This summer, Northwest Resource Federal Credit Union launched a buzz campaign that gave hair stylists in downtown in Portland, Oregon the chance to win a gift card for their best hairstyles.
In total, about 30 cameras were produced, at a cost of $4.58 each.
Near the end of last month, cameras were picked up, the film was developed and pictures added to the a special Flickr photo-sharing site. Participating salons got their name and logo added to the promotion’s Flickr page.
The winning hair style/stylist will be chosen based on the number of comments photos receive. Sixteen entries were received. The winning stylist gets $100 gift card, and the person with the winning hair style gets $100 to spend at their salon.
There’s no mention of this promotion on the nrfcu.org site yet, but PSST! Marketing, the word-of-mouth agency behind the promo, says there will be soon, asking people to vote.
Bottom Line: While this kind of promotion isn’t going to generate monster results, it can’t hurt. It gets people talking (in hair salons), and builds name awareness for Northwest Resource — a huge challenge almost every credit union faces. It’s fun, inexpensive, doesn’t take a lot of work and — for those who participate — it’s likely to leave a happy little halo on the credit union’s brand.
If your financial institution serves a small, specific community, you might think of how you could change the flavor of a camera-centric promotion. Where could you leave cameras? What could you ask people to photograph?
BRANDED CAMERA
FLYER
Standard 8.5×11, with instructions on the back (click to enlarge).