagine many others, have watched Sportscenter for years and have always enjoyed John Clayton's presence on it. He's the rare analyst who, even when saying something disagreeable, forces you to respect his wisdom and the way in which he handles himself. All of that contributed to making this "This is Sportscenter" spot the best in years as Clayton is revealed to be a long-haired Slayer fan living at home. 

Carlton Draught-"Beer Chase"

What starts off as a nod to the end of Trainspotting quickly becomes the funniest police chase you've seen in years (movies and TV shows included). An imaginative way to say "don't drink and drive" and "don't sacrifice your beer" simultaneously will leave you charmed and possibly craving a Carlton Draught. 

DollarShaveClub.com-"Our Blades are F***ing Great"

Do I doubt that these blades are f***ing great? Oh, absolutely. But this hilarious ad has so many quirks and moments that couldn't have been staged (throwing the package at the bear), that you forget to doubt that you can get a great blade for a dollar. 

Cartier-"L'Odyssee de Cartier"

What did I just watch? I don't know and I don't care. All I know is that Cartier crafted one of the best ads of the past decade and something so cinematic that and well-shot that even Terrence Malick had to have been amazed. 

Facebook is like what?: Letting Your Brand Speak For Itself

Watch the video before continuing if you have yet to see Facebook's "Things That Connect Us" commercial. 

Yes, it's okay to laugh.

Facebook released this ad, their first real commercial ever, after they reached a billion users. A billion users, that's great, that's something I'm sure no one ever thought could happen even a few years ago. MySpace only ever surpassed 100 million at the height of its popularity.

Facebook obviously wanted to do something to celebrate this monumental occasion. But did it have to be this?

Suffice to say, reaction has been negative for the most part and numerous ridicule sites have already been born:

arechairslikefacebook.com

The Tumblr account: http://arelikefb.tumblr.com/

And you'll find endless parodies of the commercial on YouTube (search it).

The big question here is: Did Facebook really need a commercial?

Based on this commercial, we'd say "No". The problem here was that Facebook didn't let the brand speak for itself. Facebook has a strong brand and people know what it's there for. They don't need a somewhat (let's be honest) pretentious and self-important commercial to tell them what Facebook does and why it's important. If they had just shown someone reconnecting with a friend they hadn't seen since high school or sharing wedding photos, then you might have a good commercial. It's like what Google does with every one of it's ads. It doesn't say: "Google is Everything in the World." At it's core, Google just says, "You can search, email stuff, chat, and get creative with how you do those things."

Every great brand does not give the impression that it's bigger than it is: Coke is refreshing, Nike is physical fitness, Apple is casual and cool, the list goes on.

At the end of the day, if you have a brand that you're confident in, you can't beat people over the head with that confidence. You have to find a way to let the brand speak for itself. In the Chairs commercial, did we even once see a Facebook timeline or the website at all? Did we see what Facebook's actual usefulness in our world is? Did we seriously just get told that Facebook is like doorbells (yeah, doorbells).

Bottom line, if you like your brand and you like what it says, let it talk. It probably has a strong enough voice on its own.

Let us know your thoughts: Did Facebook hit or miss the target? Did they even need a commercial at all?

Social Media Campaigns

Billboards, newspaper ads, magazine ads, those are all good tools to market and start a campaign. However, these days, when looking for a younger audience, you’d be hard pressed to find something that works as well as a social media campaign.

Social media campaigns take place across any social media platforms you may choose, but the three you probably want to leverage most are Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Obviously, you can include others like Pinterest, Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, etc., whatever those may be. We feel there are some things to keep in mind when working this kind of campaign. Let’s examine Old Spice’s immensely successful social media campaign:

Give them something to share

Your product might be the best on the market or, if you’re speaking with humility, it might not be. Either way, you need to give your intended audience something to share via social media. Whether that’s an image, a hashtag, or a video (as with Old Spice’s “The Man You Could Smell Like” commercials), you have to give your audience some snackable content. Something they can look at during work and laugh, something they’ll show their friends on their phone or even post to their Facebook wall.

