The Nature of the Catch

While standing in a beautiful trout stream among the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas in November, I was struck by a notion. It is amazing how ideas or insights can come from the most unlikely places and at the most unlikely times.

Like marketing, fly fishing is an art form. It takes practice, patience and persistence over time in order to produce the right result. Sure you might catch a fish on the first cast from time to time, but you need to remember - the cast that caught the fish was perfected over years of practice.

Wild trout are finicky and smart. They are selective about the food they eat. So in fly fishing you always hear how important the "presentation" of the fly is when trying to attract a fish. The idea behind fly fishing is to make your fly look as natural on the surface of the water as possible. If not presented to the trout in a natural manner the trout will not take the fly. Trout have the ability to distinguish between natural and artificial. And when presented with a the choice they will generally take the natural fly.

In fly fishing there are many variables beyond your control that affect your ability to catch fish. You can't change the conditions of the river (i.e. weather, insect hatch, water temperature, current flow, etc.). You can only respond and adjust to the river conditions. And therefore, your approach to fishing must fit the conditions in which you are faced with on any given day. You use the current and the conditions to your advantage. You don't change the flow, you go with the flow.

Doesn't this sound an awful lot like marketing? Customers and prospects are finicky and smart. They are selective about who they are going to do business with. A bad presentation or a program that is not relevant to the current conditions generally means a blown sale or lost relationship opportunity. Too many times we are trying to attract the right fish with the wrong presentation and with incentives or promotions that are not relevant. We keep casting the same line, in the same place, with the same fly and expecting a different result... which never happens. That's fly fishing marketing insanity.

So what is a fly fishing marketer to do? Well follow the lead of two credit unions that understand "condition marketing." Here are few examples that might inspire you.

Take a look at Delta Community Credit Union, with their Standing Strong CD promotion. A relevant offering based on current conditions in Atlanta, Georgia whose launch was so successful, they had to actually scale back the marketing push in order to meet customer demand. Pairing this high-yield CD product with a message of strength and stability resulted in 8,505 CDs for Delta Community, at a balance of $392 million, gaining 1,209 new members during the same time period.

Take a look at Tinker Federal Credit Union, whose new program targeted to Gen Y, www.BuckTheNorm.com is creating marketplace buzz and generating Gen Y participation in an online social media-driven campaign. They are building a relationship by positioning themselves as a resource for financial empowerment. While it's too early to see hardline results, TFCU continues to maintain members made up of this 18-25 demographic, when many of their peers are seeing a decline. They are hoping to grow this membership by establishing relevance to young adults now - as they are just gearing up to embark on major life triggers.

Take a look at a smaller credit union, Allegiance. They focused their latest marketing efforts on a product-driven campaign, launching a new rewards checking program. Their strategy was to grow checking accounts with members who perhaps only had one or two loan products with Allegiance Credit Union, but didn't necessarily consider ACU their primary financial institution. Within one month of their launch they had grown $3.8 million in total checking accounts and now have over 800 Rewards Checking accounts.

What do all these examples have in common? They all fit the current conditions of the market. They all provide a relevant offering in a great presentation.

Maybe you're not a fly fisherman like me. That's OK. But the next time you're just out and about doing your favorite recreational thing, try to find a little insight or draw a little inspiration to help you with your marketing challenge. Your best ideas generally come while you are away from the office. And like a trout, hit you when you least expect it.

If you don't have a favorite activity, give me a call, I would love to take you fly fishing.

-Roy Page - CEO and Founder Third Degree