JAYRAY a communications consultancy

What's the Difference

JayRay understands the credit union system and the international operating principles that guide the movement. We help credit unions best serve their members by reaching the goals set by their boards of directors. To experience a fresh perspective and tips on living the "credit union difference," check out our blog.

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Mar. 26, 2010 at 2:25pm

Flatter your way to market share

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Talking to Members, What We're Up To
No comments

Harvard Business Review cites research demonstrating that even “insincere” flattery can make customers more inclined to choose your brand. The research shows that given a choice, participants were more likely to choose a coupon from a store that had complimented them than from one that hadn't.

We have to assume that flattery from an ad, e-mail blast or TV commercial is “insincere” because it’s not a personal comment based on personal knowledge. So we can either get upset that insincere flattery works, which can seem so wrong, or we can use it to our advantage.

Jun. 29, 2009 at 9:52am

What does chronic mean?

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
No comments

What does “chronic” mean? Or “20 percent chance of rain?”

It turns out that a large percentage of us—20 or 30 percent—don't understand what a 20 percent chance of rain means in a weather report. My point: Lots of people don’t understand much of what is being said to them.

Apr. 10, 2009 at 12:59pm

The sex-ed approach to overdraft protection

Posted by Kacie McKinney in Talking to Members
Comments (2)

Sex-ed and overdraft protection.

Bet you didn’t expect to see those come up together…but as I was reading a Time Magazine article yesterday, I was surprised by the similarities.

Jan. 29, 2009 at 12:20pm

What’s killing newspapers is killing your newsletter

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
Comments (1)

Advertising Age’s Simon Dumenco equates reading a newspaper to drinking a 64-ounce Big Gulp when what we really want is “the informational equivalent of a shot of espresso.” Read more

Dec. 31, 2008 at 11:57am

Does social media have you overwhelmed?

Posted by Kacie McKinney in Choose the Right Target Audience, Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
Comments (2)

Don’t worry, you aren’t the only one left wondering whether your next move is to Tweet, Digg, StumbleUpon or comment.

Maybe you don’t even know what I’m talking about…but your peers are here to help.

Dec. 24, 2008 at 1:59pm

A little ambiance

Posted by Guest Blogger in New Members, Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
No comments

How do you get people to come into your branch when they can easily do their banking online?

Sep. 23, 2008 at 4:50pm

Shame on you

Posted by Melina Young in Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
No comments

YES CU Blog’s newest post has a link to a survey conducted by Coinstar (and posted on CUNA’s Web site) on what consumers want from their financial institution.

The survey shows people would like their financial institution’s branches to look like today’s coffee shops and retail stores, and most are happier standing in line at their financial institution than they are waiting at the post office. (Agreed. Watching the dust gather while facing the line in snail mail land is definitely one of the last places I want to be).

Sep. 9, 2008 at 5:13pm

Banking with Google

Posted by Jamie Chase in Choose the Right Target Audience, Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
Comments (1)

Sensational theory alert: A single press release acts like an advertisement in the phone book in the age of Google. Why? Consumers aren’t using the Yellow Pages like they used to. They are Google-ing.

Consumers use Google to find:

Aug. 25, 2008 at 2:32pm

Have you got the gooey blues?

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Talking to Members, The Power of Creativity
No comments

When member satisfaction surveys rank us high for customer service, we must be doing a great job, right?

Not necessarily.

Jul. 9, 2008 at 9:11am

Las Vegas: land of lights, gambling and time shares

Posted by Melina Young in Talking to Members, The Power of Creativity
No comments

That’s right. Time shares.

My husband and I just got back from a “free” vacation to Las Vegas from a time share company. They paid for our hotel and gave us free show tickets in exchange for 90 minutes of our time.

You all know the deal. The plotting and planning with your significant other to ensure neither of you gives in to temptation and actually buys. Why do we need to conspire like that?

Jun. 10, 2008 at 1:22pm

Three iPhones later Virgin Atlantic stinks of gas

Posted by Jamie Chase in Choose the Right Target Audience, Talking to Members
Comments (1)

I’m on my third iPhone. It’s a great product and I love it. (Sometimes I even sleep with it.) Even better than my romance with the product is Apple’s “in it for the long-haul” commitment to the relationship. My second and third iPhone were free. They were on-site, instant replacements.

The Apple customer service experience was great because:

Jun. 3, 2008 at 1:23pm

Don't get whipped by narrow focus

Posted by Melina Young in Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
Comments (12)

A few days ago, while eating Chinese takeout at Jamie’s house and speaking philosophically about credit unions, I remembered one of the most profound concepts I have ever heard. It came from Dr. Neill, one of my professors at the University of Washington Tacoma. I’ll never forget the point he made when we were discussing the importance of effective mission statements.

Dr. Neill asked us to think about a company in the early 1900s that sold buggy whips. If this company’s leaders could glimpse into the future, they would see the dwindling need for buggy whips and they’d potentially change their products.

May. 1, 2008 at 1:28pm

Credit unions need help? Don't send the Air Force - Part 2

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Differentiation is Key, Talking to Members, The Power of Creativity
Comments (1)

My last post discussed the importance of changing old habits and bringing innovative thinking back into the credit union movement. As I discussed in that post, Robert Gates is helping The Air Force get through the same problem. Here are some other comments from the Washington Post and Gates that can be applied to credit unions:

Apr. 22, 2008 at 1:32pm

Do unto others...