It’s not that you interact, it’s how you interact

With social media, it is very important how you talk to the people who “like” you, your followers, or whoever is watching and commenting on your video. However, it is also important to consider the way in which you do this. Who are you going to notice more at work? The guy who grunts “Good morning” to you, or the guy who says that cheerfully, asks how your day is, and then tells you a joke. You all know about the “The Man You Could Smell Like” commercials and if you watch the video we just linked to previously you’ll see that it has 43 million views to date. Which is astounding because it means people are seeing it on TV and then watching it over and over again online.

What’s more important is that Old Spice took things a step further and took questions from Twitter fans and then launched response videos also featuring “The Man You Could Smell Like”. Here are the stats from this response campaign:

On Day 1, the campaign received almost 6 million views (more than President Obama’s victory speech)
On Day 3, the campaign had surpassed 20 million views and 40 million after the first week
Twitter interaction increased 2700% for Old Spice
Facebook interaction was up 800%
Oldspice.com traffic was up 300%
The OldSpice YouTube channel became the all-time most viewed channel
After 3 months, sales were up 55%
Old Spice became the #1 body wash brand for men

Amazing, right? All because they thought about how they could best interact with their fans.

Presentation

So Old Spice has a new brand, now they have to make sure it’s consistent. Here are images from their current Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages:

Notice the consistency? Most people don’t realize it, but there is a way to make design a key element of social media campaigns. Yes, interaction is the most important thing, but you also want to keep your brand recognizable and consistent across social media platforms.

There are detractors out there who will tell you not to trust the ROI of social media campaigns and their are people who try them and fail and say they don’t work as a result. However, as we can see from this Old Spice campaign, the ROI can be unlimited and that if they’re organized correctly and meticulously, they can enhance your brand in a way you never thought possible.

Did You Get My Text?

650,000. 

That number signifies the number of mobile apps in Apple’s App Store. That number also signifies that mobile is here to stay and that people will use their phones for everything they can. 

Mobile marketing is a growing trend and will continue to trend for a number of reasons:   

1. Smartphones Have Taken Over

Yes it’s true, smartphones have broken the 50% barrier and are now more prevalent than regular old mobile phones. 

2. Text Messaging Is Always on the Rise

Text messaging has risen to 8 trillion SMS in 2012 which is a rise of over the billion SMS sent in 2011.

3. Social Media is Still Growing

eMarketer estimates that by 2015, the population of mobile social network users will reach 79 million. Social networking was also the fastest-growing category among users of both apps and mobile browsers. In short, people are using their phones to be social more than ever and it’s only getting more prevalent. 

So how can businesses get involved with mobile marketing? Well, there’s two terms that you should make yourself familiar with if its something you want to pursue, those being: 

• Long codes
• Short codes

Long codes and short codes are how SMS marketing deploys or receives its message. Short codes are great because they are used to generate a response from your marketing activity. Short codes are how people vote for their favorite singer on American Idol. It is taking a 5 digit “short code” and texting it to a certain number. They then receive an automated response letting them know what will happen next.

Short codes are the costlier of the two options, but it’s because the number is shorter (and therefore easier to remember and text), you can do large text blasts, and short code platforms are generally easier to use. The downside is they are more costly, people can “opt out” of your campaign, and you have to register with all mobile carriers. 

Long codes are the cheaper option, but it also has its pros and cons. For one, clients can use their own long code (instead of registering a five digit number as with short codes). Long codes also don’t have to be registered with each cell phone provider and (as I said before) they’re also cheaper. 

However, the cheaper the product, the lesser the benefits. Long codes are, well, they’re long which means it will be more difficult for people to remember that number as opposed to a five digit one. You are also limited to the number of texts that can be sent as opposed to short code texts with which there are no limits. 

There are a lot of great options to consider with mobile marketing and the trends prove that it’s something worth looking into. It may not be the biggest tool around today, but we also may not be far from the day when it is. 

Understanding the Umbrella Campaign

“The biggest benefit [of an umbrella campaign] is the message we put out, by having the same sort of creative idea throughout each of our [commercials]. It makes the Campbell’s message so much bigger and more easily interpreted and understood by consumers – as opposed to fragmenting our message and advertising spend.”-Kristi Knowles, Marketing Director, Campbell’s Soup

As you can see from the above quote, there’s something special about umbrella campaigns. If properly executed, they have the ability to reach far and wide and make your brand recognizable in an entirely new way.

