Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Hello, I'm a Credit Union... And I'm a Bank

I have to admit it, I am a convert... PC to Apple. I love Apple's products and marketing. My wife is in education and worked on me for years to use an Apple in our home. I resisted, having been in a career dominated by PC's and BlackBerry's. But then something happened, we had kids (accumulation of massive amounts of digital pictures and video) and I got an iPod (goodbye CDs). Coincidentally, this was the same time that Apple started to run the Get a Mac campaign, a series of sketches between two people, one a Mac and the other a PC. The PC played by John Hodgman, was portrayed as dull, stuffy and business like. On the other hand Mac, played by Justin Long came across as cool and hip. I think the one that did it for me was Better Results where PC and Mac discussed making home movies, and showed each other their efforts. Supermodel Gisele Bündchen entered, representing Mac's movie, while PC's movie is represented by a man with a hairy chest and a blonde wig wearing a dress similar to Bündchen's. PC stated that there's some work in progress with his movie. The ad connected with me and that weekend we brought one home.

Since this campaign started, Apple has seen explosive growth. Web analyst Net Applications now puts the Mac's market share at 8 percent, up from 5.3 percent in early 2007. That is stunning growth by any measure, especially when you consider that this is 18 percent growth in its market share...just since November 2007. And whether you are a fan of the ads or not, we can probably all agree that imitation is the highest form of a complement. These ads have been spoofed by both the novice producer and mainstream corporations like Novell. Most recently, I ran into a series produced by BankerSpank.com lampooning the differences between a Bank and Credit Union.

Do consumers think Banks are stuffy suits and Credit Unions are hip? Sure there are examples of cool Banks, look at Umpqua in Portland, OR. From their online music store, to their cutting edge retail strategy, and a moving van converted in to a mobile bank, these guys ooze cool and hip. And surely there are examples of stuffy Credit Unions out there. What this highlights to me is the continued importance of connecting and empathizing with our customers or members. Who among us doesn't want Apple like growth to talk about at the next board meeting? And, if someone will learn an new OS or port data to new hardware, what is to think that they aren't one campaign away from a switch?