Public Relations
Case Study:
PR Grassroots Campaign Extinguished Industry Brush Fire Nationally
The credit union industry faced heavy congressional and regulatory scrutiny when a large East Coast-based wholesale credit union was shut down, sending ripples of unrest throughout the industry. To bring balance and reason to policymakers and consumers, the leadership of MJB Public Relations Group championed a grassroots campaign.
During the two-year effort, the PR group led a team of communicators through an integrated marketing and public relations effort, which included rallying industry leaders to write more than 2,000 letters to policymakers – the most ever received by the national credit union regulators on any issue. In addition, the PR team coached industry spokespersons to stay on message, and created video and print support materials that explained corporate credit unions’ safety and soundness.
As a result of the campaign, the MJB-led PR group persuaded policymakers to work with credit unions instead of legislatively hindering them, which the first draft of the rule would have done. This resulted in a more reasonable set of rules, turning a potentially crippling regulation into a positive balance between safety and soundness.
Most importantly, the campaign helped ensure that credit unions could continue providing consumers with access to critical liquidity, investment and correspondent services.