Take Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” campaign they launched a while back. Chrysler, like most US automakers, was trying to climb out of a hole and turn things around. Buying American was becoming a joke of sorts, but they boldly launched an umbrella campaign that wore a proud badge of made in America and made it seem like it was worth driving a Chrysler again.

The campaign was awarded an Effie in 2012 and according to a statement from Chrysler on their entry, “The success of this campaign has contributed significantly to the company's sales growth over 2010, and as a result of this success, Chrysler has paid off their government bailout six years early.”

Umbrella campaigns are great because they don’t limit your brand to one specific product. “Imported from Detroit” wasn’t just for one Chrysler model, it was for every Chrysler model. They could sell whatever Chrysler product they wanted and then close out their ad with “Imported from Detroit”, they were essentially killing two birds with one stone, which is the beauty of umbrella campaigns.

There are, however, some important things to remember about umbrella campaigns:

You’re not selling a product...

Umbrella campaigns can ultimately help your sales, but they shouldn’t be created to sell something in particular. “Imported from Detroit” was Chrysler’s new badge of courage and it certainly gave people a reason to buy from them, but the campaign would’ve received much less acclaim had it focused on say a simple: “Buy a Chrysler now and received 0% APR for the first 12 months”.

What’s the “why”?

Or in other words, what is the purpose of your brand. If the purpose has to do with the price or the deal they’re going to get, you need to rethink the purpose. Price is always going to be an option for people, but an umbrella campaigns aims to go beyond that. Yes, there are cars that are cheaper than Chrysler, but “Imported from Detroit” gave people a reason to buy with a purpose. Even if they were getting a great deal, they weren’t just getting a great deal, they were buying American, supporting the US economy, creating jobs, all of that just from “Imported from Detroit”.

Umbrella campaigns have a lot of benefits and can be a big win for your brand if executed properly. Think of an umbrella campaign as a way to remind people of what your brand is in a new way. 

The Most Pinteresting Blog in the World

Pinterest-ed yet?

Okay, I’ll stop now.

You may have heard of Pinterest. It’s a social media site that acts like a kind of bulletin board. People see images they like (a food recipe, meme, or workout routine) and “pin it” on their board. Their board is visible to their friends, their friends can “repin” the post and it goes on and on. It might sound like Facebook or many other social networks, but Pinterest is different and it could have an impact on social media plans moving forward. 

How It’s Different:

In a recent American Advertising Federation (AAF) presentation, Mike Magolnick said Pinterest is revolutionary because it links the emotional with the commercial, which is something Facebook and Twitter have failed to do. You can’t get people to buy stuff on Facebook and Twitter lacks the emotion that Facebook has. Pinterest is the middle ground.

However, we are anticipating that soon marketers will be asking why their brand isn’t active on Pinterest. Well, while Pinterest is great for a lot of brands, it isn’t right for every brand for a number of reasons:

Pinterest is a feast for the eyes:

If your brand doesn’t have a unique way to sell itself through images, Pinterest might not be right for it. Pinterest is a colorful, pretty site to look at because of the collection of images on it. I mean, look how pretty this is. People pin stuff on their “board” because it’s eye-grabbing, it’s relaxing to look at, it’s cool to look at, and it’s usually something they would like to buy.

From our perspective, if you’re selling a service or something like car insurance, you probably don’t have a place on Pinterest.

Who is your target demographic?

What are you selling? Men’s cologne? Muscle cars? Bad news, 68% of Pinterest users are women and 97% of the people who “like” Pinterest’s Facebook page are women.

Pinterest is most likely working on a grand plan to even out this one-sided demo appeal as we type, but for the time being, Pinterest isn’t ideal if you’re looking to sell to men.

How are other social networks doing?

How is Pinterest going to affect the marketing ways of Facebook and Twitter? Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer right now. June was a huge month for Facebook as far as adjusting their site for brands as they made many “Pages” upgrades to accommodate marketers (for example, brand pages can now schedule Facebook posts). However, Facebook’s marketing role remains as questionable as ever. Twitter’s role remains largely the same and, arguably, the safest. Tumblr is growing right behind Pinterest, but that’s a topic for another post.

Social media is an ever-evolving landscape, and it’s continuing to grow. Pinterest arriving on the scene makes this growth even larger and even more exciting. All brands may not have a use for it right now, but considering the pace at which things change in this field, it’s best to keep an eye on it.

