An inspiring and entertaining look at the Young & Free young adult marketing program. Young & Free started as an interesting social media experiment for a mid-sized credit union in Alberta, Canada seeking to attract new young adult members. More than half a decade later, this innovative integrated marketing program has turned into a movement within the credit union movement. There are now more than 100,000 Young & Free members at credit unions in 11 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Tim will tell the story of how an interesting idea combined with social media, traditional marketing, grass roots community involvement and hard work have translating into business success with the allusive young adult segment. Learn from firsthand experience and come away with strategies that you can apply to your credit union.

1. Young, Free &
Supercharged
Tim McAlpine
PRESIDENT & CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CURRENCY MARKETING

2. Slides?
bit.ly/helloWI

3. • Founded in 1990
• Based in Canada
• 80% of business is in U.S.
• 100% credit unions

5. currencymarketing.ca/think

6. THE YOUNG ADULT ISSUE

7. CREDIT UNION MAGAZINE, APRIL 1969
Although the average age of
today's population is
getting younger, the
average age of today's
credit union member keeps
creeping upwards. But
credit unions can remain
young—in thought, service
and membership—by serving
today's youth as well as
their aging membership.”
“

8. SOURCE: CUNA, CUCC, U.S. CENSUS, WIKIPEDIA
35
NORTH
AMERICAN
Average
age
The great
divide
48UNITED STATES
CREDIT UNION
MEMBER
CANADIAN
CREDIT UNION
MEMBER54

9. 0
3
5
8
10
1989 1996 2000 2002 2006 2008
17of the population is
between 18 and 24
%
SOURCE: CUNA MARKET RESEARCH
4%
of credit union
members are
between 18 and 24

10. 40TRILLION
BOOMERS
$
X+Y

11. 78million
GENY
50million
GENX
76million
BABY
BOOMERS
23million
GENZ
7moreyears
leftinthis
generation

12. anti hype technology confident spenders savvy cool goals college
respect planning influence truthful authenticity distrust forward
thinking family questioning quality media university wary friends
fun world view connected anti hype technology confident spenders
savvy cool goals college respect planning influence truthful
authenticity distrust forward thinking family questioning quality
media university wary friends fun world view connected anti hype
technology confident spenders savvy cool goals college respect
planning influence truthful authenticity distrust forward thinking
family questioning quality cool truthful truthful confident savvyYGEN

14. What are the business lessons?2
What can you apply to your situation?3
What are the marketing lessons?1

15. THE SPARK

16. COMMON WEALTH CREDIT UNION, ALBERTA, CANADA
We would like to hear
how Currency can help us
own the young market
in Northern Alberta!”
“

17. GREAT
PRODUCT
OFFER
DIFFERENT &
BUZZ WORTHY
ONLINE &
SOCIAL
MEDIA
REAL, NOT
SCRIPTED
AUDIENCE
INVOLVEMENT
LONG-TERM
APPROACH

18. INTEGRATED
SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING
SOCIAL MEDIA
WORD OF MOUTH
CONTENT MARKETING
GUERILLA MARKETING
DESIGN
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
TRADITIONAL MEDIA EVENT MARKETING
NICHE MARKETING
DIRECT MARKETING
SOCIAL NETWORKING
USER-GENERATED CONTENT
MICRO BLOGGING
BLOGGING
ONLINE VIDEO
CONTESTING
FINANCIAL LITERACY
BRANDED CONTENT
PUBLIC RELATIONS

19. Social in 2006

20. Solid strategy2
Compelling story3
Dedicated resources4
Relevant products and services1

21. The Pitch

22. Hire a young spokesperson
through a public search. His or her job will be
to attract and educate new young
adult credit union members
by offering useful information and promoting
relevant products and services in person and online.”
“
T H E P I T C H

23. Strategy capitalizes on three simple truths
People relate
to people
Anyone can
be a star
Social media
is popular

24. •25-and-under crowd
•High school to college
•College to the real world
•Major purchases (cars, houses)
•Dating and marriage
•Having first children
YOUNG =
T H E P I T C H

