Summer time, and the reading is easy. (My apologies to Gershwin; here’s the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition of that Porgy and Bess classic.)
School’s out, it’s picnic and cookout season, and the staff at Callahan thought this would be a good week to revisit lessons learned and best practices from food failures and triumphs.
The week kicks off with lessons from a self-serve frozen yogurt fan who pioneered the do-it-yourself model at his growing collection of TCBY stores. Sure, frozen yogurt might not be regulated like financial institutions, but as financial services become more digitized and do-it-yourself, there’s some applicability here for credit unions.
If you love Twinkies, take a moment to look at the second chance this venerable snack brand has been given by an enthusiastic market that couldn’t imagine life without it. Then ask yourself, what will it take for credit unions to develop that kind of rapport with members?
The shuttering of 50 Crumbs Bake Shops in New York signified a new era in an American food revolution that stressed both the artisanal and the local. Despite the fact Crumbs sold no fewer than 50 varieties of artisanal cupcakes and enjoyed a period of tremendous growth, its inability to change, eagerness to expand, and failure to provide adequate value ultimately forced it to file for Chapter 11. If you don’t want to go there, then read these lessons gleaned from the bakery today.
McDonald’s, meanwhile, is not one to sit back and let others eat its lunch, and this blog shares how Mc’Changes all the way from the CEO to the smallest menu item are helping to put a fresh take on McDonald’s venerable fast food brand. Change can be good, and credit unions could do worse than study the chain that has served billions.
Finally, Pizza Hut has a thing or two to teach credit unions about how to rebrand while still pitching a great core product. Personal preference, flexibility, and affordability those all matter for food as well as financial services. So does adding a little something to spice up that great core product, whether that’s cherry peppers or loyalty points.
Happy Reading!
