ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

In Case You Missed It – 5.15.24

Surprising marketing missteps, why less delinquency is bad, some iDiz nostalgia, a WEE welcome, and a little bit of John Oliver. Here’s what we noticed, in case you missed it:

What happens when a good apple goes bad?

Ever since their iconic 1984 spot, most of us have been huge fans of Apple’s marketing, created by TBWA/Media Arts Lab (which has six offices around the world, but only one client.) But as we all know, sometimes your heroes don’t live up to your expectations. Apple recently rolled out their new iPad Pro with a “crushing” new ad, and ended up with a lot of upset fans. In an era of AI threatening creatives, the visual of everything from musical instruments to paint and computers being crushed into a new iPad came across a bit too harsh. Oops! Maybe they should have tested that one first? (Well, Apple, if you’re looking for a new creative agency to help with your next spot, give us a call!)

The loan delinquency elephant

As Walter Merkel recently pointed out on LinkedIn, there’s an elephant in the CU room… Before talking to a potential new credit union client, I always review their NCUA numbers (hey, it’s our tax dollars at work). Quite a few are shocked when I ask why their delinquency numbers are so dang low. Risk cannot be eliminated, but it can be managed and correctly priced; if your default answer for less-than-perfect credit is “go away” instead of “here’s what we can do“, you’ll develop a bad reputation locally and strangle loan growth.

Hmmm, sounds awfully familiar

Lately a “super-regional” bank has started running a campaign that brought back memories for us. You see, way back in 2008-2009 a lot of banks were not in a good place, and had to be bailed out by the government. We were approached by the VP of Marketing (now a CEO) from a small CU in Montana, who had a brilliant idea on how to emphasize that credit unions weren’t the ones taking handouts. Boring is Sexy was born, with only the URL on outdoor boards, promoting a microsite featuring just six products, ranging from Plain Vanilla Auto Loans to Delightfully Dull Home Equity Loans, and Safe & Stodgy Savings. And of course they served plain vanilla ice cream in their branches.

And now for another WEE bit of CU history

We love branding, so we are excited when we hear a name that really catches our attention. We recently heard about WEE FCU in Parkersburg WV and just had to learn more about them. While their brand is appropriate for their size ($24M, 1,844 members), the name is an acronym for Wood County Educational Employees, and the credit union was founded in 1961. But the best part? Their logo is a pot of gold with a shamrock on it. Wee love small CUs, and everything about this brand!

John Oliver goes stock photo spelunking

In an otherwise depressing episode of the HBO show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, the host turned to a more lighthearted segment on stock photos and particularly the site Shutterstock. Some highlights included stock photos featuring actors Simu Liu and John Boyega, but the bulk of the segment focused on the a lesser-known model. Ilgar Pashayev is a stock photo model with literally thousands of photos on the site. The staff and John Oliver himself were so enamored of this man that they tracked him down and brought him onto the show to do a series of stock photo poses with the host. If you’re a marketer, you’re probably wondering if you’ve ever used him in your CU’s campaigns. Might be fun to look.

AllofUs iDizians
Latest posts by AllofUs iDizians (see all)

Email this article to a friend or coworker.