Shout it Out: Loud Enough to Spark Inspiration

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This week, my daughter MacKenzie ran her first cross-country meet of the eighth grade. Throughout her busy summer, she conditioned herself to make running part of her routine. As we approached the meet, with her practice and two years of experience behind her, she was as prepared as she’d been for a race in her running career. Yet, she mentioned feeling nervous throughout the preceding days. When I asked her why, she repeated, “I’m not really sure.” I encouraged her by asking, “Imagine if it went better than expected. What might happen if you run your best race yet?” She quietly responded, “I will, Mom. Thanks.” Then, by observation, it appeared she went right back to worrying.

I made a point to attend this race. I do not make every meet. I will miss several this year. And this one mattered. Driving to the meet, I reflected on what it means to support those you love and how shouting passionately from the rooftops is essential to demonstrating our commitment to the people and organizations we love. We have a few routines that we enjoy on race days. I always text her during the day to tell her how much I believe in her. I text things like, “You’ve got this, rock star runner. You have stones in the base of your spine. Run like the wind and have a blast.” When I arrive at the course, we hug and check in. Though she’ll typically stand with me for a bit, I encourage her to spend time with the team. As she does, I then find an excellent position to watch. This week’s course was ideal. Her dad and I can see her four times and still zoom to the finish line to see her final strides.

As a natural multi-tasker, I play many roles as a spectator. I cheer for the other cross-country runners. I watch MacKenzie’s form. I make sure to take a balance of both videos and pictures. Most importantly, I cheer like my life depends on it. If you haven’t been in a room with me before, I should share that I am known to be expressive and loud. When I watch her compete – whether running, playing basketball, or lacrosse – I yell until I nearly lose my voice. I shout, “Go, runner, go!” I yell, “Run, MacKenzie Isabelle!” I remind her, “Look ahead, kiddo! You’ve got this!” At the end, I loudly cheer, “Give it all you’ve got, girl! Dig deep, dig deep!”

I am nearly always the loudest parent around. People glance at me with that enigmatic head tilt that resembles a curious Labrador Retriever. I smile. Two years ago, someone who observed my exuberant cheering said, “You probably should not use her name when you cheer for her. She’s going to be embarrassed by you.” I responded that it mattered deeply to me that she knew I was there supporting her, and I was advised that I could cheer but not use her name so that it was more subtle. I take feedback seriously, and I love MacKenzie relentlessly. As I walk with my daughter fully, I carefully consider how not to cause her any consternation. I asked her if she’d like me to quiet down or not use her name. She vehemently and emphatically encouraged me to continue.

Yesterday, after the race, I thought I’d better gut-check this position as she’s maturing. I laughed as we returned to the car and said, “Your mom is likely the loudest spectator at these races.” She smiled and replied, “I know, Mom. I love it. When I hear your voice, I feel energized to keep going. Sometimes, having the same motivation when you aren’t here is hard, and I can’t hear your voice.” I told her, “You’ve got this 1000% on your own. Your performance is driven by the hard work, dedication, and talent you bring to life. And know, as long as it helps, I will be the loudest parent at every event I can attend.”

Finding my voice has been a circuitous journey built over many years. After a tough seventh-grade year, I felt an important strategy to avoid being bullied and teased was to quiet down. Even as an extrovert, I attempted to blend into situations throughout college and my early working years. During my first Filene Research Institute i3 meeting, I stood alone in the corner during the initial social setting to meet other i3ers. Luckily, two of my colleagues, Crystal Long and Tom Boos , came over and invited me to be part of the conversation.

Over time, several factors converged to encourage me to elevate my voice. I fell in love with credit unions and believed fully that telling our story was an important part of shaping our future. Simultaneously, my dream to become a President & CEO grew as it did; I took on challenging assignments and stretched myself toward situations that included speaking in rooms with leaders. I also set a goal to become a stronger public speaker, raised my hand to share my thoughts, and volunteered to speak to larger rooms of people. As this unfolded, I matured and gained confidence in various settings.?

As my confidence grew, I started paying attention to what brought me joy. One of those joys is humor and laughter. My natural laugh fills a room. For years, I swallowed that laugh and muted it. But over the past decade, I have let that laugh ring vibrantly when life throws comedy my way. Laughter is both genuine and contagious. It expresses joy without self-consciousness. Laughter plays a social function in bringing people together. After all, according to the American Psychological Association’s “A laughing matter” by Winerman, “laughter was 30 times more frequent in social situations than solitary ones.” Through my laugh, I found a nonlinguistic invitation for others to engage. And while I still get an occasional “You’re too loud” critique. I often hear people say how much they miss my laugh in my absence. That laugh is part of who I am, and I love to laugh with abandon.