Branding through Social Media

"Social media isn't the end-all-be-all, but it offers marketers unparalleled opportunity to participate in relevant ways. It also provides a launchpad for other marketing tactics. Social media is not an island. It is a high-power engine on the larger marketing ship."-Matt Dickman, SVP Digital Marketing at Fleishman-Hillard

Though they were labeled as fads during their humble beginnings (and still sometimes now), social networks like Twitter and Facebook have grown to include a combined total number of subscribers that exceeds one billion people. That’s kinda huge.

Most fleeting fads don’t feature this size fraction of the world’s population. As a result, many industries and organizations have not only accepted social media, but are now embracing social media as a way to brand their company and/or their product – whether it be through Facebook, Twitter, or both. And while the push to use social media has been somewhat prevalent since the middle of the past decade, some institutions are still trying to find their way in this realm in terms of expressing and building a brand across various social media channels. With this in mind, we’d like to offer a few key concepts to remember when branding through social media:

Consistency: 

Consistency is a problem for any kind of branding, but it can be particularly frustrating for branding across social media. Why? Because social media, even when formal, is a very personalized version of your company and/or product. You’re creating an e-personality and when your consumers have no concept of who that personality is, it frustrates them. Taking that into consideration, your messages via Twitter and Facebook should match in tone, what they’re trying to convey, and target audience.

Keep it simple: 

How many characters do you have at your disposal for a tweet? 140. Not 140 words. 140 characters. You have more for a Facebook post, but long Facebook posts will almost certainly turn away the eyes. People on social networks want the bare minimum and they want any information they’re going to get very quickly. There should be simplicity in the length of the statement and in the choice of words. Plus, trying to over-explain what your company and/or product is can simply complicate or distort the message.

Interaction: 

As mentioned before, whatever social profile you create for your company and/or product is essentially that entity’s personality. That personality should both interact with its “followers” and “friends” and encourage those people to interact with one another. If you’re not encouraging any kind of interaction on your social profile, you are essentially talking to a wall. People will also grow more comfortable and attached to your product if they can interact with it on this level.

Branding yourself through social media has endless possibilities and it is also quickly becoming one of the most cost effective forms of marketing. But just because it’s mostly free and readily available, does not mean it’s easy to use, so please consider what we’ve wrote about while you’re using it!

Why you should NOT fear the transparency of social media

In conversations with several credit union marketing professionals, there seem to be two main reasons why they aren't investing as much time or as many resources in social media as they probably should be.

1. They don't see how it is relevant to the financial services industry.
2. They fear the transparency of it, and how it gives customers an open forum to discuss anything - including negative topics.

I will try to tackle the first issue later this month, because it is an industry-wide struggle without an easy answer. But the transparency of social media is still a very hot-topic issue that needs to be addressed.

Facing criticism is difficult for anyone. But especially among banks or credit unions - places people trust with their money - because stability and assurance are non-negotiable must-have qualities. It makes sense that the assumption would be that an angry member could do irreparable damage to the reputation of a financial institution by posting about a customer relations mishap repeatedly on Facebook or Twitter. And if not managed properly, it might well could.

But if managed well, it will do the opposite.

Today's consumers crave transparency from the brands they trust. Why? Because transparency is authenticity. Authenticity is real; it is honest. People trust honest. If you are doing good business, your members are going to be ambassadors of your brand. They will recognize that mistakes happen, no one is perfect. And in many cases, they will defend your brand by expressing their own positive experiences. Beyond that - they will appreciate that you took public criticism, especially if in response to it you apologize sincerely and gracefully take action to correct the problem.

Also, the fact of the matter is, whether you are on social media or not, your members most definitely are. And they are probably still talking about you. By being involved in the conversation, you can help manage it. And by not being involved, it sends the message that perhaps you have something to hide.

And, not fearing transparency has the added bonus of allowing you to use social media as the most inexpensive way to get immediate feedback on products and services you provide. That means you can make adjustments quicker, and keep your members happier.

Have a look at this case study about the Boulevard Brewing Company, and their launch of a chocolate ale.

