At the 2023 CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference in Orlando, credit unions learned valuable tips from Fishers Island Lemonade Chief Operating Officer Dave Mevoli on branding and storytelling. Mevoli stressed the importance of authenticity and being true to your brand, and shared how Fishers Island Lemonade has built a lifestyle brand around the beach, summer, boats, water, and golf. Mevoli believes credit unions can use a similar approach to build one-to-one relationships with consumers, telling their story and interacting with people. By cultivating relationships and taking advantage of free marketing opportunities, credit unions can compete with larger financial institutions. Mevoli also emphasized the importance of getting consumers to taste and touch the product, and getting to know the consumers in order to provide the services they want. By solving for their needs, credit unions can become more valuable partners.
Mevoli suggested that credit unions can apply the same approach as Fishers Island Lemonade by building a brand and telling their story to individuals, cultivating relationships, turning relationships into sales opportunities, and taking advantage of free marketing opportunities. By creating a compelling brand and telling their story, credit unions can establish one-to-one relationships with their members, which can be turned into sales opportunities. Mevoli also stressed the importance of providing positive experiences associated with the brand to establish long-term relationships with members. Additionally, credit unions should get to know their members to provide them with the services they want and become more valuable partners.
