Advertising Cooperative

New Jersey’s Credit Unions: The Difference YOU!

The NJCUL Advertising Cooperative's advertising and advocacy campaign -- New Jersey’s Credit Unions: The Difference YOU! is in full-swing. This exciting initiative features “Bob The Credit Union Guy” and the trademarked “Blue You Dot” and strives to educate consumers about the mission, vision and value of credit unions in New Jersey.

The campaign, licensed from the Utah League of Credit Unions, is exciting and fun and takes a positive and lighthearted approach to showcasing what makes credit unions different, the people, the members, YOU!

Across the country, many state leagues have organized advertising cooperatives for their credit union movements. States like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and California have all had great success with statewide advertising cooperatives. Now credit unions in New Jersey have the opportunity to become part of just such an educational campaign and with your help, New Jersey can become a rising star for credit union awareness!

From a nation wide advertising perspective, New Jersey is in awkward position. We are situated between two of the nations largest advertising markets, New York in the North, and Philadelphia to the South. The television and radio markets in Philadelphia and New York are referred to as "top five" markets by advertising professions. "Top five" refers to the placement of these markets on a national scale. Needless to say, these markets are priced according to their ranking, so "top five" translates to some of the most expensive advertising in the nation.

Coupled with this fact, a large portion of the American population simply isn't aware of what a credit union is and what kind of service they can provide an individual ( according to a 2003 study by the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) and the Consumer Federation of America).

With these particulars in mind, NJCUL created the NJCUL Advertising Cooperative for the benefit of the New Jersey credit union movement.

Commit your credit union!

The Committee is currently made up of 47 credit unions. The immediate goal is to continue committee recruitment and fundraising efforts. In order to saturate the state of New Jersey with mass media tactics, we need to involve more credit unions and raise the level of funds.

This educational cooperative advertising effort effects every credit union in our state including business partners in the movement. As the general knowledge of credit unions increases through educational promotions in the mass media, so does the quality and quantity of all of our future members.

This "sum" of effort certainly is much greater than everyone's individual "parts." By pooling financial resources, we can truly make a difference in credit union awareness in New Jersey.

Participating in the NJCUL Advertising Cooperative will give every credit union of every asset size a much better return on their investment, as the overall cooperative budget is greater and gives all credit unions more bang for their buck!

How can you contribute?

Because New Jersey's credit unions come in a variety of asset sizes, and each credit union's advertising budget varies, each credit union is capable of contributing on different levels, however we will accept any amount available for the cause. Likewise, any larger contributions are greatly appreciated.

* Minimum suggested donation is required to obtain a Committee Seat.

For more information the Advertising Cooperative or to join, please contact the League's Public Relations department at (800) 792-8861 or send an email to publicrelations@njcul.org.

View the TV ads and meet Bob, The Credit Union Guy, visit www.njdifference.com.