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How the nation’s declining creativity impacts financial institutions.
Is creativity as dead as Crystal Pepsi? No, but it’s getting there, at least according to Newsweek. In a July article “The Creativity Crisis,” the magazine examines the trend since the 1990s of steadily declining scores on Professor E. Paul Torrence’s psychological exam for measuring creativity.
Not just imperative to the continued safety, soundness, and economic prosperity of the United States, creativity is also the No. 1 factor in leader competency, as determined by 1,500 CEOs in a poll for IBM, the article states.
Irrelevant of age, wage, background, or operating budget, creativity is a factor that can give a leg up to the underdogs. If you don’t believe it, check out Microsoft’s original staff circa the 1970s (Image Source Wikipedia).
Creativity is a powerful tool for credit unions. It helps them develop meaningful, memorable promotions despite having smaller advertising budgets than for-profit competitors. From membership drives to guerilla marketing efforts, thinking creative, rather than expensive, can give credit unions a distinct edge in the fight for the hearts and business of their communities.
To get ideas rolling on stand-out promotions, watch a video of the “money tree” set up in Australia by RaboDirect, part of the Rabobank group. The promotion itself is entertaining, its concept is both familiar and intriguing, but the goal is to make people think about where their money is coming from and, ultimately, make proactive decisions with it (in this case, move their funds to a high interest savings account).
