Projects
The Company you Keep
It is easy for some organizations to determine when their co-brand relationship has soured because they can quickly observe a decrease in return on marketing, measured as sales, customer acquisition rates, etc. But when consumption is mediated, such as through unowned TV networks, measuring return on marketing is more complex. Sure, surveys can provide insight, but myriad biases threaten their usefulness. In this work, I take advantage of a consumption ritual and leverage concept of the sacred neighborhood to estimate where and by how much a co-brand partner’s actions most strongly decrease return on marketing.
The Puzzle-Solving Approach That Enables Small Credit Unions to Thrive
Small credit unions are often perceived as disadvantaged by a lack of scale. But in fact, many are flourishing, leveraging their unique strengths as flexible, committed, member-focused institutions keyed into the needs of their particular markets and communities. This report reviews trends in small credit union performance and digs deep into the puzzle-solving approaches taken by leaders of thriving small credit unions to better understand the definitions and drivers of success among thriving small credit unions. Small credit unions can and do maintain relevance in their target markets by identifying who they serve well, what those members (and potential members) need, and how to best use the credit union’s resources to anticipate those needs in a way that generates trust, loyalty, and value. Credit unions don’t need billions in assets to make their members feel seen, valued, respected, and cared for. Ultimately, these are characteristics that drive success for credit unions of all sizes—and in this way, thriving small credit unions provide us with lessons that resonate universally and a strategic playbook that can be used wherever there are communities in need of a cooperative financial services partner.