Aug 13, 2008

Young & Free targets Gen Y in Texas, but they're not alone

After reading so much about the successes of Young & Free Alberta in targeting Generation Y, we knew it was only a matter of time before a similar concept would be introduced in the United States. And this week it was; Young & Free Texas was launched by Texas Dow Employees Credit Union.

In reading the news and visiting the site, I initially thought the Texas initiative would generate the same kind of buzz and success, if not more, that it did for Commonwealth Credit Union in Alberta. This is especially true as we havn't seen other institutions going to equal lengths to target Gen Y.

But it looks like Texas-based Resource One Credit Union is launching an extremely similar initiative this week: my life, my money. Not only are these initiatives both targeting members of Generation Y in Texas - but also use social media in their marketing, are offering a similar checking/savings account, and are intending to hire a spokesperson - with nearly identical perks.

It will be interesting to see how both are received and talked about during their respective searches for spokespeople - and in the months that follow.

Update: there are a couple great discussions discussing both of these accounts/initiatives in depth, one on Everything CU and another on The Financial Brand.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's a story about the knockoff including some interesting comments over at The Financial Brand:

http://thefinancialbrand.com/2008/08/08/young-and-free-knockoff/

Anonymous said...

Hi Brady, thanks for the link.

Resource 1 CU serves primarily Dallas with one of its 8 branches in Houston, while TDECU serves primarily Houston. So it is possible these two campaigns could co-exist. But potential for confusion abounds because one appears to be a direct copy of the other.

Morriss Partee