Credit unions have an opportunity to follow a similar journey to find, share, and get loud with our stories. While our movement has often treated marketing as a “nice to have” during the best business cycles, imagine the possibilities if we invested in storytelling as a strategic driver for impact. Consider these statistics from Tailor Brands’ “51 Branding Statistics you Need to Know in 2021:”

• 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values,
• 43% of customers spend more money on brands they are loyal to,
• 82% of people are more likely to trust a company whose high-ranking executives actively use social media and
• When buying new products, 59% of shoppers prefer to buy from brands they trust, and 21% say they purchased a new product because it was from a brand they like.

The beauty of storytelling is the intersection of art and science coming together to drive more substantial business outcomes. According to ThoughtLab’s “The Science of Successful Branding: Case Studies and Insights,” “At its core, branding is about creating an emotional connection between a brand and its audience. It’s not just about logos, colors, or slogans; it’s about how a brand makes people feel. Successful brands understand that emotions play a crucial role in consumer decision-making. They tap into these emotions to create a bond that goes beyond the functional benefits of a product or service.”

We’ve talked for years about how credit unions are the best-kept secret in North America. Now is the time to drive action to shift this disappointing trend. Here are five steps your credit union might take to lean into your louder voice:

1. Define Your Brand. Who are you? While we share a lot as credit unions, each of our organizations has a unique identity tied to our vision, purpose, values, and core audience. Spending the strategic time to understand who you are and how to share that identity through all the senses matters deeply. Fight the urge to look at other brands you admire in this exploration. Your brand coming to life authentically and powerfully grounded in your strategic identity will be critical to ensuring a genuine and connected brand.
2. Build your Ambassadors. While brand identity comes to life through a logo, colors, tag lines, and language, human engagement ensures that the brand explodes into life. Bring together a core group of people, both internally and externally, that have passion for your purpose, and invite them to be part of sharing your story. Their energy will magnify others to engage and help amplify your organization’s voice.
3. Explode Across the Senses. Powerful brands burst across all our senses. How should your brand look, feel, smell, taste, and sound? Explore your brand’s journey from the logos, colors, and brand guidelines into the digital experience, all the way through to the interpersonal experience. Seek to understand where there are gaps in how the brand you’ve defined comes to life in the experience your members have in daily interactions. Continue to test that brand experience and consider new and creative ways to create new moments people will never forget.
4. Craft your Voice. We often think of brands in their visual representations. Spending focused time considering how language should represent your brand will ensure consistency and shape how people feel about the brand across channels. The brand’s voice can live in digital engagement, shine in interpersonal interaction, and create playful and poignant engagement in advertising. The brand’s voice does not have to be scripted and should be consistent and clear.
5. Shout it From the Rooftops. Shout it From the Rooftops. Shout it From the Rooftops. In a world full of messages, we must tell our story, keep telling our story, and find new ways to tell the story again. Like cheering MacKenzie at a race, it’s not enough to share support the first time she passes me. Every time she is close by, I share a new message and keep sharing as loudly as possible. Just when you and your team feel exhausted and tired of your consistent branded message, those you wish to help might just be noticing your credit union.

As credit unions and humans, finding our voice is key to understanding who we are and the impact we want to create. Clear in our purpose, sharing our story matters so that purpose activates. Like me, as I found my voice and tested and built my own story, we may feel uncomfortable at first. We must forge ahead and do so over and over again. According to the University of Maryland Baltimore’s “Marketing Rule of Seven,” “The Rule of 7 asserts that a potential customer should encounter a brand’s marketing messages at least seven times before making a purchase decision. When it comes to engagement for your marketing campaign, this principle emphasizes the importance of repeated exposure for enhancing recognition and improving retention.”

Members may have questions about your voice and brand. They may tell you they don’t like the colors you use. They may inquire about the language you build to share your story. They may say to their friends they don’t like your logo. They may look at you inquisitively as other parents do as I scream to encourage MacKenzie at races. As they look, question, and critique, they are also talking about your credit union. They are growing curiosity. Your credit union has captured their attention, and this is one of many steps that matter as we move through the marketing funnel from consideration all the way to loyalty.

As we drove home from the cross-country race, MacKenzie shared with me that her favorite part of the meet was cheering on a fellow runner who was walking. She said, “Mom when I encouraged her, she started running again and finished with me. I love it when I cheer someone on, and that helps them to have a strong race.” Modeling encouragement has shaped MacKenzie’s behavior as a teammate. The more we share our story, the more that others may lean into sharing their story.

MacKenzie’s response shows that the more that each one of us leans into storytelling, the more others may do the same. That compounding impact can create momentum and change the future of our movement. Credit unions possess incredible power to shape and impact lives, I challenge us to cherish the critiques and questions, knowing that the more we amplify our brands and shout our stories from the rooftops, the more opportunities we have to bring dreams to life.

Who will you share your story with today?