25. •Free checking account
•No hidden fees
•A head start
•Listened to and understood
•Free to learn
•Free to make mistakes
FREE =
T H E P I T C H

26. Sub-brand
“Powered by”
approach

27. We think you should give an
unscripted and
uncensored young person
control of your brand!”
“
M A R K E T I N G S P E A K T R A N S L A T I O N

28. I’m hornier than
a house cat
about this idea.”
JEFF MULLIGAN, CEO
“

29. PROVING THE CONCEPT

30. Launched
September
2007

32. A GREAT
GROUP OF
APPLICANTS
GREAT
WORD-OF-MOUTH
& PUBLICITY
SOLID INITIAL
MEMBER GROWTH
& RESULTS

35. Q. What’s wrong with this video?
A. It’s brilliant. And that is what makes it so horribly wrong.
How is it, that in the 100 or so years that credit unions have
existed, no CU executive, no ad agency creative genius, no
anybody for that matter, has been able to articulate the
difference between CUs and banks as well, as artistically, and as
entertainingly as the 19-year old Canadian that did this video?
Every CU marketer in North America should be looking at this
video and yelling at their agency ‘Find me a Larissa!’”
RON SHEVLIN
SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST
AITE GROUP
“

36. Credit Union Central of Canada
• National CU Innovation Award
CUES Golden Mirror Awards
• 1st place coordinated campaigns
• 1st place segmented campaigns
• 1st place for PR
CUNA Diamond Awards
• 1st place for PR
Forrester Research
Groundswell Awards
• 1st place in the talking category
MAC Network Awards
• Gold Award for market
segment program
• Gold Award for PR
• Gold Award for websites
• Best of Show MACQUEE
MAC Marketing Now Awards
• Winner video
• Winner blog
• Winner podcast
• Winner social media engagement
• Winner social media personality
MACU AIME Awards
• Gold AIME new product launch
• Silver AIME coordinated
campaigns
• Silver AIME radio
• Silver AIME websites
• People's Choice Award
A W A R D S

37. You deserved to win.
You did a great job and just as
important, actually delivered
business value with your
application. The big companies did too, but your application
was more impressive based on the creativity and the
results delivered on a limited budget.”
“JOSH BERNOFF
SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST
CO-AUTHOR OF GROUNDSWELL
FORRESTER RESEARCH

38. CRUCIAL CONVERSATION

39. This is really working in
Alberta. How do you feel
about Currency offering
Young & Free to other
credit unions?”
“

40. JEFF MULLIGAN, CEO
You have to do this!”
“

41. YoungFreeAlabama.com
YoungFreeAlberta.com
YoungFreeAlaska.com
YoungFreeArizona.com
YoungFreeArkansas.com
YoungFreeBritishColumbia.com
YoungFreeCalifornia.com
YoungFreeColorado.com
YoungFreeConnecticut.com
YoungFreeDelaware.com
YoungFreeFlorida.com
YoungFreeGeorgia.com
YoungFreeHawaii.com
YoungFreeIdaho.com
YoungFreeIllinois.com
YoungFreeIndiana.com
YoungFreeIowa.com
YoungFreeKansas.com
YoungFreeKentucky.com
YoungFreeLouisiana.com
YoungFreeMaine.com
YoungFreeMaryland.com
YoungFreeMassachusetts.com
YoungFreeMichigan.com
YoungFreeMinnesota.com
YoungFreeMississippi.com
YoungFreeMissouri.com
YoungFreeManitoba.com
YoungFreeMontana.com
YoungFreeNebraska.com
YoungFreeNevada.com
YoungFreeNewBrunswick.com
YoungFreeNewfoundland.com
YoungFreeNewHampshire.com
YoungFreeNewJersey.com
YoungFreeNewMexico.com
YoungFreeNewYork.com
YoungFreeNorthCarolina.com
YoungFreeNorthDakota.com
YoungFreeNovaScotia.com
YoungFreeOhio.com
YoungFreeOklahoma.com
YoungFreeOntario.com
YoungFreeOregon.com
YoungFreePennsylvania.com
YoungFreePrinceEdwardIsland.com
YoungFreeQuebec.com
YoungFreeRhode Island.com
YoungFreeSaskatchewan.com
YoungFreeSouth Carolina.com
YoungFreeSouth Dakota.com
YoungFreeTennessee.com
YoungFreeTexas.com
YoungFreeUtah.com
YoungFreeVermont.com
YoungFreeVirginia.com
YoungFreeWashington.com
YoungFreeWestVirginia.com
YoungFreeWisconsin.com
YoungFreeWyoming.com
D O M A I N B U Y I N G S P R E E
YoungFreeAlberta.com

