On the Mark Strategy's renowned credit union marketing expert Mark Arnold, who churns out more top-quality content than anybody I know, joins us in the virtual CUbroadcast studio to discuss one of his latest blog posts entitled: "15 Tasks for Marketers in 2015." Since we're still in January 2015, I thought it was still early enough to squeeze in another 2015 predication-type story.

That said, Mark delivers wonderfully in this chat, providing a ton of takeaways for credit unions to enhance their community/FOM exposure and streamline many marketing tasks that will help them enhance their ROI in the long run. So don't miss this interview -- and here are his 15 tasks since we didn't talk about all of them in the interview...

(1) Throw out your marketing calendar
(2) Complete the difference map exercise
(3) Attend CU Grow’s digital marketing boot camp
(4) Calculate ROI regularly
(5) Attend The Financial Brand Forum
(6) Start a Master Mind group or get a mentor
(7) Conduct a marketing audit
(8) Take the CEO and CFO to lunch every quarter
(9) Conduct a digital channel assessment
(10) Read trade publications daily
(11) Customize your training efforts to your brand
(12) Read a branding book
(13) Have coffee with a customer or member
(14) Work on the line or in the call center two days a year
(15) Brand to your staff

Visit:
www.markarnold.com

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Worthwhile endeavors nearly always involve a bit of risk. CU Direct's recent "20 for 20" campaign was an ideal example of a high risk / high reward endeavor, where the company ultimately gave $60,000 to six Children's Hospitals nationwide. CU Direct's Director of Marketing Heather Dowell joins us to discuss how the campaign worked, what was involved, and the jaw-dropping results it achieved.

We also discussed how credit unions can emulate their massive success through integrated marketing efforts combining traditional marketing tasks with today's contemporary social media efforts. The results, again, were nothing short of stunning -- and something credit unions should check out to see how a true integrated marketing plan can succeed.

Not only did we talk about the "20 for 20" success, Heather also provided a ton of takeaways for credit unions looking to step up their marketing efforts in 2015 for continued success. Enjoy!

www.cudirect.com

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Credit unions converting to a new core is no easy task. As technology grows more and more complicated, the conversion process grows equally more complicated. But to keep pace with the latest financial services, credit unions must consistently address the competency of their core processing solutions.

That said, there are quite a few credit unions that are doing just this and discovering they need something new. The amount of core conversions being conducted today is staggering. To get to the bottom of this trend, we invited Celent's Jim O'Neill on the program to provide a little more insight and to discuss the research group's latest report: "Why Change Cores? Reassessing the Drivers of Core System Renewal."

A telling chat with Jim, we discussed why the massive turnover right now, what credit unions should look for in a new core, what's holding back most credit unions from making a much-needed switch, and much more. Enjoy this compelling talk with Celent's Jim O'Neill on a topic that touches nearly every facet of a credit union's technology existence. Great stuff in this episode.

Visit:
celent.com

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You may have seen the recent news from NCUA's Vice Chairman Rick Metsger about his proposed changes to today's Field of Membership (FOM) requirements. To get his thoughts behind each of his five changes, we invited Mr. Metsger on the show for the inside scoop. But before we proceed, listed below are his five changes:

1. Allowing credit unions converting from single or multiple common bonds to community charters to continue serving select employer groups even if they are located outside the new community charter boundaries;
2. Permitting the addition of adjacent areas to community charters without requiring them to be core-based statistical areas;
3. Eliminating the requirement that a community charter be based on a core area of a core-based statistical area;
4. Revising and simplifying the process for determining that an area is "underserved;" and
5. Allowing active-duty military personnel and their families to automatically qualify as low-income households.

As you can see, the top three deal with expanding memberships -- which would greatly benefit credit unions nationwide. The fourth seems to open the door to more "underserved" individuals and the fifth is, well, a no brainer in benefiting the fine folks who protect our country.

As a kicker, we touched on the bankers' perspective, fueling their fire on loosening credit union FOM rules further. Even ABA's Keith Leggett, who was recently on our show, provided a bit of written commentary on Mr. Metsger's changes -- as we discussed toward the end of the interview. Check it out and let us know your thoughts on these possible FOM changes.

ncua.gov

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Since President Obama's recent announcement on immigration reform, there have been a couple of organizations that have been very busy helping credit unions prep for a possible onslaught of new members -- 5.5 million of them.

Coopera Consulting's President Miriam De Dios and National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions Director of Membership Pablo DeFilippi joins us to discuss the massive growth and financial leadership opportunity this reform has for credit unions. Both organizations have embarked on national campaign of events they have planned to help promote their initiative to reach immigrants through credit unions. Here are those events...

• Immigration Executive Order and Financial Inclusion Webinar: Part 1 - January 13, 2015
• Financial Inclusion for Immigrant Consumers: LA Roundtable - January 16, 2015 in LA, CA
• Immigration Executive Order and Financial Inclusion Webinar: Part 2 - February 11, 2015

In addition, Coopera and the Federation are asking credit union leaders to take part in a brief survey designed to get a bead on the movement's readiness to serve immigrants today. Credit unions can click on surveymonkey.com to complete the survey.

So watch the interview and let us know your thoughts -- and don't forget to participate.

Visit:
cooperaconsulting.com
cdcu.coop

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