Boulevard Brewing Company: A Social Media Case Study in Leadership, Transparency and Doing the Right Thing

 How have you interacted with customers/members on your social media channels? Any negative or positive experiences? Let us know in the comments below!

More on PURLs: Landing Pages that Work

Making good use of PURLs is a twofold process. 1.) Creating compelling direct mail or email marketing that drives your target audience to use their PURL. And 2.) Having a landing page created that upon their arrival engages them and sends a clear message.

Each of these are equally important, but the landing page is where you get the results you are looking for. This post has 10 quick and dirty key points to keep in mind when considering the design of your landing page.



1.) Relevant, attention-grabbing headline

2.) Relevant graphics and design

3.) Use a different design than your homepage - something that stands out and makes it unique.

4.) BUT stay true to your branding.

5.) Clear, simple call to action. Don't ask for more than one thing, instead be direct and lead them directly to that next-step.

6.) Give just enough information to support what it is you want them to do - no more, and no less.

7.) Don't make viewers scroll to view important content.

8.) Don't overwhelm them with links. Provide them with a link to the next page you want them to view, and maybe a link to contact you.

9.) Utilize white space to make it easier for viewers to make a quick scan of your landing page.

and 10.) Pay attention to the results you are getting as the campaign is ongoing-tweak your page and test the change that you make. Within the first two weeks you should have settled on design/copy that optimizes results.

What is a PURL?

Since our newsletter this month focused on Kearley's past successes with PURLs, I thought now might be a good time to revisit what they are. Here is a great article that I found that explains fairly simply what a PURL, why it works, and why they are great tools for marketers.

Why Marketers Should Use PURLs

Why we like pURL

A couple months ago I posted a blog about pURLs (personalized URLs) and how they can be combined with direct mail to reach out to customers. Here at Kearley we recommend utilizing pURLs because we have seen them work, and recently I have been given some numbers that can demonstrate how well they work.

Kearley worked with Andrews Federal Credit Union to promote the opening of a new branch in Waldorf, Maryland. As part of the campaign, we combined direct mail and pURL to reach out to current members and potential new members.

Within 5 weeks of the branch opening, 119 new members signed up at the new location and over 500 current members visited the new location. Traffic remained steady at the branch following the campaign. It was so successful, Andrews repeated using pURL with three other campaigns, and are currently repurposing the pURL database to use it a fourth time.

Pretty great, huh? If you have any questions about pURLs, you can always email us at bigideas@kearley.com.

Retail Merchandising

(ree-teyl mur-chuhn-dahy-zing) noun

Image of a retail schematic for Andrews FCU

There seems to be some general confusion about what exactly retail merchandising/visual merchandising is. Ask most people, and their response is something along the lines of 'interior design for a business.' They aren't wrong--but that is just the surface.

I found a blog on ddionline.com that described it very eloquently, so I thought I'd share it here.

"To me, successful visual merchandising is a pragmatic balance of art and science and should be, in many instances, weighted more heavily on the science side. I commonly use the analogy of a cupcake to describe this balance. The bottom portion of the cupcake represents the science, or the primary foundation of visual merchandising: space planning, product placement, adjacencies and organization. It is the general merchandising framework of standards, 
systematic practices and planning that creates this foundation. The top portion of the cupcake—the frosting—represents the art form, the display and appeal that helps to attract and differentiate. You need the solid foundation of the cake (the science) to support the frosting (the art). Since it is front and center, most people see the frosting only—which is good, but to successfully leverage the true function of visual merchandising, you must apply the framework of the science behind it. Visual merchandising creates the in-store experience. It is a 3-D expression of the brand. It creates organizational efficiencies and ultimately motivates purchase decisions that result in sales. Bottom line, effective visual merchandising is intended to create a positive customer experience that drives sales."

Read the full article here.

Websites by Kearley!

We've been busy here at Kearley. And just to prove it, here are a two brand-spanking-new website redesigns that we launched in the last couple weeks. Check them out!

Enrichment FCU

Freedom FCU

3 case studies on pURLs

Recently, we have had success using pURLs as a component of loan promotions, and more for some of our clients. So I thought I would use this opportunity to share with you what a pURL is, and how it works. As always, if you have any questions email us at bigideas@kearley.com.