Posted by Melina Young in Differentiation is Key, Talking to Members
No comments

After discussing some issues I have had buying a house, Kurt referred me to this blog post by Tim Kane about the notoriously bad behavior of title insurance companies. It got me thinking about customer service and credit unions.

I think banks are commonly being seen as gigantic institutions that care more about making money for themselves than really helping customers. No matter how many times banks tell me they put me first, it is hard to get beyond the stereotype and really believe them.

Apr. 17, 2008 at 1:33pm

Twitter's get out of jail free card

Posted by Jamie Chase in Choose the Right Target Audience, Differentiation is Key, Talking to Members, The Power of Creativity
Comments (2)

The premise behind Twitter is telling people what you’re doing. I’m new to the Twitter-sphere and still figuring out what it means to me, let alone the credit union movement.

Chris Brogan’s blog about it grabbed my attention and didn’t let go.

Apr. 15, 2008 at 2:27pm

You mean money doesn't grow on trees?

Posted by Guest Blogger in Talking to Members, The Power of Creativity
No comments

Have you walked into a high school classroom lately? It’s like you’ve stepped into another world, not just another building! The spirit, the energy, the texting – it’s contagious. Well, maybe not the texting. I still prefer face-to-face, over-the-phone or email communication. But the spirit and energy of teenagers is unmistakable.

The trick is to tap into that energy and get them to focus on positive and useful matters, like financial smarts. How do you get a bunch of smart, tech-savvy, me-me-me, now-now-now, environmentally-conscious teens with short attention spans to buy into financial literacy? (FYI, all of those adjectives came from an informal poll of my co-workers!)

Apr. 10, 2008 at 1:38pm

Did you miss the shift?

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Choose the Right Target Audience, Elections, Talking to Members
Comments (1)

I’m a big fan of the research and consumer perspectives from The Hartman Group. Food is their specialty, but their ideas can be applied to credit unions.

For example, look at their recent comparison of traditional culture, passed down from our teachers and authorities, to the consumer culture, which bubbled up and is shaping the way younger credit union prospects receive our message. We must become aware of the differences to change with the times.

Mar. 11, 2008 at 1:45pm

"What if" from the greates CU event in the world

Posted by Jamie Chase in Elections, Social Responsibility, Talking to Members, What We're Up To
Comments (5)

Kurt and I returned to JayRay yesterday from a thought-provoking week at CUNA’s Government Affairs Conference (GAC), the largest credit union event in the world. I’m relieved to share that the normal fluff and peachy rhetoric, gave way to the discussion of serious issues.

They gave us something to think about:

Feb. 28, 2008 at 1:47pm

There's a difference?

Posted by Melina Young in Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
Comments (8)

While doing some research last week I started thinking about the credit union difference and the Generation Y audience that credit unions are striving to convert to member-owners. I am a member of this tech-savvy generation – I’m 22 – and I can honestly say that before I started working with JayRay I was pretty fuzzy on the difference between credit unions and banks.

Keep in mind that I am a member of two different credit unions and also have some accounts with a bank that, as Mike pointed out in his recent post, my parents started for me when I was about 12.

There are two possibilities here:

Feb. 25, 2008 at 1:49pm

"You cannot bore people into buying your product"

Posted by Kurt Jacobson in Talking to Members, The Power of Creativity
No comments

That is a quote from David Ogilvy, founder & former CEO, Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide (Ogilvy).

The same idea also appeared in The American Advertising Federation’s e-newsletter called SmartBrief.

A credit union talking to a target audience is not the most effective form of advertising – it’s a conversation with a good friend. Your friends are witty, opinionated, smart, happy or unhappy, warm and inconsistent. You love them for all they are. And they reciprocate.

So why can’t your ads be a conversation between perfectly imperfect friends?

Feb. 19, 2008 at 1:00pm

The young and the relevant

Posted by Guest Blogger in New Members, Talking to Members
Comments (1)

The words “credit” and “union” aren’t very appealing by themselves, but when you put them together, well, they don’t get any better. This may just be the view of someone my age – I’m 26. But aren’t most credit unions in the country trying to target the under-30 demographic?

The average age of the credit union member is increasing and is somewhere in the late 40s right now. If this number keeps rising the future of credit unions begins to look bleak. Credit unions across the country know this, so last year Filene Research Institute put together a group of 30 people in the credit union industry under age 30 to help address the problem. I was lucky enough to be picked to participate.

Dec. 31, 2007 at 1:54pm

What is PR and why does it matter to credit unions?

Posted by Jamie Chase in Choose the Right Target Audience, Elections, Strategic Communications, Talking to Members
No comments

Confusion about public relations is universal. It’s not just spinning a story, getting ink or creating hype - that theory is pretty far removed from credit union ideals and the mission of the movement.

PRSA has a lengthy definition of public relations. The basic point is that PR helps facilitate a rewarding relationship between an organization and its audience.

Dec. 27, 2007 at 1:56pm

Dick Ensweiler and I love credit unions

Posted by Jamie Chase in Differentiation is Key, Elections, Talking to Members
No comments

Here’s a theory I’m pondering. Would you agree that people have more difficulty understanding what they haven’t experienced? I am much more likely to learn something if I do it. For example, I’m more likely to remember how to get to a new restaurant if I’m in the driver’s seat, paying attention to each turn, rather than simply enjoying the ride as a passenger.

Maybe this explains why Dick Ensweiler and I so passionately love credit unions while consumers aren’t that jazzed.