42. RIDING THE WAVE

43. 2006 2007 2009 20102008 2011 2013
Growth

44. 26 and counting!

46. UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES

47. Make a big deal out
of everything

48. 28 surprise events to date

49. Don’t stand still

50. 2008

51. 2011

52. 2013

53. Fill the calendar

55. CONTENT

56. EVENTS

57. Prev. UserJob # Filename Last ModifiedMFCU2011 MFCU2011 - Web Banner TNL Coop.indd 10-4-2011 11:14 AM Kevin Castillo / Kevin Castillo
CURRENCY MARKETING PROOF 1Account Executive: Kate Davies
PARTNERSHIPS

58. MEDIA
OPPORTUNITIES

59. Keep doing new things

65. 248APPLICANTS

66. Inspire people to creatively
spread the word

68. Make yourself the center
of the local universe

70. Be ever present on and offline

73. Don’t dismiss
traditional media

74. #1 Friend
#3 Facebook
#2 Radio
Where did you learn about
this opportunity?

75. Spend as much time in the
community as you do online

77. Deliver on the promise
of financial literacy

80. Collaborate

83. Does it work?

84. YOUNG & FREE DRIVES LOYALTY,
LOWERS AVERAGE AGE AND
GROWS WALLET SHARE

85. 100of all survey respondents indicated
that they would recommend the Young
& Free Program to a friend
SOURCE: SERVUS CREDIT UNION
%

86. 59TO 53In Alabama, Listerhill Credit Union lowered
their average age by six years after running
the Young & Free Program for three years
SOURCE: LISTERHILL CREDIT UNION

87. 47TO 45The participating credit unions in Maine lowered
their average age by two years after running the
Young & Free Program for just one year
SOURCE: MAINE CREDIT UNION LEAGUE

88. The fastest growing age segment at Servus Credit
Union in Alberta is the 17-to-25 age group
SOURCE: SERVUS CREDIT UNION

89. 7 VS 47% of Young & Free members have a
loan compared with 4% of those
without a Young & Free Account
SOURCE: SERVUS CREDIT UNION AFTER FIVE YEARS
% %

90. 2.6VS 1.6Young & Free members tend to have
more products with the credit union
SOURCE: SERVUS CREDIT UNION AFTER FIVE YEARS

91. 26Vantage Credit Union in St. Louis has loan
penetration of 26% of its 6,702 Young & Free
members totaling $5.8 million
SOURCE: VANTAGE CREDIT UNION
%

92. 16of Young & Free members at the participating
credit unions in Maine have a loan, with an
average balance of $6,574
SOURCE: VANTAGE CREDIT UNION
%

93. 3.5VS 2.7Young & Free members who are now “grown up”
have more products than those who never had
the Young & Free Account
SOURCE: SERVUS CREDIT UNION AFTER FIVE YEARS

94. Average revenue per year
Young & Free member
SOURCE: SERVUS CREDIT UNION, JULY 2012
115$
Average revenue per year
graduated Young & Free member
423$

95. There are now over
100,000young adults with products
and services associated
with Young & Free

96. Oureven
biggeridea

97. We want to help
credit unions attract
1,000,000new young adult members

98. Solid strategy2
Compelling story3
Dedicated resources4
Relevant products and services1

99. GREAT
PRODUCT
OFFER
DIFFERENT &
BUZZ WORTHY
ONLINE &
SOCIAL
MEDIA
REAL, NOT
SCRIPTED
AUDIENCE
INVOLVEMENT
LONG-TERM
APPROACH

100. Thanks!
Tim McAlpine
PRESIDENT & CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CURRENCY MARKETING