Personalized URLs are links to landing pages that are designed and personalized for a specific person. You can use them as part of a direct mail, or email campaign to interact with your target audience and drive them to your website to learn about specific products and/or services. Direct mail including pURLs can increase ROI as well as give customers more opportunity to interact and respond.

Ethan Boldt of DirectMarketingIQ says that direct mail remains the only medium that physically gets into people’s hands, so including pURLs in them has added value. He points out that among higher response rates, pURLs also offer an easy way to track the success of a campaign. (Read the article here.)

In one case study, California-based Mahoney Co. brought in $13 million dollars in sales following a pURL campaign. In response, the company decided to utilize their pURLs for more than just direct landing pages. John Mahoney, president of Mahoney Co., says he wants to build an ongoing connection with their audience using pURLs. (Read the article here.)

Utah-based Zions Bank saw great results from using pURLs as part of an onboarding campaign. The campaign generated a response rate of 5%, and in response, more customers offered up their email address to receive direct communications from the bank. (Read the article here.)

Have you used or seen a pURL campaign? What did you think? Did you have success with it?

Web Dos & Don'ts

Consider the websites you frequent most and how you use them. Do you ever get frustrated? Have problems finding what you're looking for? If yes, than you are already familiar with what is probably the most important principle of web design: Usability.

What makes a site usable? What doesn't? This isn't an end-all be-all list of web design snafus and successes, but here are five dos and don'ts that should give some basic guidelines to good web design.

DON'T hide the log-in from your site visitors so they have to scroll and search for it.

DO make the log-in more visible by increasing the font size or setting it apart visually in another way.

DON'T use pop-ups to present content, your users will be too lazy to disable their pop-up blocker.

DO respect your visitors and the time they spend on your page by not interrupting it.

DON'T use a font size that is too small or a color that is too bright to be legible.

DO choose a simple, no-frills font (like arial) and be consistent with it throughout your site.

DON'T have more than one flash animation per page.

DO make sure the focus of each page is on the content.

DON'T overwrite or use obvious marketing language in web content - it will be skipped over.

DO use concise language and bullet lists.

Want to know more? Check out this article that outlines 10 Principles of Effective Web Design.

Getting people to like you... on Facebook

Image via CrunchBase

Someone sent me this after seeing it on socialmediatoday, so I thought I would share. As it turns out, though I'm sure some of us have had the inkling all along, earning Facebook likes for your business isn't exactly rocket science.

5 Tips to Getting More Likes on Your Facebook Page

What I learned?

• Be fun, people like fun
• Content, content, content
• Ask questions
• Self promote
• Put your Facebook URL on everything

If you have anything to add, let me know in the comments below!

2012 Credit Union Blog Round Up

Welcome to the new year! New years is probably one of my favorite holidays because of what it symbolizes: a fresh start, a clean slate, a do-over. A time to reflect on last year's successes and mishaps and make changes for the future. Make new years resolutions to do more, learn more, and grow.

In that spirit, I want to kick off this year by giving our readers my top 5 credit union blogs to watch in 2012. Personally I plan on keeping a better eye on these blogs myself. I chose them because they are updated frequently, and have a wealth of useful and informative content.


1. The Financial Brand
If you aren't already following the Financial Brand, you're in for a treat. Though content isn't only centered on Credit Unions (yes, it also pertains to those 'big banks' we in the CU biz love to hate), it follows news, trends, social media marketing and case studies, and MUCH more. Not to mention, the "Webinars" tab at the top of the page can introduce you to all kinds of valuable information.

2. The Credit Union Exchange at cutimes.com
Here you can find a wealth of information and the opinions of industry experts.

3. Mark Arnold
This guy is full of industry knowledge and expertise on everything from customer service to branding to organization.

4. That Credit Union Blog
Some of the focus here is on east coast credit union news, but overall the info is good and they have several contributors with something to offer, from info on general management faux pas to specifics on the industry. Check out '23 Credit Union Truths', or listen to any one of the episodes of 'Current Issues in Credit Unions.'

5. Laskos on Credit Unions
Since our focus at Kearley is marketing and advertising--a blog that focuses on these attributes specifically is just my cup of tea. Though not updated as frequently as the aforementioned blogs, Laskos provides a good, critical eye on the best and worst of credit union PR.

Hope you enjoy! Please leave links to any of your favorite credit union related blogs in the comments below.