{"id":56799,"date":"2023-03-31T17:56:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T21:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=56799"},"modified":"2023-03-31T17:56:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T21:56:51","slug":"our-takeaways-from-the-2023-cuna-mbd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/our-takeaways-from-the-2023-cuna-mbd\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Takeaways from the 2023 CUNA MBD"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) recently hosted their annual Marketing and Business Development (MBD) Council Conference at Sea World in Orlando, Florida.<\/p>\n

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The MBD provides an opportunity for credit union professionals to connect with their peers, explore exciting new industry trends and best practices, and recognize their colleagues with the Diamond Awards, the world’s most prestigious annual credit union marketing competition.<\/p>\n

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Two of our most passionate finserv specialists, Laurie Flanders<\/a> and Jessie Baderschneider<\/a>, were among the attendees at this year’s MBD conference, which ran from March 26 to the 29th. In addition to spotlighting our advanced credit union member experience management platform<\/a>, Laurie and Jessie were also able to connect with other credit union experts, soak up valuable insights at various breakout sessions, and cheer on some of our friends who were honored at the Diamond Awards.<\/p>\n

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\"Sogolytics<\/a><\/p>\n

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As you might imagine, there was a lot to take in over the course of four action-packed days. However, certain moments, presentations, and key insights really made an impression.<\/p>\n

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Here are some of the big takeaways and memorable moments we were lucky enough to experience at the 2023 CUNA MBD in Orlando:<\/p>\n

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Embracing the power of imagination with Meow Wolf<\/h2>\n

The conference\u2019s opening general session was titled, \u201cHow The Imagination Reaches Outside the Box.\u201d It featured speaker Vince Kadlubek<\/a>, the co-founder of Meow Wolf<\/a>, an arts and entertainment company based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that creates immersive and interactive experiences for audiences of all ages.<\/p>\n

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Though Kadlubek is not a credit union expert, he does have insight into a segment that every credit union covets: young people.<\/p>\n

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In the internet age, as younger consumers engage with brands in entirely new ways, traditional ways of doing business are constantly being questioned. Kadlubek advocated using imagination to unlock out-of-the-box solutions \u2014 including fresh ideas that speak to Millennials and Zoomers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s in the imagination that the future exists,\u201d Kadlubek said, encouraging creative thinking as a way of transforming the credit union space.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe scroll through social media looking for something new,\u201d Kadlubek added, reflecting on the current reality. \u201cWe have trained ourselves in a Pavlovian level to search for something new. Then we go into the real world and everything is the same and boring. We don\u2019t need to get on to our kids about being on their phones \u2013 we need to make the world more interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This was an interesting session for us, in part because we\u2019ve also written about ways that credit unions can attract younger members<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Using storytelling to connect with members<\/h2>\n

On a slightly similar note, one of our favorite breakout sessions this year was \u201cStop Selling, Start Storytelling,\u201d which focused on the power of storytelling to create meaningful connections with current and prospective credit union members.<\/p>\n

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Speakers Nick Chiamardas<\/a> and Samantha Strickland<\/a> (both of The Pod Advertising<\/a>) shared some real credit union case studies, including one credit union that successfully made DEI the central element of their brand.<\/p>\n

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Samantha argued that brand storytelling should be strategic, tactical, and inspirational. According to her, all brand stories should answer three questions:<\/p>\n